“Bathing is a simple process to cleanse your body. However, our modern lifestyle has distorted the beautiful process of bathing and people make some mistakes,” says Smt Hansa, the Director of The Yoga Institute in a YouTube video. In the video, she has explained common bathing mistakes you must avoid to keep your health in check. She has pointed out various everyday habits that might be ruining your skin.

Smt. Hansa points out that a long, hot bath feels very nice, especially in winter, but hot water removes your skin’s natural oil and can leave it dry and itchy.

What’s Best: It is best to use room-temperature water for bathing. She further explains that in the case of those who are elderly or have some health issues slightly warm water may be used. In ancient times, people used to go to the river to have their baths at the time of sunrise. The flowing water in the river was always warm, this flowing water had the warmth of the Earth, and the person looked at the sun expressing his gratitude, prayer and pure thoughts in his mind. “But in present times we live far from river streams and hence we should try to bath in the water which is at room temperature,” she said.

As per Smt. Hansa, some strong soaps can kill even good bacteria, and this may allow bad bacteria to grow. Harsh soap also dries up your skin, especially sensitive skin. So instead use mild soap, and only in certain areas. “When taking a bath, we should concentrate on moving our hand on every part of our body and massaging it properly. Take a small towel, wet it with water and rub it on the whole body. This is the first step in the process of taking a bath. Nowadays, there is a lot of air pollution and hence using soap is essential as generally, water itself is not enough for cleaning the skin. But we can use a little mild soap and apply it in the armpit, in the groin part. It must also be applied to the feet and the areas where there is hair. On the other water of the body, just rubbing the water is important. This rubbing must be done in the second phase of the bath with soap. For the third time, it can be done only with plain water, so our hands should go all over the body at least three times,” she said.

She further added, “Earlier people used to use fresh milk or curd with a little haldi or turmeric and honey in place of soap, especially during winter, when your skin tends to get dry. Each person needs to experiment with what suits his or her skin since everyone’s skin is different.”

3. Washing Hair Everyday

How often should you wash your hair depends upon your personal factors, such as your hair texture, hair condition, your lifestyle or schedule and so on. Smt Hansa explains that when you wash your hair too frequently, you remove the natural protective oils from your scalp. This leads your scalp to produce more oil. “Shampooing hair too often removes sebum (natural oil) from your hair. Sebum helps to protect your hair strands from moisture loss. Washing it all away can lead to a dry scalp and coarse strands which are prone to breakage. This may be a cause of excessive hair loss. It is essential to find what works best for your hair type and weather conditions.”

What’s Best: If you need to wash your hair frequently, it's best to use plain water or natural soap with herbal ingredients.

4. Stay In Bathroom For Too Long

Smt Hansa explains a long shower might remove the essential oils of your skin leading to inflammation and irritation. These oils are natural moisturisers whose absence can cause skin to become dry, peel, crack or turn pale.

What’s Best: It’s best to limit your bathing time to less than 10 minutes. “This is enough time to cleanse and hydrate the skin without overdoing it. It is best to wash yourself at sunrise and sunset.

Along with the rest of your body, it is essential to clean the soles of your feet. Many people ignore them or forget to wash their feet completely. “It is your feet which get the most dirty and smelly. You should wash your feet properly to clean and exfoliate them. Regularly washing the skin on your feet - top side, bottom and sides with soap and water is an easy way to stop them from smelling. Use a foot scraper or stone to remove the dead skin cells. This will prevent calluses or hardened areas of skin that build up you to repeated friction,” she explains.

6. Bathing Immediately After Eating Food

Taking a bath immediately after eating food means you’re disturbing your digestion, says Hansa. One must ensure that every activity should be done on a specific time period and doing the same during odd hours can actually harm the body. “Ayurveda believes that the fire element in our body gets activated when you eat food to help in the process of digestion. If you take a shower, the body temperature goes down and the digestion process slows down. Since the body starts cooling down it has to work extra hard to maintain the standard temperature. It can also cause uneasiness and indigestion.

What’s Best: Hansa explains that it's best to wait for at least 2 hours after eating to take a shower. It is even better to take a bath before eating as it leaves you feeling very much refreshed and enhances your digestive fire.

7. Bathing Immediately After Workout

Hansa shares that it is important to cool down at least for 20 minutes after your workout. Do some gentle stretches and allow your body to come back to its resting state. This helps in normalising your heart rate and body temperature. “Hydrate yourself with water or fruit juice. When you stop sweating, then you may take a bath. After taking a bath a person should sit quietly and not do any activity for 10 minutes. You can do Shavasana, meditate, sit peacefully and pray,” she said.

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