epsom salt and baths

For years I have taken showers before bedtime because I have found soothing comfort by doing so, a favorable end to a busy day.

These days I have discovered the sybarite benefits of a taking a bath before bedtime. My father was a bath taker even up into his octogenarian years I remember hearing him splash around in the bathtub. That is a good memory now.

Yet I do not indulge in just a "plain" bath, I prefer to pour two scoops of epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) into the warm running water. There has been much written about epsom salt baths these days, but science has yet to prove the many claims of its various health benefits, though epsom salts has been used as a relief prescription for sore feet and aching muscles for quite some time.  Charlotte's dance teacher will tell the wincing dancers to go home and soak their throbbing feet in Epsom salts after an especially arduous pointe class. You can read a fun bit of the history of the salts discovered in Epsom, England if you are interested.

As for myself, I give generous support for epsom salt baths, 

but keep in mind it is bedtime when I take my bath and my tired brain could easily be led into believing the relaxing effects I am feeling is merely in the Epsom salts!