There are days and nights when my neck, shoulders and upper back are throbbing with pain because I have been upright all day sitting in a char typing away. Ridding the pain from my body after I am done working is something I love looking forward too because I rid pain by giving my body a good massage with a homemade warming arnica massage bar. Not only does it bring warming soothing comfort to my body, but it also helps calm me down while softening up the skin from head to toe.
Ingredients Needed
The ingredients used to make the bars are raw mango butter, raw cocoa butter, organic coconut oil, raw beeswax, essential oils of black pepper, cayenne pepper, ginger root, cinnamon and clove, whole vanilla beans, arnica oil and almond oil. If you do not have these ingredients on hand, as I do, you can easily find them at an herbal shop or whole food grocery store near you. Sometimes you can even find them online at online drugstores or bulk online spa shops.
Materials Needed
The materials you will need to make the bars are silicone massage bar molds, an old crock-pot or slow cooker you don't mind getting a little messy, a gravy scoop serving spoon and an old rag just in case there is a spill to clean up. If you do not have these materials on hand, you can easily find them at a kitchen department store near you.
Creating
To create the massage bars you will want to place two cups each of mango butter, cocoa butter, coconut oil and beeswax into the crock-pot. Then you will want to add in three to five drops of each essential oil. After slice open five vanilla beans and toss them into the pot as well along with five tablespoons each of arnica massage oil and almond oil. Then, place the lid onto the crock-pot and turn it on low to medium heat to melt all the ingredients and infuse them together to create a warming sweet comforting spicy vanilla scent. You will want to leave the ingredients in the crock-pot to simmer together for about an hour or two.
As the ingredients are melting's and infusing together prepare your molds as close to the pot as possible. You may even want cookie sheets to place the molds on so you can easily transport them into the refrigerator for the next step that is about to come.
Now, once the ingredients have melted and infused together for about an hour, take the gravy spoon and carefully scoop up the liquid oil mixture and fill your massage molds up with it until all the liquid is gone. After, place them filled molds into the refrigerator and let the liquid become solid form. This could take up to two hours.
As soon as the bars become solid form, you can pop them out of the molds and use them to massage your body with when you are in pain. However, you may want to store the in the refrigerator after because warm temperatures can melt them creating a mess, but as long as you keep them cool and dry they should be perfectly okay.
Soothing the Aches and Pains Away
To soothe the aches and pains away, simply pick up the bar and massage it all over your body. Your body heat will melt the bar and release the essential healing oils into your skin creating a warming sensation.
The warming sensation comes from the black pepper, cayenne, ginger root, cinnamon and clove oils. These essential oils help ease muscles tension and stiffness well while relieving inflammation and aches and pains. The arnica and vanilla bean in the massage bar are natural pain relievers and they help calm soreness and stiffness. The moisturizing butters, coconut oil and almond oil are simply to help hydrate and soften the skin while also allowing the bar to melt and slide gently against the skin as the ingredients melt into your body.
Now, my favorite time to massage my body is after a warm soak in the tub with a good relaxing bath bomb. I find when my skin is warm and damp the massage bar glides easier against the skin releasing the healing properties onto the body to bring relief and comfort. However, you can use it whichever way you please.
The bar is also excellent to rub on the forehead when you have a headache or sinus pressure and it even works wonders for giving yourself or someone else a lovely foot massage. Heck, it is even nice to use for relieving leg cramps and menstrual cramps too because of the warming soothing sensation it provides from the essential oils.
End Notes
It is best to make up the massage bars ahead of time and keep them in your refrigerator for quick and easy use when you are in pain and need relief fast. Trying to make up a batch of them when you are in pain can be a bit difficult. Most importantly, make them with love and enjoy using them to relieve aches and pains from the body naturally.
