Relaxing Herbs: Oat Bath

by Kimberly Gallagher

I discovered the luxurious, soothing wonderfulness of an oat bath. Oats are on e of t he most relaxing herbs, especially when in a bath. :)

In case you haven’t experienced one, I’m going to give you directions to prepare one for yourself. I highly recommend spending this evening pampering yourself in this way with one of the most relaxing herbs!

When cooked, oats create a moisturizing milky liquid. In her book, Herbal Rituals, Judith Berger says “oat baths send moisture deep into the skin...soak away emotional stress, [and] physical pain in the joints, uterus, bladder and bones.”

This is a recipe from her book for an oat bath:

To create a relaxing herbs oat bath for yourself you will need:

Put the oats in the pot and fill the pot almost to the top with hot water.

Bring the water to a boil. Watch it carefully as it likes to boil over quite dramatically.

Simmer over low heat for several hours.

Remove the thin film that forms on top. It is very emollient and can be placed on an especially dry or itchy part of your body for extra soothing and moisturizing.

Strain the oats out of the milky water.

As you fill your bath with water, pour the slick, milky water into your bath.

Sink into your delicious oat bath and soak for at least twenty minutes. Maybe even light a candle and add a few drops of lavender essential oil to your bath to for an especially relaxing experience. You now see why this is one of the most relaxing herbs.

Bonus Lesson: Oat Grain Face Scrub

Judith also included this recipe for an oat grain face scrub which I tried and loved. My skin felt so smooth after scrubbing with it last night.

Ingredients:

Grind the almonds and seaweed together first since they take more grinding then add the other ingredients and grind until the oats are well ground.

You can simply take some in your hands, wet your face and rub it on, but then little bit of oats and rose petals must go down your drain.

I found it nice to put the mixture in a small mesh bag, wet the bag and rub my face with that. Then I could easily compost the mixture when I was finished.

I forgot to mention that rose in another one of the great relaxing herbs.

Enjoy washing away all your winter dryness and refreshing yourself for a beautiful spring!

-Kimberly

P.S. Do you need rose petals, clay, seaweed or other herbal supplies? You can get these, as well as Oatstraw, Milky Oat Tops and other relaxing herbs right here (for nourishing herbal infusions). There's lots about using oats for nourishing infusions on HerbMentor.com.