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A Study in Mindfulness – the Shower Experience


shower

This morning I was flipping through the pages of the book "The Miracle of Mindfulness" by Thich Nhat Hanh. As many of you may know, Thich Nhat Hanh is a Zen master and a well-known spiritual teacher. He is originally from Vietnam but these days lives in France. I had read the book a few years ago and was trying to refresh my memory for tips on mindfulness.

In the book, Hanh talks about being in the present moment all the time – being totally aware of the moment whether you are cleaning the dishes, having meals, reading a book or whatever activity, however mundane,  that you are engaged in.

After reading through a few pages in the book, I decided to go in for a shower. As soon as I entered the shower I remembered the words of Hanh to be in the present moment. I decided to become fully aware of and get totally absorbed in the experience in the shower.

As soon as I turned the shower on, I became aware of the touch of water on my skin. I was able to feel the contact between the water and my head. The warmth of the water dripping down the body felt truly soothing. I shifted by head backwards and felt the water on my face. It felt like a gentle massage of the muscles on my face. I opened the eyes and allowed the water to splash my eyes. I had to quickly close the eyes as it felt as if the water was "burning" the eyes. I turned around and allowed the water to caress my back and the neck. At one point it almost felt as if the water was tickling the back of the neck. The gently spray and the warmth of the water felt amazingly soothing.

My attention was suddenly drawn to the sense of hearing as I started paying attention to the sound of the shower. I started moving my head side to side and felt the water almost making music in my ears. I became aware of the sound of the drops of water that were falling on the ground. Again, as I swayed my body side to side I could hear different sounds. I decided to play with the water a bit. I would hold the water between my hands and the chest and then let it drop to the floor and listen to the splashing sound. I allowed the water to drop on the drain cover and was able to hear the "metallic" sound.

I stood still for a moment and allowed the water to fall on my forehead and it felt like someone was gently and tenderly massaging my forehead. I turned around and got the same feeling again when I felt the massage on my back.

By this time, I was beginning to feel the gentle warmth of the air entering my nostrils with each breath. As some of you know I don’t have a sense of smell (I lost it during a nasal surgery when I was 16) so I couldn’t really engage my sense of smell into this beautiful experience. However, I was able to follow the movement of warm, moist air all the way from my nostrils, through the bronchial cavity, and into the lungs. I  closed my eyes and started breathing deep breaths and became aware of the lungs being filled with that warm, moist air.

As I opened my eyes, I noticed a few drops of water on the side of the body that were making their way slowly down the body. It was interesting to observe the contrast between the water flowing rapidly in the front of the body while on the side of the body, the drops seemed to be in no hurry and were just leisurely crawling downward. At some spots on the body, it almost seemed like a few streams of small rivulets trying to merge into the ocean quickly.


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At this time I suddenly realized that I had been in the shower for a much longer time than I normally spend there.  This is when the thought flashed in my mind that I should write about this experience as a blog post. I suddenly found myself drifting away into preparing a draft of the article and the possible reaction that the readers might have to this "weird" piece of writing. However, I was able to bring myself back to my experience of mindfulness and stay with the shower experience.

Toward the end of the shower I always turn the water to its coldest temperature and stay under the cold water for a few seconds. This always seems to invigorate me. However, today I decided to stay in the cold shower a little bit longer to see how it feels when I am trying to pay attention, being mindful of the experience. I felt the cold water on the head, on my face, on my back  and on the sides. As the water dripped down the body, it seemed to cool every pore of my body. Normally I stay under cold water for about 20-25 seconds. Today I extended the experience to almost a minute. Initially, the whole experience felt really pleasant and enjoyable as I was able to feel the cold water all over the body. However toward the end, I could "hear" my body saying, "too cold- can’t take it any more!". I knew at that point that it was time to turn the shower off and head for the towel.

After the shower I came and sat in my chair. I felt a strange sense of calm and peace in the mind. I decided to close my eyes and just soak in the whole experience for some more time.

At this point I picked up the book by Hanh again and continued reading some more until I came to the spot where he describes the story by Tolstoy about the three questions of an emperor. You can read the story online here but I would like to state the three questions and their answers.

Questions:

  1. What is the right time to begin everything?
  2. Who are the right people to listen to, and whom to avoid?
  3. What is the most important thing to do?

Answers:

  1. There is only one time that is important– Now! It is the most important time because it is the only time when we have any power.
  2. The most necessary man is he with whom you are, for no man knows whether he will ever have dealings with any one else.
  3. The most important affair is, to do him good, because for that purpose alone was man sent into this life.

As you can see, the main message of the story is to treat the present moment, the moment of NOW, as the most important moment.

In this context, I would also like to recommend the book titled, "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. In this book also, the author emphasizes the need to always remain in the present moment. If you haven’t read it, I suggest you check it out.

I would love to hear your own story related to any experiences of mindfulness or being in the present moment.

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