Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and temperate.
Rough winds do shake the lovely buds of May,
And summer's lease hath too short a date.
Beauty and Sleep have always danced in a symphony that only your body can understand. Why not combine both?
A Floral Bath may be the answer to all your questions. For those of you born outside of tropical Asia, the floral bath is the nub of the 'tropical spa' experience. We can hardly believe our eyes when a bucket of vivid blooms is tossed into the water purely for our pleasure. It is a sybaritic moment when the velvety petals tickle our bare skin.
Flowers - jasmine, gardenia, tropical magnolia, hibiscus, frangipani, bougainvillea, poinciana, rose, globe amatanth, alamanda and ylang-ylang - are chosen both for their fragrance and rich colors.
In line with tropical mores, Asians believe flowers are the tangible link to the forces of the spiritual world, representing a symbolic purge of our earthly impurities. It becomes an opportunity to savor the cleansing experience and relax for 20 minutes.
So head out to your garden, collect all the flowers you can find, fill up your bath tub, and relax. You don't need to have every flower listed, just find your favorite flowers, step into the steaming tub, light some candles and relax. The world isn't going to end in 20 minutes. You deserve a break.
