OTHER PROCEDURES ADOPTED
WITH AROMATHERAPY
Mud packs, genital baths, sponging, sunbath, fasting, deep breathing etc., are essential procedures. Here I have described this procedure because one should know about these procedures along with Aroma Therapy.
MUD PACKS
The best way to prepare a mud pack is to take clay from about four inches below the earth’s surface. Ensure that the clay contains no impurities, like compost or pebbles. If there are any pebbles, grind the clay and pass it through a sieve. Mix it with cold water and see that it has a consistency like soft dough. It should stick and not be thin enough to slide down when used in the pack. If the pack is to be applied on the abdomen (from the navel to the pubes), spread the mud evenly on a piece of cloth.
See that it is about half an inch thick. Then place it gently with the cloth and the mud touching the skin. Remove the cloth and place a thick wollen piece of cloth on the mud. You may even let the cotton cloth remain over the mud but cover it with a thick woollen. If that is done, the patient can keep lying down without covering himself with a blanket or a sheet.
The mud pack should be used for 20 to 30 minutes. After removing it, clean the skin using a soft piece of cloth dipped in cold water.
Clay is found in different shades in different places, but whatever the colour, it is equally beneficial. If the mud is loamy and tends to stick to the skin, some sand can be mixed with it.
GENITALS BATH
Keep a stool one foot long, six inches wide and six inches high in the tub. It would be all the better if a circular cut were in front of it. If a stool is not readily available, keep four bricks, two upon two, to raise the level and sit on them. The water level in the tub should be such that it is one inch above the stool. The water should be cold; during summer, the water of an earthen pitcher can be used for the purpose.
Take off your clothes and sit on the stool. Dip a piece of cloth in water and gently rub your abdomen with it for two minutes. Then take hold of the foreskin of your penis in two fingers and rub it lightly with a soft piece of cloth, dipping cold water often. This can be continued for ten to twenty minutes. A lean person can do it for only ten minutes, and the hefty one for as long as twenty minutes. After the rubbing of the foreskin is completed, rub the entire spine with a wet towel for two minutes. You can take the wet towel in two hands and move it up and down your spine.
Women should rub their abdomen. They should take a piece of soft cloth, pull up the lips of the vagina and rub them slowly. And in the end, they should also rub the spine as above. No hip bath or genitals bath should be taken at the time of menstruation. You must take exercise, walk or lie down in a bed and wrap yourself in a blanket to restore the body heat lost due to water immersion.
If a tub is unavailable, this bath can be taken in the sun. In that case, spread a wet towel on the stool you sit on. Keep a bucket of water near the stool and bathe as indicated above.
HIP BATH
You must have seen specially-made tubs for hip baths. The tub is oval in shape, and one end is raised so the patient can rest his back against it. This is the ideal tub for taking a hip bath. Fill the tub with cold water. The water level should be so adjusted that it touches your navel when you sit in it. Your feet will be outside the tub; you can support them by keeping a low stool in front of the tub. You can rest your back against the raised portion of the tub and remain in that half-supine position.
Take a rough towel and rub your abdomen from right to left. Do it gently so that the skin is not scraped. Do not apply too much pressure in rubbing.
A hip bath can be taken from ten to twenty minutes. Thin persons should take it for only ten minutes, and stout ones can continue for 20 minutes. During winter, the duration of the hip bath should be reduced by about 25 per cent.
In the beginning, the hip bath should be taken only for a minute or two; the time should be increased gradually to ten or twenty minutes, as indicated above.
If it is too cold, rub your body with your palms for five to
seven minutes before entering the tub. A vigorous rubbing of
the body will bring warmth, and you will not experience any
discomfort when you start the hip bath.
Wipe your body with a towel when you get out of the tub, dress quickly, and go for a walk or do some other exercise. Those too weak to engage in any such activity should get into bed and wrap a blanket around them and rest for half an hour to bring back warmth to their body. You can take a bath a couple of hours after the hip bath and not before.
HOW TO TAKE A BATH
A bath is a daily ritual, but few understand its purpose or importance. That is why most of us merely throw water over our heads and bodies and think we have done our duty. Throwing water over the body is beneficial, but it is not what a bath is.
The twin purposes of a bath are cleanliness and reactivating blood circulation through the tingling sensation that cold water produces as it comes into contact with the skin. The first purpose, i.e. cleanliness, can be better served by hot water. The body’s skin has millions of pores through which the skin breathes as we do through our lungs. If the pores are clogged, the lungs are overworked. Overwork may lead to fatigue or exhaustion of the lungs. And then, closed pores do not pass any sweat, which the skin breathes as we do through our lungs. If the pores are clogged, the lungs are overworked. Overwork may lead to fatigue or exhaustion of the lungs. And then, closed pores do not pass any sweat, which is a must to clear the blood of morbid humour. Closed pores are a danger to the general health of human beings.
