Epsom Salt: the part of me I didn't know I was missing

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For years I have heard about the benefits of magnesium. All forms of it. Whether it is ingested or you soak in it, I heard it was amazing for our bodies. Living on a homestead without a bath tub, and living on the road as a nomad, I didn't really have the opportunity to make it happen.

A few months ago I was doing some pretty physical work here on the farm that we are helping on, and I was getting crazy sore. My muscles and joints were aching. Nothing too bad, just enough to slow me down. I would always be rolling on our foam roller, stretching, and trying everything I could to massage out cramps and knots.

Stacie D also jumped in to try to help me, but her little hands sometimes aren't as effective when my muscles are really locked up. It is like having a small child dry to massage a rock....it just doesn't work. When there is a real issue she can do some real damage using trigger point therapy, but when it is just aches and pains and tight muscles, not so much.

She finally convinced me to take a hot soak in an epsom salt bath to help me relax a bit. I didn't think much of it, but I grabbed some from the store and gave it a shot. It was my first time actually soaking in a tub in a long time. Being 6'5 I can only get parts of me in the hot water at a time, so I have to make the most of it.

I followed the instructions on the back of the bag thinking that they may know better than I did, and they did. I followed the hot bath with a cold shower, and I felt like a million bucks. I had no idea that it would actually help me, but it did. I did a bit of research and I found this little snippet...

Many Epsom salt advocates believe the amount of magnesium able to enter the body through the skin is sufficient for reducing swelling and relieving aches. It’s also thought that Epsom salts are effective for soothing skin and reducing irritation and itching. source

I'm not sure about any of the science behind it, but it seemed to do the trick. My muscles loosened up, not just for a minute, but they stayed loose. I was able to relax and my soreness faded. Like I said, I'm not sure about what actually happened, and I feel safer not actually trying to speak about something that I don't know. Man oh man did it work.

Maybe my body was actually lacking magnesium. Maybe I just needed a bit of a boost in my body. I have also read and researched other things that are effected by magnesium, but I'm not sure if they hold water either. I do know this, if it does the other things like it treated my muscles...I'm in!

I'm writing this little thought as a perspective toward something that I didn't know I needed, not as an instructional guide. I think it is amazing that we found something natural and easy to use that made me feel amazing. I'm a huge fan of natural products, and doing everything we can naturally to take care of our bodies.

I have a theory when it comes to how we treat our bodies. This is what we have. Look down. This is our body. We take in the world around us through our eyes, ears, mouth, skin etc. Our bodies will take that and turn it into what we are, and even how we speak and interact with others. We should be mindful about what we take it.

With that being said I have an idea about what we should be taking in. I love learning about new things, oils and herbs, but not for long term use. We can go to a store and buy pretty much anything we want, but is that sustainable. I try not to make my entire life depend on something that I may not be able to always get. There are plenty of things I can think of like coconut oil (which I love), that may not be sustainable and are part of a giant industry.

When it comes to the health of our bodies I think it is important to train our bodies to perform on what we have available, and adapt to where we are geographically. I'm not saying that I can actually do this with everything that I eat, especially being plant based in a cold northern state, but I would if I could. I have a drive to homestead again and to build it into something more sustainable. Something that I can grow and change with. Adapt and carry on.

I'm sure there are many things out there that are like epsom salt. Wonderful things that I didn't even know I was missing. I look forward to my journey unfolding and finding them all along the way.

Be well
~The Yeti

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