I hope that this finds you physically well as our minds learn how to adapt to our current global situation.
I want to share with you ways you can go about your daily life without being dependent upon paper products which are currently in short supply.
Traveling and spending time in India over the past ten years is something which I am grateful for since I learned how not to be dependent on toilet paper and tissue.
Don’t get me wrong: I traveled with toilet paper, tissue, disinfectant wipes and my Steeler football jersey as to stay connected to my American-ness. Since I was giving up so much of what I identify with–my clothes, the way I greeted people, the foods I was eating, etc., I became conscious of what I was holding on to, as especially noted in my traveling with a Steeler shirt!
But I learned.
I learned how to be (very!) comfortable squatting while using the toilet and using water to clean myself with because one does adapt (as well as run out of toilet paper!)
I also remember while at a temple entrance in Vrindavan watching a western woman blowing her nose in the flowing spigot that was used to wash before entering a temple. My first reaction was ‘gross’, until I realized how efficient that was–and how easily we let the mucous go (directing it with our hands) when we’re swimming in an ocean, stream, or pond.
With that I want to share with you ways you can clean yourself BETTER with water.
We did invest in a bidet after I returned from India the first time. (I insisted!) I loved the feeling of water, the softness and the efficiency. Streaming water truly affects the whole body and smearing stuff around with paper felt much more harsh to me.
We ordered our bidet online and attached it to our existing toilet. It was well under $100 and totally worth it. Even my husband misses it when he travels or when not at home.
Since we have one bidet and two toilets, I am also employing the Indian way of cleaning oneself by using a plastic cup, filling it with water and streaming it from the back side–another super soothing way to feel calm as well as clean after a relieving session.
Water on the bottom will affect you all the way to the top of your head and encourage apana vayu or downward motion…which is what we want. (Also think of why water births are now popular–mothers in labor utilize apana vayu more than anyone!)
Blowing your nose over a bathroom sink and using your hands to direct it all down the drain is a way you can clear your sinuses (as long as your hands are very clean…remember how this virus hates warm, soapy water.)
To tell you the truth, I’m not to that point yet, but the image of the woman at the spigot in Vrindavan sticks in mind and makes me feel less desperate in regards to the lack of paper products.
Bidet
As far as drying yourself (which took me a while not to use toilet paper), I did, at the end of a two month stay in India, get used to using a dedicated cloth for tapping dry. That dedicated cloth, which was never outright soiled, was then washed in very hot water after several days of use.
So there you have it.
A way to pollute less, encourage apana vayu, feel calm, and not freak out over the lack of paper products in our world right now.
Hope this helps friends!
Much health to you and your family.
Stay safe and well!