soak it

if in doubt, soak it.  this is basic, good, universal advice for most things in life. from fabric stains to splinters, and pretty much anything that hurts or is red on the body- all of it should be soaked. because water cleans and water heals. 

i often tell my patients, my kids, random people who come over or call with a medical question- to soak it and call me in the morning.  i've even been known to prescribe a bath.  there is something about immersion in hot water that rearranges the neuro-chemistry. there is something transforming about being in water.  maybe because we are made of mostly water.  we can feel our boundaries and weightless at the same time.  perhaps it's womb like- we relax, release, we are still.  in the bath, you can't run to answer a phone, you can't be online, you can't do much because your hands are wet- so you just soak. 

it's funny that as you grow up, the things you hated as a kid- the things your children hate, are some of the things you look forward to the most as an adult.  like taking a bath and going to bed. 

i grew up in new england in an older home with beautiful 6 foot porcelain bathtubs.  as a child i did not appreciate this.  i thought my mother was crazy for asking for 'vitabath' bath salts and bubbles for christmas every year.  i was busy hurrying to master the shower so i could be in and out faster- and get on with my day.  it wasn't until i was out of college, married and in my mid-twenties that i reunited with the bath, and it was fabulous.  only then did i began to understand it's value and crave a good hour in the tub.

the bath is best for-

-that deep cold that can get so far into your bones that only a hot bath will cure it
-a really bad day
-when you need to be completely in dispose- tune out from the world and can say 'ask your dad to do it i have wet hands."
-pregnancy aches and pains
-any aches and pains
-a headache
-a heart ache
-when you want to have a good cry and don't want anyone to know
-facilitating a good night sleep
-getting really clean
-okay, anything really

the only problem with a bath is the puckered fingers that result and do drive me mad.  so i unfortunately have to sit with my hands out of water (like Amelie's mother).

but- in whatever size tub, even with water that sometimes comes out of the spout muddy (like uganda), a good soak is best.

my dream is to have a rooftop, outdoor bathtub.  not a hot-tub, not a whirlpool- an outdoor bath.  one where you have to go through the process of filling the tub, of lighting some candles, of adjusting the temperature, and waiting.  like cooking a meal.  it's a process.  soaking until it's no longer needed, until my body temperature and the water have become one and together, the water and i, decide the bath is complete.  that would be heavenly.