You’ve probably heard about people soaking in a tub by candlelight. Or at least you’ve seen it in a Hallmark movie or something. And now, people are taking it a step further.
There’s a “wellness trend” going viral called “dark showering.” It’s simple: A normal shower, but first, you flip the lights off so you can’t see anything.
Two main things come to mind:
1. Why? Various “doctor” types claim that it’s a SENSORY change that can improve your sleep. If you shower at night before bed, bright lighting tells your brain to wake up by raising cortisol and lowering melatonin.
But cutting the lights can have the OPPOSITE effect, “low-light or no-light signals safety, activates the ‘parasympathetic nervous system’, and begins the body’s natural descent into rest and repair mode.”
Of course, you can do this without the shower part, just dim your room’s lighting an hour or two before you go to bed, or use “warmer,” amber-colored light. You’ll also need to avoid the BLUE light of phone and computer screens.
2. Isn’t Showering in the Dark Inefficient and Dangerous? Yes. Definitely.
If you want to hop on the trend of dark showering, you should probably start by showering under LOW light, so you can still see.
If it’s too dark, you might not get completely clean. Or you could create a mess.
There’s also the very real chance that you slip and fall and break your neck, and your cause of death in your obituary is listed as “WELLNESS TREND.”
None of this is totally new. The talk about “warming” and dimming light before bed is fairly common advice, especially giving your eyes a break from your phone.
The “dark showering” angle is probably mostly just buzz to go viral. I’m sure a warm shower before bed can be soothing, and yeah, it’s probably more calming if you don’t have every light in the bathroom on.
But do be careful if you try full-on dark showering. It sounds needlessly risky while EVERYTHING is wet, soapy, and slippery.
(Fox News / Real Simple)
