HOW TO TAKE A SHOWER

by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

All information in this article is for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.

Contents

I. SAFETY

II. OUTFITTING YOUR SHOWER

III. RECOMMENDED SHOWERING PROCEDURE

IV. OTHER SHOWERING TOPICS

__________________________

I. SAFETY

- SIT DOWN during your entire shower. Many people lose their lives due to falls in the shower. The shower and tub are the most dangerous places in any home.

Sitting is also more relaxing. Sitting also allows you to clean your feet much better.

- Never make any quick moves in the shower or tub. Always move around slowly and deliberately. If possible, hold on to railings and handgrips when getting in and out or moving about in a shower.

- If your shower or tub is slippery when wet, use a bathmat or buy some non-slip strips and put them on the bottom of the shower stall or tub. This is very important.

- An excellent idea is to wear a pair of flip-flops into the shower so that you won’t slip.

- Do not bend your head while standing up in a shower. It is easy to become a little faint and fall over.

- Never push another person in the shower.

- Don’t move if your feet have soap on them. If your feet have soap on them, any shower surface will become slippery, so get the soap off your feet and body before standing up or moving about.

- Do not eat while showering. Some people who are in a hurry bring food or a drink into the shower with them to save time. This is not a wise idea because 1) you will not digest anything too well during a shower, and 2) you are more likely to move fast or slip and fall if you do this.

II. OUTFITTING YOUR SHOWER

Buy a four-legged shower stool and always SIT in the shower. A simple stool costs about $30.00 in the USA. If you prefer, you can use a small picnic bench or a plastic chair instead of a shower stool. Some stools have only three legs, but these are less steady.

Buy a body brush. This is a brush with a long handle. Buy one with natural bristles because they are softer. Brushes with synthetic bristles may be too rough. Pig bristles are good.

An alternative is to use a loofah. This is a species of plant that is a natural brush. Try to find one with a handle so you can reach your back.

Less important is to buy a shower massager. This replaces the usual showerhead in the shower. It has a long tube so that you can move the showerhead around your body and bring it very close. They are easy to install and cost about $30-40.00 in the USA. Buy one with a pulse setting. We like a simple one made by Waterpik.

A massager allows you to sit comfortably in one spot without needing to move about to wash the body. In addition, the pulse position offers better cleansing and a massage of the skin.

Less important, but helpful, is to put a cover on your shower if the top is open. The reason is to keep the heat in the shower. The top can just lay on the shower structure and need not be airtight. It can be made of a sheet of plywood cut to fit, or plexiglass, or in the USA one can buy an inexpensive plastic sheet material called Coroplast Polypropylene at a hardware store.

Less important is to buy a pumice stone. This is used to grind off roughness around the heels and elsewhere on the feet.

III. RECOMMENDED SHOWERING PROCEDURE

1. If needed, warm up the bathroom. This will help you relax and enjoy your shower more.

2. Turn on the water and, when it is warm, get in and SIT DOWN!

3. Wet the entire body.

4. Brush the entire body. If possible, turn off the water to save water and to reduce your exposure to chemicals in the water. Keep the water on if you are cold, however. Remain sitting down while brushing the body.

Rub some soap on to your body brush or loofa and then start brushing. Add more soap, as needed.

Start with the head, and work your way down the body. This way you are less likely to forget an area. Places most people forget are:

a) The entire head area. Lots of poison comes out here and the head sweats a lot.

b) The ears – all around and inside, too, and behind the ears, using a soft body brush.

c) The neck – all around the neck

d) The entire crotch area – wash from in front and from behind. It is a sweaty area and one where toxins accumulate, as well. Men will have some difficulty washing the penis and testis because they are sensitive, but hold them and brush them, too.

e) The elbows, wrists, and behind the knees.

f) Between the toes and all around the feet. Be sure to do the top of the feet.

A good idea is to switch hands often – using both the right and the left and to hold the brush. This is more relaxing and it helps you to learn coordination using both hands.

Soaps. We highly recommend Grandpa’s Pine Tar Soap (a bar) or Black African Soap (sold either as a bar or in liquid form). These soaps contain many souls, although that may sound unusual. They will go to work cleaning the body in unusual ways.

For shampoo, we suggest J.R. Liggett’s bar shampoo. Other pure soaps are also okay. Do not use fancy, smelly soaps or shampoo, as most contain somewhat toxic chemicals.

Better brands of body products include Jason, Aubrey Organics, and a few others only. The rest are full of chemicals, even in the health food store. For more on body care products, please read Care Of The Skin on this site.

5. Rest a few minutes. After you brush with soap, ideallly DO NOT IMMEDIATELY RINSE IT OFF. Sit quietly for at least two minutes to let the soap do its work. If you just rub the soap on and then quickly rinse off, the soap does not have a chance to do its work.

