One of the first Wednesdays of every month is massage day at the company. Every month, the massage lady that I sign up under (yes, the one that told me to use eHarmony) tends to ask the same questions. Her first question is usually: Is there anything you’d like me to focus on? I usually respond that there’s nothing in particular, and that’s only because I genuinely feel like I’m pretty much all right. Thing is, within moments she’ll find some place on my back that has me squirming even with some light pressure. Inevitably, the next thing she’ll ask is “so, have you tried epsom salts yet?” And my usual response is “no…not yet.” It’s starting to get embarrassing because it’s totally like I’m not paying attention to any of her advice. She’s recommended bath salts every single month and each time I say that I’ll give it a go only to have forgotten by the time the next month rolls around.

What’s so special about epsom salts? The more technical name for it is magnesium sulfate. Actually, epsom salt is magnesium sulphate with seven water molecules attached…err…so says Wikipedia. Anyway, when you put this into a bath and soak in it, the body tends to absorb this chemical and that helps to reduce inflammation. That’s the big reason the massage therapist wants me to soak in it. She warned me that I had to be careful doing so because I’d likely melt into a pile of goo after the bath: my muscles will be so very relaxed. Sounds great, right?

If you haven’t surmised it yet, I’ve finally gotten off my duff to get a bottle of bath salts. What spurred this? Why this month all of a sudden and not any previous ones? Eh, well a few days ago I must have done something like sleep in a really awkward position because my right neck and right shoulder have been aching like mad. It’s pretty bad. I knew that massage day is coming up, and I didn’t want to go in being in pain without even having tried something I know she’d recommend anyway. So yes, it looks like she finally guilted me into buying it.

Next step though, running a bath with the salts. We’ll see if I even get that far. Baby steps!