Want to Scrub Away Stress? Grab a Dish.
When was the last time that you washed the dishes? If you have an automatic dishwasher that you keep banging your knees into, well, it might have been a while since you scrubbed the inside of a coffee mug with some dish soap and a washcloth.
Back in 2015, Florida State University researchers decided to determine how this normally mundane task effected participants emotionally. What they discovered might surprise you.
According to Time magazine:
The researchers found that people who washed dishes mindfully (they focused on smelling the soap, feeling the water temperature and touching the dishes) upped their feelings of inspiration by 25% and lowered their nervousness levels by 27%. The group that didn’t wash the dishes mindfully did not gain any benefits from the task. “It appears that an everyday activity approached with intentionality and awareness may enhance the state of mindfulness,” the study authors conclude.
Why did researchers focus on washing the dishes? The idea isn’t new. Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh wrote about precisely this in his 1975 book “The Miracle of Mindfulness.” In it, Hanh gives directions on how to mindfully scrub your plates.
While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes. This means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes. At first glance, that might seem a little silly. Why put so much stress on a simple thing? But that’s precisely the point. The fact that I am standing there and washing is a wondrous reality. I’m being completely myself, following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions.
In most instances, the goal of hand washing dishes is to do it as quickly as possible so that we can move on to other, more charming, activities. Washing dishes is often thought of as a chore and an inconvenience. But does it have to be? Hanh believes otherwise. Hanh did not wash the dishes to have clean dishes; he washed the dishes to wash the dishes. Hanh is asking us to fully involve ourselves in the present moment.
I recently took up this Buddhist’s request and decided to wash the dishes to wash the dishes. While I did it, I discovered I was doing two things. First, I slowed down and I wasn’t concerned very much about the clock or what I could be doing instead. I was able to enjoy the task because suddenly it was no longer in the way. It just was.
Second, I began tying the task to warm memories. I began to recall being in my grandparents’ house as a child and standing in the kitchen. My grandmother had an automatic dishwasher but only used it on holidays. (Until recently I thought it was a waste of an appliance; was my grandmother secretly a Buddhist monk?) My grandma always washed the dishes in scalding hot water. I can remember my skin burning as I seethed while plunging my hands under the soapy water scavenging for the silverware at the bottom of the sink. After completing the task, my hands would remain cherry red for quite some time. I also remembered the coarse, thin fabric of the cloth towels used to dry the dishes. These were towels from my grandparents’ days of living on the farm. They didn’t dry well at all but I believe it had more to do with memories of farm life than their actual effectiveness. I could visualize the avocado green appliances that contrasted with the marigold-colored kitchen walls. I could recall the small-town siren notifying the citizenry that it was 6 o’clock and time for supper.
I finished washing the dishes awash in peace and tranquility. That chore simply wasn’t that anymore.
If we can do that with washing the dishes, where else in life can we instill mindfulness that can bring us closer to the middle of ourselves? How about mindfully reading to your child at night and keeping the smartphone or iPad in the other room? Or the next time the dog needs to go for a walk?
Sometimes removing the stress in life isn’t about taking something away but by inviting something in. Sometimes you just need to wash the dishes to wash the dishes.
