Ablutions

Every person will come to a time where they need a refuge. Issues big and small confront us day in and day out. Life lived in the modern world can wear upon our very souls. We all need some moment in some defined place that gives us peace.

Many people seek balm sitting in churches, mosques and temples. Many people seek comfort in buildings that are adorned with neon lights and mirrors covered with beer logos. Me I have two places outside of those realms to go to.

The first is a small mat that resides next to my desk. When I can I roll it out and sit for a time in a lotus like position for about 7 – 10 minutes. I turn off the lights in my office and the music that I play. Sometimes I will leave some Gregorian chants going. No method, no guru, no teacher just quiet introspection and release.

My second and perhaps longest established place of refuge is the bath. My home has a garden tub. A garden tub is basically a six foot ceramic square with a tub cut on the diagonal between two of its four corners. This design leaves a seat on either side of the tub. You can put you soap here, your magazine here but most importantly your body wash.

Lying in my tub toes elevated I just love to feel really hot water soaking the skin around my shoulders. It carries so much negative energy away. I pour my bath very, very hot. The heat relaxes my body and restores my spark. Spark is not a great word but neither is vigor or vitality. Those particular concepts have been long gone from my life and I don’t think the slow moving train they are on is ever coming back.

But it is the smell of the body wash that I have pumped into the bath that makes the experience complete. Me, I think the one I use smells like sandalwood or some similar dense forest like incense. With my body relaxing and my eyes closed in a quiet room the only sense left to assuage is that of smell. The body wash in warm water releases a blanket of pleasant aroma that moves me away from the day to day into a few brief moments of respite. The experience is almost meditative

A simple bath makes a difference.