Do You Know About Tibetan Medicinal Baths?

Perhaps you have never heard of Tibetan medicinal baths, however, in the Asian country they are part of daily life and have contributed for thousands of years to the well – being of a population that lives at high altitudes, with little oxygen and very cold. for a good part of the year.

That is why the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added Tibetan medicinal baths to the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during the 13th session of the Intergovernmental Committee held in Port Louis, Mauritius.

How is the Tibetan medicinal bath?

The medicinal bath is a traditional practice in Tibet, of great importance for the prevention of diseases. Known as Lung mu in Tibetan, it incorporates the properties of the five elements or the five origins of life: earth, water, fire, wind and space.

With the bath in bathtubs or pools with spring water where different decoctions of medicinal plants and minerals are dissolved, it is about balancing the energies or causes of health and disease, according to traditional medicine: lung (wind), chiba, (fire) and peigen (phlegm).

There are several types of bathrooms

The baths are made with minerals or medicinal plants dissolved in the water and under the supervision of traditional doctors. But baths are also taken in religious ceremonies, popular activities or as part of the daily life of families.

Following UNESCO’s decision, China’s Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism Zhang Xu said that “the medicinal bath is part of the heritage and development of traditional Tibetan medicinal theories within modern healthy practices.”

You can make a version at home

Although a genuine therapeutic bath is done under the prescription of a doctor who chooses the right mix of plants to treat the imbalance suffered, a version can be done at home.

On the internet you can find mixtures of plants and minerals, already prepared for the bath, or you can buy each product separately and make the mixture at home.

For example, a Tibetan mix for treating osteoarthritis contains ephedra, rhododendron, mugwort, Myricaria squamosa, St. Joseph pine, calcite, trona and sulfur (minerals), thistle and Shorea robusta.

With European plants

And you can also resort to European plant mixtures that are easily accessible in any herbalist, although we are no longer talking about a Tibetan bath, but the philosophy is similar.

Some well-known blends are those of rosemary, basil and rue ; roses and calendula; and citronella and rosemary.

Prepare a decoction with these plants or the ones you want for 15 minutes, then pour it into the 38 ºC water and take a bath for 15 minutes.