The Sacred Shower. No, Really!
I was having such a great time in the shower this morning, that it hit me that maybe not everyone takes their showers as seriously as I do. And I thought, There’s a blog post in this.
And there was. So here it is. Some ways that you, too, can make even your mundane daily (or not, I’m not judging) shower an empowering, happiness boosting experience. You can start right now, today, without having to shop first. I’ll give you my two favorite shower experiences. 1. I downloaded the FREE toning meditation by Heather Macauley Noell at A Space of Love and and put it on my iPod. It’s a ten minute ooom and ahhh type meditation that brilliantly combines the two into an ahhhhhhhhhhooooooooommmm tone. It’s set to music that was created using the electric signals of a human heart in an ultra relaxed state. I mean, it’s real music, they just somehow translated the heart signals into equivalent notes. (Look, I don’t know how, this isn’t area of specialty. I just know it’s beautiful and it works.) It’s truly bliss-inducing. In Eastern Traditions, one ahhhs in the morning and oooooms in the evening (or maybe the other way around.) One tone is one of gratitude, and the other is of opening yourself up to receive to more blessings. Heather says rather than berate herself for doing one and forgetting the other, she designed this combination meditation, and it’s a powerful, peaceful, tranquil experience. I often play it and ahhoom along with it while taking my shower. (No, Grasshopper, one does not always need to meditate while sitting in the lotus position with one’s eyes closed. One can meditate while in the shower, because washing is so automatic you can do it without too much focus. I don’t recommend meditating while driving, although I’ve done that too. And so far, survived. You know, I’ve been flipped the bird and honked at angrily a few times, but aside from that…)
2. My other favorite shower activity is rocking out. Or, to be more specific, blasting my favorite rock & roll music while signing at the top of my lungs, and often busting a few of my best moves in the shower stall. This activity continues while I perform my other bathroom ablutions, like drying or straightening my hair, dressing and putting on makeup. It only stops when I brush my teeth (and sometimes emerges garbled and foamy even then) so I always wait for a less than favorite song for that. It really messes up the mirror when a song I love comes on while I have a mouthful of toothpaste.
The notion here is to find absolute joy in the most mundane of tasks. You can apply this philosophy to anything you have to do in life.
But while we’re on the topic of bathrooms, let’s talk a bit more. Because really, as women, or at least as women with small children (mine are grown, but I remember,) often the only me-time we get is our bathroom time. Sometimes we don’t even get to be alone in that sanctuary! So it needs to be really special and we don’t need to spend a lot of money to make it that way. A little, but not a lot. It’s more attention and care than money. Some of these suggestions will cost more, some less, but all are going to make your inner sanctum more like sacred space.
*Buy a few of those puffy shower scrubbies in various colors. They’re like a buck in the beauty aisle at the grocery store. *Decide on “your scent.” Spend some time with this. Some of us go through many years without choosing a signature scent. Find yours (and get feedback from your fella, because life will be much more fun if he loves the way you smell as much as you do) and then start stocking up whenever you can, or asking for it for holidays and birthdays and whatnot. Get the whole thing, the body wash, the lotion, the spritz, the perfume, all in your scent. Layer it so it lasts. This could be more expensive than some of the other suggestions here, unless you wait for mother’s day or an anniversary and request the gift basket in your chosen flavor.
*Always have music in your bathroom. You can program several playlists, one for generating high energy, one for soothing and calming your down, one for when you want to feel sexy and frisky, another for when you want to feel powerful and in charge. Enter your sanctum and the first thing you do is turn on the music. *Get pretty towels and washcloths. That can be really nice, and not that expensive, especially if you just get a couple at a time. *Have nice cushy bathmats and rugs on your bathroom floor. *Give yourself permission to have shampoos and conditioners and lotions that you absolutely love, even if they cost a bit more than you want to spend. Things like this, things just for you and no one else, shouldn’t always be the cheapest things you can find. If they are, it devalues you. And since you’re probably the one doing the shopping, that means YOU are devaluing you. And if you don’t value you, who will? *Have a plush robe and slippers in the sanctum, so you can wrap up in them and just bask. Some of my favorite bathroom gadgets: Izunami brand flat iron for straightening hair quickly, easily, beautifully. Around $90.
*A foot soaking tub that plugs in to vibrate and keep the water warm, combined with some lovely foot soaks (or just add baking soda to the water.) *A Ped-Egg for about $7,(and foot lotion of your choice, for after those lovely foot soaks.) *Venus razors, which don’t need shaving cream (but then use it anyway.)
*One of those towel wraps with velcro to hold it in place while you primp. Aveda Products for your hair, shampoo, conditioner, Smooth Infusion, Elemental Oil. Pricey, but worth it. *28 Day Mascara from Solutions.com Get a set for your lashes, and another, a shade lighter, for tinting your brows. Lasts for weeks. *Rita Hazan Root Concealer by Sephora.com to touch up roots in between visits to the salon.
If you can have your own bathroom, do. If you can’t, make the most of your shared one. Keep it as clean and neat as you can without knocking yourself out over it.
So there are my tips for making your bathroom time sacred. And one last essential: remember to lock the door.
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