Body Odour

Never before in my entire life have I perspired as much as I did in Yogyakarta and Bali recently. Where does BO come in? BO is most often caused by a combination of perspiration and bacteria.

Yes, we all suffer from it, one way or another.

Being a Yoga Teacher demands a fair share of physical ‘work out’ especially if we are teaching beginners. We are our own walking billboard! Simple basic ways that help me stays clean (and smells good) through-out the day.

Scrub. The most basic way to hold BO at bay; particularly in those areas of the body that are most likely to smell, such as armpits and groins. Remember that perspiration and bacteria both work night as well as day shifts, in my case, I always shower and change clothing (yes, including inner wear) before class starts.

Wash more than the body. We can wash till our skin puckers like a prune but we’ll still smell bad if our clothes aren’t clean.

Choose natural fabrics such as natural cotton absorb perspiration better than synthetic materials. The absorbed sweat is then free to evaporate from the fabric. Indian unpolished cotton is my favourite; rarely (almost never) wear branded attire such as Adidas or even Nike.

Anti-perspirants work for some people but I totally avoid it as they are basically ‘drugs’. Many anti-perspirants combine anti-perspirant with deodorant but deodorants themselves cannot control perspiration.

Le Crystal Natural is a chunk of mineral salts, formed into crystal, that helps keep bacteria under control without irritating the skin. I remember my mum used this and still using it!

Watch what we eat. Extracts of proteins and oils from certain food and spices in our body excretions and secretions for hours after eating them and can impart an odor. Fish, cumin, curry and garlic lead the list! Fish? Yeap, hard to swallow but its true.

Once a month, I pamper myself with ‘mandi rempah’- pandan leaves, limau purut, crush old ginger, rose and ‘bunga cina’ petals and a cup of Epsom salt.