6. Turn the water back on and rinse off the soap.

7. If desired, remove callus and dead skin. If you wish, you can rub off the thick callus that most people have on their heels. This requires a pumice stone. Women often like to do this, in part because they often wear sandals, while men wear them less often, and care a little less about the appearance of their feet.

Other parts of the feet and body may also have some thick dead skin that can be rubbed off with your fingers or with a pumice stone.

8. Wash your fingernails. You can pick them clean or better, use a nailbrush for the best results.

9. Shaving in the shower. Some people like doing this because it is easy to clean up afterwards and because the hair all over the body will be saturated with water and therefore somewhat easier to shave. If needed, you can buy a mirror designed for use in the shower. For safety, remain sitting at all times.

10. Dry off. This is best done inside the shower stall or tub. Just sit and rub the body with the towel. This should feel good, and is a method of skin brushing. Once again, start with your head and work your way down the body so you don’t miss any areas. Common areas that people forget to dry are their hair, neck, under the breasts in women, the crotch and the legs.

11. The salt rub (Optional). Some clients say they benefit a lot by ending their shower with a salt rub. You can buy a salt bar on the internet. Try different brands because you may like one more than another.

You can also make salt paste by adding a little water and a little wheat flour to some sea salt. The internet also has recipes to make your own salt bars.

Rub the salt or salt bar all over the body. You can leave the salt on and just get dressed. A number of clients report loving this procedure, which can reduce anxiety. For more details, read The Salt Rub.

12. Dress in light-colored clothing. For details, read Colors. Also read Clothing for ideas about dressing sensibly and for safety.

IV. OTHER SHOWER TOPICS

Daily shower. Plan on showering daily for cleanliness. If you are sweaty or do physical work, a second shower is okay. We do not suggest more bathing than this due to the yin nature of water and the risk of absorbing toxic metals from tap water.

Washing long hair. Women with long hair often want to stand up to wash and rinse their hair. However, a shower stool can be placed so that one can sit and wash long hair much more safely.

(We do not recommend having long hair for safety reasons and to make showering faster and easier. Wearing your hair short also seems to speed up development for women, although we are not sure why.)

No orgasms. Some people like to give themselves an orgasm in the shower. We do not recommend this, as it wastes precious sexual fluid.

Applying lotion after showering. We do not recommend routinely applying lotion after a shower. It adds loads of chemicals to the skin, shuts down and congests the pores of the skin, and is not necessary if one follows a development program to become healthier. Very dry skin is not normal, and is a sign of nutritional deficiencies or toxic metal excess.

If you must use lotion, use as little as possible. Also, buy one that is as totally natural as possible. Even if the label says it contains no chemicals, some companies lie about this on their label, so be careful.

Showering with a partner. This is okay but be extra careful about accidentally pushing another person that would cause a fall.

Urinating in the shower. This is okay. However, be sure to run the shower water for another 10 seconds or longer afterwards so that the urine will get through the ‘trap’ or S-shaped pipe that is below the shower drain. Otherwise, urine will remain in the trap and leave an odor.

Long showers. Water is quite yin in macrobiotic terms, so overdoing on exposure to water is not helpful for your health. Also, any bathing at all exposes you to chemicals in the water. For this reason, we suggest short showers and showers, rather than baths. We suggest limiting baths to a maximum of two per week.

Hot showers and toxic chemicals. We do not recommend very hot showers. Showering with very hot water vaporizes many toxic chemicals in the water, which one then breathes while showering. This is an important reason to keep the water temperature reasonable, and keep your showers short.

Shower water filters. These are helpful if your shower water is very high in chlorine or other chemicals. You will need to change the cartridge or the whole filter at least once every six months to keep it working correctly.

More about shampoo, conditioners and other body care products. Shampoo contains chelating agents and other chemicals that remove the oils from the hair. Some people need this, but many people do not really require shampoo.

Using shampoo adds time to your shower. It will leave your hair very soft, which some people like. Using too much leaves the hair lifeless by stripping the oils away. In this case, a conditioner is used that just replaces the oils. Most shampoo and conditioner is not needed and just adds chemicals to the body. We like the JR Ligett Bar Shampoo.

Deodorants. Use as little as possible. Try to use a very natural product. Some people just use hydrogen peroxide spray or a little scented soap under the arms. AVOID ALL ANTI-PERSPIRANTS because they all contain highly toxic aluminum. Do not use a deodorant stone or deodorant crystal, as these also contain aluminum. Also, do not use Weleda Citrus Deodorant, as this also contains aluminum although it is not on the label.

Turning down the water temperature at the end of your shower. Some people end their shower by turning down the water temperature. It is a kind of toning for the skin. Also, when you get out of the shower, you will not feel cold. This is a good idea.

Courses | About Dr. Wilson | The Free Basic Program