Can it be that simple? Reducing stress by taking a bath? Does this have anything to do with leadership?

Absolutely! Keep reading.

Since I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do was bathe. My mom would pour Mr. Bubbles into the tub when we had it or dishwashing liquid when we didn't. It was all the same to me as a kid; as long as there were bubbles and more hot water, there was endless playtime.

Barbie dolls, cups, towels, baby dolls, you name it. If it floated, it was considered a bath toy.

Fast forward to being a single mother, and bath time became "Mommy's time." It was my private oasis, my sanctuary, the only place where I could have silence for an extended amount of time. Throw on a movie, tell the boys it was Mommy-Time and then allow Calgon to take me away.

Life became increasingly more challenging for me; work, school, running a small business, being a single mom, friend, and girlfriend, and bath time was a rarity. I had completely forgotten about the joys of bath time as the stress continued to build. I no longer took the time to take a bath; showers were quicker and "wasted less water."

I went on with my life, got married, and divorced, and still had not rediscovered my favorite stress reliever until I started my healing journey.

As I got deeper and deeper into the study and practice of metaphysics, I began learning all about the importance of water in healing and how our bodies are made up of mostly water. Like a light bulb going off, it all came flooding back to me.

I remembered how taking a bath made me feel, as though it was washing away the day's/week's stressors, leaving me refreshed. I remembered how much fun it was to play in the tub and decided to make it a point to schedule a bath (if I had to) at least once a week.

During the new wave of baths, since I was so busy, bath time, while enjoyable, also needed to serve a purpose. Since I was in the process of healing, I decided to schedule a bath as part of my healing program and then be intentional about what I did while in the tub.

If you have ever gone through a mentally and emotionally challenging situation, then you understand the toll it can take on your psyche, how you see yourself, and how you interact with the rest of the world.

So, I used my bath time to reconnect with my body, to speak life into my body, to speak life into my business, my desires, and my dreams. I created a ritual in which I prayed in the bath, meditated, set goals, and reimagined the stressful events for the day as I would have liked for them to be.

The more I did this, the greater its effect on my personal and professional lives. Those individuals at the office no longer stressed me out, or if I found myself in a challenging situation with them, I took joy in the fact that I could rework that entire situation during bath time. 

Since the bath ritual worked so well, I started using it with my clients that...

• Needed to relieve personal and workplace stress.
• Wanted to reconnect with and heal their bodies from a past life and relationship trauma.
• Needed to learn to love their bodies again after undergoing a surgical procedure or menopause.
• Had fallen victim to the unkind effects of gravity.

No matter the reason, I started prescribing Spiritual Baths as assignments to my clients.

The results were amazing! How could something so simple as putting your body in a water tub help heal life-long traumas? How could using a spiritual method for taking a bath to relieve the stressors you encounter at the office? How could taking a bath help a woman learn to love her body again after a mastectomy, a hysterectomy, and even sexual abuse?

It worked because it wasn't just a prescription to get in a tub of water to take a bath; it was much more. 

They received instructions on...

• How to prepare for the bath, 
• What to do and say while in the tub, 
• And how to handle what feelings would come up after the bath. 

It worked because sometimes you need to do more than "pray about it." If you are a woman used to getting things done or an overachiever, just sitting back and thinking positively doesn't help you. You need to DO something, and that's what taking a spiritual bath does for you; it gives you something to do on your path to healing.

Thinking positive is great, but what do you do when praying and thinking positive is not enough? You take a spiritual bath! 

There is no right or wrong way to take a spiritual bath, but for those who want to know the same recipe I give to my clients, I will share the link to my Spiritual Body-Affirming Bath course. You are more than welcome to take a deep dive via Google to learn about the different ways to prepare for a spiritual bath; I've even performed the search myself. However, you won't find the specific questions or the clearly explained example that will help you craft your healing recipe, as I've included in my course. 

Once you have accessed the course, download the pdf and print it out so you can review it before taking your bath, and I've even included a checklist to help you prepare your healing recipe and all physical items before stepping into the bathroom.

I know people that have not taken a bath in decades! They care about their hygiene, but taking a bath takes up too much time, or they find that sitting in the same tub of water they used to clean themselves is unsanitary, no judgment either way. 

If you are a shower-only person, I would invite you to take a shower first, then run your spiritual bath following the instructions in the course. The benefits of learning to "self-soothe" is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself and those around you.

As a conscious leader, it is your job to make sure that you are not bringing your personal challenges into your place of business. Your direct reports are counting on you to lead them from a place of wholeness. This doesn't mean that you don't get to have an "off-day," but by being in a position of leadership, you want to lead by example.

Being intentional about healing from your personal and professional challenges will help you develop your intuition to a level where you can sense when your team members or colleagues are experiencing challenges as well. And maybe, just maybe, allow you to have more compassion and a word of advice on how to make it through.

Being a conscious leader doesn't make you weak; it makes you that much more human!

This course offers instructions on how to perform a purifying bath to help you work through and begin to heal past trauma associated with your body and body image so that you can start to love the skin you're in!

**This emotional exercise will ask you to touch memories, experiences, and even your body that may make you uncomfortable. Please do as much as you can the first time and go at your own pace.