Editing Bathing (section)

{{Short description|Washing of the body with a liquid}}
{{redirect|Bathe|people with that surname|Bathe (surname)|animal bathing practices|Comfort behaviour in animals}}
[[File:Norblin Bath in the park (detail) 02.jpg|thumb|360px|Detail of [[Jean-Pierre Norblin de La Gourdaine]]'s ''Bath in the Park'' (1785)]]
[[File:Showering on Skylab (9456594881).jpg|thumb|Astronaut [[Jack R. Lousma]] taking a shower in space, 1973]]

'''Bathing''' is the immersion of the body, wholly or partially, usually in water, but often in another medium such as hot air. It is most commonly practised as part of personal cleansing, and less frequently for relaxation or as a leisure activity. Cleansing the body may be solely a component of [[personal hygiene]], but is also a spiritual part of some [[religious ritual]]s. Bathing is also sometimes used medically or therapeutically, as in [[hydrotherapy]], [[ice bath]]s, or the [[mud bath]]. 

People bathe in water at temperatures ranging from very cold to very hot, or in appropriately heated air, according to custom or purpose.

Where indoor heated water is available, people bathe more or less daily, at comfortable temperatures, in a private bathtub or shower. [[Public bathing|Communal bathing]], such as that in hammams, sauna, banya, Victorian Turkish baths, and [[sentō]], fulfils the same purpose, in addition to its often having a social function.

Ritual religious bathing is sometimes referred to as [[Immersion baptism|immersion]]. This can be required after sexual intercourse or menstruation (Islam and Judaism), or as [[baptism]] (Christianity).

By analogy, the term "bathing" is also applied to relaxing activities in which the participant "bathes" in the rays of the sun ([[Sun tanning|sunbathing]]) or in outdoor [[Body of water|bodies of water]], such as in [[sea bathing]] or [[Open water swimming|wild swimming]].

Although there is sometimes overlap, as in sea bathing, most bathing is usually treated as distinct from more active recreations like [[swimming]].