Today my foray into ‘dark night of the soul’ is on pause (woohoo) and it could just be due to my meditation in the shower earlier. Mindfulness works particularly well in the shower as it’s rooted mostly in a bodily felt experience and we usually feel very safe there alone and naked. So meditating in the shower is very easy and the payoff is huge.
What an opportunity ! In the shower there is nowhere else to go, we are in there for the duration, and it’s a perfect opportunity to fully be there in the moment due practice gratitude. Thinking I might do a video of it soon to talk though what I do. Meantime here’s some more detail that I hope shows just how rich and grounding the experience can be as we can use all our senses nearly. It doesn’t have to go quite as far as I’m wiring here, any level of this mindfulness experience can leave us feeling more grounded and grateful.
My showers used to consist of me hurrying to get them over with and largely lost in thought about the days planned activities including rehearsing conversations I might have or entertaining worries as my mind came up with imagined threats to the day going smoothly.
I hardly noticed I was there most of the time. That was when I was in a habit of always rushing to try to somehow find the next better moment, always on the run from just being there fully.
I slip off my robe and hang it up. It feels good to be completely naked, and I step in and feel the warm water all over my body and it feels comfortable on my skin. I feel gratitude for this sensation, it’s feels good. I put some shampoo on my wet hair and it smells lovely, more gratitude. I wash my hair and feel glad to be cleaning it. I rinse the shampoo out and put some conditioner on. A slightly different, equally lovely smell, and I enjoy running my fingers through my now smooth hair. More gratitude. I notice the steam and how it warms the room and imagine my plants will be happy about a bit of moisture in the air. Gratitude again.
I hear the steady sound of the water which is soothing and notice the pretty pattern as it comes out of the shower head and watch how it runs down the tiles and swirls into the drain. I breathe deeply and consciously.
What an amazing device. I turn one chrome knob and warm water comes out and washes over me and then is taken away for me. I feel well supported by life. I look at the chrome metal containing the pipes coming out of the wall marvel at all the people that had to be involved with providing this for me. The designers and engineers who designed it to the plumber who fitted it and connected it to my heating system, to the people who process the used water before it ends up in the sea. Thank you to all of you. Thanks for the shampoo makers too, the truck drivers who brought it to my city, the shop keepers making it easily available to me.
I enjoying cleaning my body parts and the freshness feeling that comes from it. I sometimes talk to these part and thank my feet and ankles as I clean them for supporting me. My legs and arms and my whole body for working so magically well every day. I love my body, I love my whole being.
I turn it off, and I step out onto a lovely comfy bath mat and clean towel waiting and enjoy embracing myself with it as I dry off, paying a little attention to parts of my body I don’t often think about and enjoy the experience of looking after myself. Hang the towel over the warm radiator to dry and off to get dressed feeling fresh, grateful, relaxed and present. Problems nowhere to be found for those 15 minutes. Bravo to that 😊
Learning to Rest with it All 