Betsy Thurlow-Shields, of Silver Spring, Maryland, traces her addiction to hot water immersion back to her childhood, when the day’s end would be signaled by the sound of running bathwater. “In our family,” Betsy recalls, “stressful times were always treated with a good hot bath, no matter what time of day, or how many times a day.”
As an adult, she continued with this particular self-care practice, but eventually grew concerned about the amount of bathwater she was using. “The solution, obviously, was a hot tub,” she says, which she now uses at all times of the day. But most often, Betsy climbs into her hot tub when the day is just beginning: “It is simply my place to be quiet, to feel a core warmth, and to be outside. It is the combination of these three ingredients that provides a balance within me and connects me to the day I am about to begin.”