Contemporary Bathing Rituals

What comes to mind when we talk about bathing rituals? Is it calming experiences accompanied by water, refreshing visuals, or views that awaken a sense of cleanliness or content to spoil ourselves? Let’s take a closer look at these rituals and some examples that are still being applied today.

Natural and Colorful: Flower Bath

Without a doubt, Bali’s flower baths are among the most attractive bath cultures in the world. With the widespread use of social media, the most unique examples of flower baths that we have come across are those that are of relaxation feast quality in terms of meditation as well as visual attraction. Since in the traditional culture of Bali flowers are believed to be of healing power, fresh and dried petals, flower and herb essences are added to the bath water in order to revive the spirit and body. You can experience the traditional bath culture of the Badung region, the first habitat that comes to mind when we talk about meditation, peace and quiet, at the Fivelements Retreat situated in Bali.

Cleansing and Spiritual: Temazcal Steam Bath 

Temazcal is accepted to be the name given to the steam bath that is directed by a shaman and is based on the cleansing method of toxins in the Mayan culture. In our day temazcal applications that are widely seen in Mexico and Central America are realized through a simultaneous meditative ritual while the upper body is warmed up with hot stones. Being cleansed of the toxins with steam, relaxes the respiratory tract while aiming to recover spiritually. The Yäan Healing Sanctuary in Mexico, situated in the motherland of Temazcal, reflects the famous spirit of Quintana Roo with its peaceful nature and charming colors. 

Calm and Charming: Ayurvedic Beauty Bath 

Ayurveda, meaning “science of life”, is one of the most ancient health systems based on Indian culture. Ayurveda defines three different body types consisting of the interactions and changes between the five elements in the body. According to Ayurvedic belief, beauty must be considered holistically and balanced. Healing sessions based on the energies of these elements are created in one of the 3 body types (dosha), Vata (air), Pitta (fire) and Kapha (earth). In this situation herbal cures, essential oil massages, yoga exercises, and spiritual sessions are added to the Ayurvedic rituals. Ayurveda, offering personalized experiences to people, provides an underlit atmosphere with wooden textures, hot stones and therapy baths. Ananda in the Himalayas situated in Uttarakhand, India is one of the most valuable options where you can have an ayurvedic experience.

Different and Refreshing: Thalasso Bath

“Thalasso” means the sea in Greek. Within this scope, Thalasso bath therapy, which believes in the healing power of seawater, algae and minerals collected from the sea, first came into being in 19th century France. Hydrotherapy sessions applied with algae nourish the body with minerals while at the same time aims to relax the person with its skin metabolism stimulating feature. After a refreshing light shower, the care ritual is completed with a massage. This application, which lasts around 3 hours, is quite relaxing and at the same time energizes the body. Les Thermes Marins de Saint-Malo, is one of the oldest  Thalassotherapy centers in France, having been in operation since the 1800s.

Tempting and Luxurious: Calistoga Mud Bath

California's wine-famous Napa Valley is home to Calistoga Town, rich in minerals and luxurious local spa centers. Since mud baths are rich in minerals, they are marked as special destinations. In Calistoga, with a 10-12-minute hot mud bath, heated up to 100 F degrees offers an effective spa experience. 

The mud bath experience, accompanied by an attendant waiting outside, is different from other spa treatments. This bath ritual aims to relax our muscles, to speed up the blood circulation and smooth the skin without putting any kind of pressure on any part of the body. Within the process after the mud bath you can continue the bath experience with a mineral jacuzzi, enjoy a quick steam room and then complete the process with a blanket to slowly cool the body. 

With all this process taking around 1.5 hours, however with the massage therapies applied afterwards it can take longer. You can add Calistoga Spa Hot Springs and Dr.Wilkinson's Backyard Resort to your to-do list. In addition, you can consider mud baths offered as a supporting element to treatments carried out in various regions of Turkey as another option. 

Warm and Relaxing: Japanese Hot Spring Onsen

In the land of rituals, the Far East, when it comes to baths, one of the oldest traditions of the region, local hot springs under the name “Onsen” appears. The word “Onsen”, meaning “warm”, is used to identify all hot water facilities.  

In Onsen the water temperature is around 45-50C. This culture, which has over a 2000-year-old history, is being revived with the Japanese making use of volcanic hot water resources. Even though onsens, which are similar to mass bathing rituals such as Turkish hammams, are now used for tourism, for Japanese people it is a place for socializing, spending family time, and taking a break from the daily grind.Even though hotels offer private Onsen, an experience in the open air can reach even more effective levels. Gora Kadan in Japan surrounded by the natural beauty of Hakone is one of the most famous Onsen centers of the area. 

Traditional and Sumptuous: Turkish Hammam

Turkish hammams are known to be based upon the ancient Roman bath culture, taking the Byzantine Empire culture as an inheritance after the conquest of Istanbul, which created the very characteristic bath ritual of the Turkish people in time. Today when we talk about Turkish hammams we think of navel stones, clogs, marble baths and special foam massages done by callaks. In the Ottoman Empire hammams provided an improvement in entertainment culture and socialization in addition to cleanliness and relaxation. Classical Turkish Hammams are made out of areas such as: changing area, warm and cold areas, warmth and private areas around the navel stone, which is the heart of the bath and the furnace. The most famously known hammams are the Hagia Sophia Hurrem Sultan, Cagaloglu, Kilic Ali Pasa, Cemberlitas and Galatasaray hammams are still very appealing places today. 

Other Bath Rituals

In addition to all these, herbal baths, that have existed for around 5000 years, are among the bath rituals that the Babylonians made frequent use of. Herbal baths, when combined with hot water, aid in the removal of swelling, the cleansing of germs, the prevention of stress, and the treatment of muscle pain.

Salt baths, which are a 2000-year-old tradition that first became popular in China and then in Egypt and Ancient Greece, were found to be very successful in terms of curing wounds and treatment. Salt baths that regained popularity in the 19th century are still pioneers in benefiting from ocean waters and natural resources to the maximum. Thanks to its richness in terms of minerals it helps in smoothing the skin like a baby’s skin with the peeling effect and calming the nervous system.

Baths that are named as “spiritual” are mostly carried out with energy cleansers such as palo Santo and sage, essential candles, aromatic oils and natural stones. Since ancient times these baths have been preferred due to their features such as; activating the senses, making the mind more peaceful and harmonious, and balancing the energy. 

In this article, we mentioned on some bathing rituals from the past to present and their effect on ourselves. Don’t forget to follow Spatopia for all techniques and applications that are a must for spa areas.