Say this thought to yourself little and often throughout the day. Write it, draw it, meditate on it. Stick a Post-It on a mirror. Set yourself a reminder on your phone. Link this thought to washing your hands – with your lips closed (this facilitates natural and beneficial nose-breathing!)
Practicing this thought throughout the day will help you notice this sequence and support you to navigate daily life in many ways.
As humans, as mammals – we thrive on touch
A certain type of consensual touch is so nourishing and soothing. Whilst we need to take extra care of our hygiene at the moment, you may notice your hands are getting rough with all this washing, you may notice you hesitate before holding someone’s hand… you may be longing for touch.
Here are some ideas for you so you can touch yourself with care and reverence. I say reverence, not with any religious ideas, but with a sense of deep respect and regard for ourselves. We are amazing. Being alive is awesome. We are, each and every one of us, a miracle of Life.
Each of us have a daily hand washing ritual which we can use as a way of exploring touch, the quality, the deliberateness, the care, the sensations, the pleasure….
Think about how you did this the last time you did it. Were you humming Happy Birthday twice, do you know what you did, did you choose any of this or were you on.
Next time you wash your hands try this
- Notice how the soap gets on your hands – if its from a pump dispenser, see how little effort you need to press the pump.
- Can you actually feel the weight of the soap-drop land on your hand?
- If its a bar of soap – how do you pick it up?
- Can you stay balancing on your feet, aware of your surroundings and being breathable? and pay attention to soaping your hands? One after the other and all together – even vaguely.
- Could you STOP at any point?
Here are some things to THINK about
- Notice the temperature of the soap.
- Bring some curiosity to how you start to move the soap around your fingers and palms.
- Is there friction as you rub your hands together? Is this necessary? Can you experiment with the softest touch of one hand on the other?
- What is the texture of the soap like on your fingertips? Does it feel the same in the palms of your hands?
- Watch your skin as your move the soap around - is your skin getting dragged around, massaged, pummelled, or wrenched? Is your skin happy for this close attention, are you able to notice pleasure in the sloppy, slurpy, bubbly, slippysensations?
- If you choose to, can you be kind to your skin and move one hand respectfully over the other?
- What temperature is the water? Let yourself notice it and absorb the way the water touches you, and let this touch into your brain and your sense of yourself as a healing and nourishing quality.
- Would your skin like to be nourished with some hand cream or oil now?
Enjoy this one. Take yourself your time. Step out of automatic pilot, and get thinking consciously and constructively.
“Just for today, I will touch myself with care and reverence.”
What else could you apply this level of self-care and touch to today? Putting your clothes on? Doing your hair?….
