What’s Your Bath Bomb?

came across a picture the other day of a woman sitting in a bathtub, completely surrounded by bubbles, with the words SELF CARE written across the image, and I smiled because, honestly, who doesn't love the idea of a nice warm bath? A little music, maybe a candle flickering, something yummy to drink, most importantly, the bathroom door closed. If you're a mother, perhaps the most luxurious part of the entire experience is knowing that nobody is currently yelling, “Mom!” from the other side of it. The picture got me thinking about something: "What if self-care isn't really about the bath?" What if the bath is just the container? What if the real magic is in the bath bomb? Stay with me here. 😂

The self-care bath bomb

We tend to have a very specific picture of what self-care is supposed to look like. Bubble baths, face masks, scented candles, a quiet cup of tea, a spa day, and those things can absolutely be self-care. Though I think sometimes we accidentally turn self-care into another thing we're supposed to be good at. Another box to check, another thing we should be doing because Instagram told us we need to “fill our cup.” Sometimes your cup doesn't need a cute little affirmation stuck beside it; sometimes your life needs something that actually changes the water.

That's where the bath bomb comes in. Think about what happens when you drop a bath bomb into a tub. It doesn't just sit there. It fizzes, dissolves, changes the water around it and sometimes even the colour changes.  Sometimes there's glitter, sometimes there's a ridiculous amount of foam, and sometimes it smells so good that you immediately feel like a completely different person. The bath bomb doesn't remove the bathtub. It doesn't magically make the rest of your life disappear. It simply changes the experience you're having inside it, and isn't that really what some of our best self-care tools do too?

Your bath bomb might not look like mine.

Maybe your bath bomb is going to therapy, and having a safe place to unpack the things you've been carrying for years. Maybe it's learning that some of the things you've always blamed yourself for weren't actually character flaws. Maybe it's learning how to set boundaries. Maybe it's understanding your triggers. Maybe, just maybe, it's learning how to stop abandoning yourself just to keep everyone else comfortable. That's a pretty powerful bath bomb, don't cha think? Maybe your 'Bath Bomb' is working out, or going for a walk, or spending time with your partner, or hanging out with your bestie; maybe it's journaling, learning something new, finally pursuing that dream you keep putting off, or maybe it's simply creating something, or dancing in your kitchen with your kiddos, or sitting outside with your hot coffee, enjoying listening to the birds chirp. Perhaps it's spending an afternoon doing absolutely nothing, and maybe, if you're anything like me, it's a round of golf with a wobbly pop and a friend full of crazy stories and a boatload of laughter. Self-care doesn't have to make sense to anybody else. It just has to do something for you.

And here's the part I really love…

Not every bath bomb is designed to do the same thing. Some are calming, some are energizing, some are colourful, some are sparkly, some smell like lavender and make you feel like you have your life together, and some probably smell like a cupcake and leave your bathtub looking like a crime scene. But they're all different, and so are we. What helps one person feel grounded might make another person feel trapped; what gives one person energy might completely exhaust someone else; what feels like self-care to your best friend might feel like another obligation to you, and guess what? That's absolutely okay! You don't have to copy someone else's version of taking care of themselves; you get to figure out what works for you.

So… what does your bath bomb do?

Does it calm the chaos? Does it help you heal? Does it give you energy? Does it help you reconnect with yourself? Does it give you space to breathe? Does it help you finally say, “Actually, this isn't working for me anymore”? Maybe it even helps you become a little more audacious, a little more curious, a little more willing to listen to that tiny voice inside you that keeps saying, “There's more for me than this.” I don't think self-care is always about escaping our lives. Self-care should be about changing the way we experience them. Sometimes it's about getting the support we need, about making different choices, or about resting long enough to hear ourselves think, or simply doing something that makes absolutely no sense on paper but makes us feel alive, and sometimes, it's about becoming the person who finally realizes that they deserve to take care of themselves before they're completely empty.

So, my fellow Esteemers…

If your self-care came in the form of a bath bomb, what would yours be?

Would it sparkle? Would it change colours? Would it have healing powers? Would it give you energy? Would it calm your nervous system? Would it make you laugh? Would it help you let go? Would it completely blow up some old version of yourself that you're finally ready to leave behind? Or maybe it would just make your metaphorical water a little bit easier to sit in, and maybe that's enough for today. So tell me: What's YOUR bath bomb? Hashtag 

Cheers,

Coach Jo <3