Month: March 2020

Use a bidet, save paper, feel cleaner

Posted on by admin

One thing the Coronavirus outbreak has made clear- toilet paper is an essential commodity in many western households.

As people struggled to find toilet paper on empty shelves in stores and others hoarded them in western countries, other places in the world that use water for washing after toilet visits, starkly do not even encounter that problem.

Having grown up in India and used to a clean washing of my behind, it was not easy to adjust to using just paper, even if it was soft and super toilet paper!

I requested to have a bidet installed and couldn’t be happier.

A bidet can be one protection against toilet-paper anxiety, especially during times of shortages!

With an Indian toilet, a plain old bucket and mug would suffice to watch the behind. However, it is hard to use a mug on a western style toilet. This is where a bidet comes in handy.

One can always use a little toilet paper, to dry after the washing and get a good clean feeling! However, using a bidet can significantly reduce toilet paper consumption.

For women, washing after urination can help reduce chances of UTIs. Again, a little toilet paper used to dry the area after washing helps further improve hygiene.

One can also simply wet a toilet paper to clean, when at a public restroom.

But having a bidet at home, one can safely avoid the anxiety of toilet paper shortages, especially during disasters and pandemics.

Stay safe, clean and dry!

Bidet

Daily practice

Posted on by admin

A quick and easy daily activity that can be practiced a few times or several times a day and can help bring some stillness and calm in a bustling world is presented here.

  1. Feel the earth. Feel for the contact between the feet and the earth. If lying down, feel all the parts of the body in contact with earth. Feel any indirect points of contact between the body and the earth, imagining the connection between, say the legs of the chair touching the ground and the seat of the chair on which one may be sitting. If lying down on a bed, feel the connection between the earth, the railings on the bed and the body.
  • 2. Take a deep breath. Feel the breath. Try to take deep, relaxing breaths.
  • 3. Feel your body and imagine the oxygen you breathe and a healing loving life force relaxing all parts of your body.
  • 4. Repeat the above process. One can do this, while waiting at a doctor’s office or watching TV, working on the computer or sitting in the lawn.

The above has benefits that are quick and palpable.

Doing the above several times a day can help one practice a calmer, grounded state of living and being.

As we know, we get good at what we practice. So we can practice staying grounded, calm, self-loving and peaceful.

Goodluck!

Tasty corn snack

Posted on by admin

Boil some corn.

Add a spoonful of butter to a pan.

Drain the water from the boiled corn and add to the warm butter in the pan.

Add some salt, red chilli powder, chaat masala (just a pinch), turmeric (also just a pinch

Add some chopped green chillies, cilantro and curry leaves.

Saute for a few minutes and serve:)

Do not fear, the Divine is near!

Posted on by admin

Sometimes, the fear is greater because one is actually nearer to God, or rather, in greater awareness of God’s nearness to oneself. God has got one, in God’s mighty, gentle and caring hands and our small mind can e in ear, for being lifted up and not in control!

But the reality is, that we may actually be very much closer to God and carried by God in a powerful, strong, stable, loving and great embrace….

So, when things seem out of control, do not fear, God is near. God’s got it!

Bucket bath: an eco-friendly and fun way to save water

Posted on by admin

Growing up in the South Eastern Inidan sub-continent, I am used to the concept of a ‘bucket’ bath’. Simply put, a ‘bucket bath’ is a way to bathe oneself using a bucketfull of water and a mug. Simple!

Having lived in the west and also tried showers, I recently found a way back to having bucket baths. Simply, buy a bucket that can hold about 10-20 litres of water and a mug.

How to bathe with a bucket bath?

Simple. Fill the bucket with water from the tap at the right temperature for your bath. Then use a mug to pour water over the body. Pause to use soap and then rinse with the mug and bucket water again. That’s it.

Advantages:

  1. Bucket baths reduce water wastage in many ways. Try turning off the shower portion and see just how much water comes out of the tap for a regular shower. Showers use a lot of water as compared to collecting water and using just that with a bucket.
  2. The hassle of resetting the temperature of water after using soap. If one ever paused the shower to use soap, then one knows that one has to reset the shower’s temperature yet again. With a bucket bath, one can just collect the water at the right temperature and not have to worry about it again. If one wants the water to be slightly warmer or colder later, it takes smaller adjustments and much less water to do the same.
  3. Mold and moisture: with a shower , there is a large spray of warm water and humidity on the bathroom walls, making it less likely that mold can grow. But with a bucket bath, the spread of moisture is greatly minimized.
  4. Feels good: the splash of a mug full of water on the skin feels quite good. This is especially so, when one is bathing with warm water on a cold day. The splash of a mug-full of water feels better, at least to me, than sprinkles of water from a shower.

If you want to start saving water, a bucket bath is a simple, quick and refreshing way to do so-one bucket at a time!