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Self Massage: How to easily take care of yourself in the bath or shower
Ever tried self massage in the tub or shower? Well, consider this: A bar of soap makes an excellent self- massage tool in the shower or bath, epsecially when the edges are worn a bit. This is a form of "Turkish Bath", popular in the spas of the 1920's. Having a high-grade soap, which includes natural oils, and a better quality "base" will last longer, and be worth it for this purpose. One excellent self massage friendly soap brand is called "Kiss My Face". You can find it at most grocery stores. But you can also use Ivory, and add oils to it. I prefer soap that has all natural ingredients, I don't like fake smelling chemicals. The major brands like Irish Spring make me cringe. Another inexpensive, all natural and balancing addition for self massage is Coconut oil. just add some with the soap. It doesn't have to be "Extra Virgin", but this smells great! Helps the "glide" also. Has vitamin E. In the bath, start by flexing you right knee. put your left calf over your right knee. Put soap on your calf and right knee. "strip" your left calf up your knee, moving up the muscle. Support it with your hands at the sides of your calf. Put your fingers under your calf, (supported by your right knee) and feel the muscle bands as you "strip", moving proximally up the muscle toward your heart. You can also put your right hand palm down over your right knee, cupping it, and your left calf will now ride over your knuckles. This is easier on your hands, less tiring. No work involved, just your legs moving. Relax. Work your feet with each other! You dont have to use your hands, but if you want to, flex your left knee, then cross/brace your right leg sideways, and "knead" your feet with your hands. Use your thumbs to make circles on the bottoms and edges of your feet. Strip the tops of your feet with your fingers. You will be amazed at how grounding this feels. Self massage can also be done on each appendage with the bar itself,in effect it is a soft, gentle, massage-tool! Just use the bar itself to "strip" whatever needs attention. This is closer to deep tissue work, as you now have a firmer tool than your hands/fingers. This one technique works well for general stress reduction, and makes waking up easier in the AM, especially if you use Rosemary oil. Do it on the back of your neck, shoulders, chest, etc. Use a chamomile soap like Kiss My face at night to wind down. Soon, I will post some more massage pictures here of some "self massage" tools I use. They require almost no "work". All this is quite simple, and takes only minutes. You massage and clean yourself at the same time! If you want to "detox" and open your skin pores, some Sea Salt or even table salt, works great to scrub away dead skin and other people's negative energy. try this when you are annoyed with someone. See how you feel afterwards! Recently, I discovered Morten's Pure Rock Salt at Home Depot, etc. they use it in water softeners. 40 lbs, 5 bucks, 99.9% pure! Make sure you get the one in the BLUE bag. Do not use potassium chloride, you want to look for pure sodium chloride. Much cheaper than fine table salt. You could grind it in a coffeegrinder, but here's the lazy way: Put this in a folded wet towel, use with the soap as your "saltcloth". Pardon the pun, but it rocks! Rinse thoroughly afterwards with regular water. Get ready for work, or just wrap up in a bathrobe and wind down for the day! Simple, and self massage works well if you can't get to your massage therapist. Also, check out this company in the ad below if you have ever considered this wonderful type of masssage chair. It works great after your tub session. This company has great picing, money back guarantees, and service.
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