Bath Salts: Ancient Origins, Modern Benefits, and Indigenous Connections

Bath salts have a long history rooted in ancient cultures, offering  physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits.

What Are Bath Salts?

Bath salts are water soluble minerals created to be added to bathwater. The most common types include Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) and sea salt (sodium chloride, often harvested from evaporated seawater). When dissolved, these minerals can soften skin, ease tension, and help restore balance to the body. From a scientific perspective, bath salts work through osmosis and mineral absorption. When dissolved in warm water, the salts break down into ions that interact with the skin. Magnesium, in particular, plays a crucial role in regulating muscle and nerve function, and soaking in a salt bath can help the body absorb trace amounts through the skin. At the same time, the warm water dilates blood vessels, improves circulation, and promotes the release of endorphins (nature’s stress relievers).

Though they may look like something modern, the use of mineral salts for bathing and healing is thousands of years old.

Origins and History

Ancient Egypt: Egyptians used salts and essential oils in their baths to purify the body and spirit.

Traditional Asian Practices: In Japan, bathing in hot springs rich with natural salts and minerals (onsen) is a practice that continues today for relaxation and healing.

European Roots: The “Salt Road” trade routes spread the value of salts for food preservation, medicine, and bathing across the continent. Epsom salts get their name from the town of Epsom in Surrey, England, where natural mineral springs rich in magnesium sulfate were discovered in the early 1600s. People  believe the salty springs have powerful healing and cleansing properties, making Epsom one of the first famous spa towns in Europe.

Benefits of Bath Salts

Adding bath salts to water has both physical and psychological benefits:

Muscle Relaxation: Magnesium in Epsom salt helps reduce muscle soreness and stiffness.

Detoxification: Minerals encourage sweating, which helps release impurities from the body.

Skin Health: Sea salts naturally soften, exfoliate, and restore skin.

Stress Relief: A warm salt bath calms the nervous system, lowers stress hormones, and creates space for reflection.

Improved Circulation: Bath salts encourage blood flow, aiding recovery and overall vitality.

When paired with calming essential oils, the benefits extend even further into emotional wellness.

Indigenous Connections

Water is a sacred element and cleanser. While “bath salts” as we know them may not have been used traditionally in every Indigenous nation, the practice of cleansing, purification, and ceremony through water and natural minerals is familiar.

Sweat Lodge Ceremonies: Sweat lodges for purification, combining water, heat, and plant medicines to cleanse body, mind, and spirit.

Mineral-rich Springs: Natural springs and salt deposits are known as sacred healing places for physical recovery and spiritual connection.

Baths with Plant Infusions: Bathing with cedar, sage, sweetgrass, or other plants is a practice tied to healing, grounding, and restoring balance. Adding salts and natural elements to water continues a long line of water based medicine.

Self-care as Ceremony 

Taking care of yourself is a sacred, intentional practice. 

Next time you soak in a salt bath, consider adding local plants. Yukon Soaps offers three types of bath salts with plants harvested from the boreal forest and infused with essential oils. Our gift to you, created to promote natural wellness, balance, and connection with the Land.