Cold water is also a cleansing agent, but it cannot deal with the grease and dirt infesting the skin’s pores. Hot water mixed with lemon juice is the best cleansing agent for the skin. Or, better still, take a lemon and roast it lightly over a fire. Then cut it into two parts, dip a part in hot water and rub it over your skin. This will cleanse your skin, as no soap can do. But a hot bath should not be taken daily. It generally brings lethargy and weakness and slows down the digestive processes. Once or twice a week is enough if you have to take a hot bath. The temperature of the water should not be more than one or two degrees above body temperature.
A hot bath before retiring for the night is the best for your health. It helps you sleep better, and if you cover your body after a hot bath, it will save you from exposure. Hot or cold baths should be taken one hour before meals or three hours after.
Boiling water for a bath has advantages, but it should be used sparingly. If you suffer from a cold, take a hot bath, cover yourself with woollens, and get into bed. It will drive away the cold. When you are tired, a boiling bath acts as a tonic: it drives away fatigue as nothing else does.
A bath with hot water has its use, but a daily bath should be with cold water. When the cold water cools the skin, blood rushes to warm it up. The blood circulation is activated, and the blood is also cleansed of many impurities. A slowed-down circulation is a prelude to old age. A cold bath is, therefore, instrumental in keeping us young.
The best way to start a bath is to rub the whole of your body with your palms or a rough towel. Start with your scalp, forehead, face and neck. Then go on to your wrists and then to the shoulders through the arms. Afterwards, rub your chest, armpits and abdomen and back. The feet should be the last to receive attention. Keep your feet straight when you rub them. Start from the feet and come up to the thighs. In the beginning, rub gently, but later increase the pressure.
After vigorous rubbing, take a cold bath. Wipe your body with a towel. Start with the head and then dry up the whole body. You will feel a peculiar pleasure when you rub your body after a bath. For weak persons, rubbing can do the job of exercise. If this method of taking a bath is adopted, there will not be any danger of skin eruptions or itch. The face will be free of pimples and other blemishes which mar its beauty. The skin will acquire a healthy glow; if it is rough and leathery, it will become pink and soft. You will feel like you have been having an oil massage.
If the palms of the hand are used to dry up the body after a bath instead of a towel, it will be doubly beneficial. It gives a pleasant sensation during winter.
WET PACK FOR THE WAIST
The bandage to be used as a wet pack for the waist should be seven to eight feet long and six inches wide. It should be of soft cotton cloth. Dip it in cold water, ring it lightly and wrap it around your waist. It should cover the area from the navel to a little above the pubes and remain in direct contact with the skin. Cover the wet bandage with a woollen cloth of equal dimensions and secure it with a safety pin or a string so it does not loosen up. A cold sensation will be on the skin covered by the wet pack, but the warmth will return after about ten minutes. If you still feel cold after ten minutes, that indicates that the bandage has been wrapped lightly and has to be tightened. Or, the bandage has not been adequately wrung out or is thicker than it should be. The wet pack for the waist can be used from half an hour to two hours at a time.
WET PACK FOR THE CHEST
The dimensions of the bandage for the chest should be the same as for the waist. It should be similarly dipped in cold water, wrung out, wrapped around the chest, and covered by a woollen piece of cloth. It should be wrapped so that it should cover the chest, the upper part of the shoulders and the corresponding portion of the back. The woollen covering for the wet pack should be secured with a safety pin or a piece of string, as in the case of the waist pack. This pack can also be used for half an hour to two hours.
SUN BATH
Sun bath is an essential tool for the naturopath. Even though people in the West use it for cosmetic purposes, it is essential to restore health.
In Indian conditions, the ideal times for a sun bath during summer are 6-6.30 in the morning and during winter from 7-7.30. Take off all your clothes and sit in a secluded corner away from interruptions. The whole body should be exposed to the health-giving rays of the sun.
Initially, take a sun bath for only two to three minutes but increase the timing gradually to fifteen to twenty minutes. When the sunlight is scorching, cover your head with a towel. Cover yourself with a light cotton sheet if you cannot find a secluded place to take a sun bath.
SUN-BATH FOR INDUCING PERSPIRATION
Sweat can be induced through a sun bath. For this purpose, the sun is hot enough at ten to eleven in the morning in summer and two to three in the afternoon in winter. Take hot water and lie down naked on a mattress or blanket spread on the floor. If the wind is strong, choose a place in the lee of the wind. You will start sweating in about ten to fifteen minutes after lying down. After fifteen to twenty minutes, whether you sweat or not, you must take a cold bath just after it. Some people may not sweat initially, but after repeating the sun bath for three or four days, their sweat glands will be activated, and they will perspire. You must cover your head with a wet towel while taking a sun bath, but at the same time, go on sipping warm water to aid the body in producing sweat.
SPONGING THE BODY
When running a temperature, a sponge bath is more advisable than a bath. The patient should be covered with a sheet or blanket, and his body should be wiped with a wet towel. Wipe his feet first, one after the other. Rub them with the wet towel for four to five minutes, then wipe them with a dry towel. But even when the feet have been dried, rub them with the palms of the hand so that some heat is generated in the body. In the case of a fever, such rubbing is not advised.
