Friday, May 18, 2012

Poop and Tinkle

We say grace before we eat and drink. Why not say grace before we poop and tinkle?

The food that comes into our mouths is a sacred gift from the the sun and the earth, the wind and rain. It is process through our bodies and transmuted into consciousness. Then it is expelled as "waste." But nothing is truly wasted. Our waste becomes the fertilizer for growing more food, flowers, green grass. Someday the concept of waste will disappear because we use everything.

Keep the place where you urinate and defecate clean and pure, like an alter for your body. It is the place where you will make an offering of what you have eaten and drunk, so that it may be used by microbes, insects and plants. What you give back as "waste" may someday be part of your grandchild's body.

Say a blessing before you go to the bathroom. "I return these elements of sun and rain, wind and soil, that have passed through my body, to the sacred Earth. Thank you. Thank."

Then enjoy every sensation of urinating or defecating with mindfulness, just as you would enjoy every taste of a mindful meal. Just as you attend to your breath in meditation, from the nostrils down to the belly, so pay attention to every sensation from the stomach to the anus as you release the warm steaming feces from your intestines, bowels, and rectum. Notice the pleasure of emptiness after you have eliminated the feces completely. Dwell fully in that sense of completion, fulfillment, the end of a cycle, the returning of the body to the earth. The process of defecating is like a bow.

If there is guilt or disgust over this pleasure, use the occasion to observe the mind: just observe without judgement. See how silly our social conditioning is, and how much meaningless taboo we have attached to these natural bodily functions.

The experience of elimination should be energizing, relaxing, and warm, like a massage of the digestive system from within. If there is strain, pain, or incompleteness, your body is teaching you that your diet is not healthy for you. Pay attention and learn from your poop and tinkle how to eat more healthy foods, using the pleasure you take in going to the bathroom as a measure of your health.

Eat well. Poop with joy. Sleep deeply.

No comments: