An aromatherapy foot bath is so under-appreciated, but it can be a super easy, flexible, relaxing, and health-promoting personal spa treatment  – a wonderful way of pampering yourself. A foot bath can be a nice alternative to a soak in the tub when you don’t have a tub or you don’t have enough time. Even when you’re super busy and have no time at all, you can still do something good for yourself by taking a quick foot soak. It doesn’t even need to take extra time out of your day. Just soak while you work, read, eat a meal or watch TV.

An aromatherapy foot bath has many benefits:

1. The warm soak is soothing and relaxing even without essential oils or salts. The heat draws blood and accompanying nutrients to the feet, which promotes healing.
2. Whatever you put in the bath gets absorbed by the skin and is taken up in the bloodstream and made accessible to other parts of the body. So, a bath for the feet means nourishment for the body, mind, and spirit!

Add salts to your bath, and add more benefits:

1. Salts increase circulation and softly exfoliate dead skin, reviving the feet.
2. Salts, particularly Epson salts, relieve itchiness caused by Athletes’ Foot and other fungal infections.
3. Epson salts contain magnesium sulfate, which helps reduce inflammation and soothes tired, achy feet and muscles. Magnesium is essential for mood stabilization and hormone balance.
4. Sea salts and dead sea salts release energy blocks in the subtle bodies and increase energy flow.
5. Overall, a warm soothing foot bath relaxes, reduces stress, can lower blood pressure, and helps one to regain balance.

Add aromatherapy or essential oils, and the benefits are endless:

1. Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) and lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) control foot odors.
2. Tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) is a strong anti-fungal and can clear up Athlete’s Foot. Grapefruit (Citrus x paradisi) and lemongrass (Cymbopogan citratus) also address Athlete’s Foot.
3. Lemon tea tree (Leptospermum petersonii) has a more uplifting and pleasant scent than tea tree, and it has anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties.
4. Myrrh (Commiphora myrrha) is good for chapped, dry skin.
5. Peppermint (Mentha piperita) invigorates.
6. Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), sweet orange (Citrus sinensis), cypress (Cupressus supervirens) induce relaxation and lift the spirits.

Preparation of the Aromatic Salt Foot Bath

Add just a tiny bit of carrier oil (organic or all-natural cold-pressed vegetable oil) like olive, safflower, sweet almond, or sunflower oil, and your feet will leave the bath feeling silky soft. Don’t put too much or else they’ll feel slick and oily. A 1/8 of a teaspoon (about 1 ml) of carrier is all that’s really needed.

For an aromatherapy foot bath, mix the essential oils and the carrier before adding them to the bath. This helps dilute and disperse the essential oils. For a foot bath, do NOT exceed 4 drops of essential oils.