After the feet have been attended to go to the calves and the rest of the legs, the abdomen, the chest, the back, the face and, the neck, the hands should be rubbed for five to six minutes, and the abdomen, chest and back a little longer.
The total time taken for a sponge bath is, on average, half an hour. The ideal time for a sponge bath is midday.
FASTING
Nothing but water should be taken when you are fasting. The intake of water must be two to two and a half litres. One feels fresh if one continues drinking water, and the intake of water also helps expel morbid matter from the body. In the evening of the first day of the fast and the morning after, an enema of hot water should be taken to clean the bowels. One day’s fasting should be followed by a food intake of 25% less than usual. A two-day fast should be followed by ingesting fruits only the next day; regular food should follow the next day. A three-day fast should be followed the next day by fruit juices and a soup of vegetables (the soup must be clear, without the addition of any thickening agents or condiments). On the fifth day, eat fruits only, and on the sixth, breakfast on fruits, lunch on bread and boiled vegetables and repeat a fruit diet for your dinner. It is only afterwards that you should resume your regular diet.
FRUITS, FRUIT JUICES AND MILK DIETS
When you have been advised to live on fruit juices or juices or soups of vegetables, you should take about 250 millilitres of fruit juice or juice or clear soup of a vegetable three to four times a day. The best juices are those of oranges, pineapple, rose apple, raspberry and tomatoes. If the juice is too thick, mix it with plain water in the proportion of 1:¾th.
Juice of gourd, tomatoes and carrots can be taken naturally. If you do not have a juicer (a machine to extract the juice of fruits), grate the fruits or vegetables and squeeze them through fine muslin or other fine-meshed cloth.
Other vegetables must be half a kilogramme and boiled in 250 millilitres of water and the juice drunk.
When you are living on fruit, take them thrice daily. But take one kind of fruit at one meal. For example, you can take tomatoes for breakfast, oranges at lunchtime, and apples for dinner. It would still be better if you can take the same fruit at all meal times.
The total intake of fruits in the day should not be more than one to one and a half kilogrammes.
When a fruit and milk diet is indicated, take 250 to 300 millilitres of milk with the fruits. If your appetite improves, as it should, the quantity of the milk can be increased to half a litre at one time. Unboiled milk should be taken in the morning, and even during lunchtime, milk boiled in the morning can be ingested. Sip the milk as you munch the fruit. It will be more beneficial than eating the fruit and drinking the milk.
Even on a diet of fruit juices, do not forget to drink one to two litres of water in the day. If your bowels do not move automatically during the fruit and milk diet, take recourse to an enema. But the bowels must be appropriately evacuated, and no morbid humour or substances should be allowed to accumulate in the body.
INTAKE OF WATER
One must drink one to one and a half litres of water in 24 hours. The best time to take water is first thing in the morning, one hour before meals and two hours after. If you must drink water during the meals, ensure the quantity does not exceed 200 to 250 millilitres. If you have taken water one hour before the meals, you will not feel the need to take it during eating. But still, water may be taken during the meal according to need and inclination.
WALKING
During a walk, you must move briskly. Your back should be straight, and your arms should be moving. The standard speed of walking should be about four miles per hour. Take a different route for a walk every day, as that would be more enjoyable than taking the same route every day. Five to six miles walk in the morning and two to three miles in the evening is the best. Those starting to take a walk should not overstrain themselves but gradually increase the distance.
DEEP BREATHING
Deep breaths should be taken during a walk. Inhalation should become a natural rhythm with you. Inhalation and exhalation should not be done slowly.
SLEEP
Sleep should be sufficient to give a sense of relief from exhaustion. But do not oversleep, nor laze about in bed when you are not sleeping. The ideal time for sleep is from 9 o’clock in the night to 5 in the morning. Those who feel sleepy all the time return to regular sleeping hours after some days. During summer, a siesta for an hour or so will refresh you. If you cannot sleep, relax for an hour after lunch.
INHALATION AND VAPORISATION
Inhalations are considered to be highly effective, as the olfactory (smelling) receptors have direct links with the brain. Inhalations are said to be quite helpful and effective in routing skin-care treatment and respiratory conditions, such as colds, coughs, sore throats, catarrh, and blocked nasal passages, but they are used with utmost care if you are an asthmatic; Vaporisers and scented baths can also prove relaxing and invigorating, depending on the oil chosen for specific physical/mental problems.
For inhalations, add 4 drops of a suitable essential oil to a bowl of steaming water and then lean over the bowl with your head covered by a towel but keep your eyes closed. Breathe in deeply. Initially, inhalation may be problematic, but once the blocked and stuck-up nostrils are cleared of trapped muscles, inhalation will automatically improve.
You can use eucalyptus or peppermint oil (4-6 drops or 2-3 drops of each oil). If steam inhalation is not feasible, you can put 4-5 drops of the oil on a hanky (tissue cloth), hold it to your nose and take deep breaths. But do not inhale directly from the bottle itself.