RESEARCH: 

Why do people sing in the shower?

When you sing you are taking deep breaths, exhales and inhales, which improves blood circulation. In terms of breathing, it’s almost like a meditation session. Weirdly enough when you sing you are not necessarily thinking about life’s pressures. 

 It is science that when you relax your brain releases dopamine, which can give your creative juice a jump start. 

The stress literally washes off of you. Warm water feels good on your body if you have aches. Cold water is great to shock you awake and it is actually better for your skin. 

Showers for many people is the only time they are alone. Showers are usually small spaces that provide privacy. Not to mention the bathroom has the best acoustics.  

What are the emotions connected to singing in the shower?

It depends on the song. The lyrics can be sad and relatable or upbeat and relatable. Songs are more powerful when a person feels an emotional connection. You can feel safe, sad, confused, content, understood, happy and other emotions depending on a person’s life situation.

What does the experience of bathing bring? 

When I think of the word bathing I think bath first before shower. For me bathing is associated with being a child and playing in the tub. As an adult it should be romantic and enjoyable. I associate baths with needing time to actually lay down, light candles and play music. Whereas showers for me are more common and necessary. 

But the overall bathing experience is tranquil.

I wonder if it has to do with being conceived. Many women have water births and according to the American Pregnancy Association one of the benefits to water births is that the water seems to reduce stress-related hormones, allowing the mother’s body to produce endorphins which serve as pain-inhibitors.

What are the cultural, social and religious meanings of bathing? 

Water in baptisms are seen as an act of trust, purification, and protection. 

1500 B.C Egyptians believed those that were clean and applied cosmetics were closer to God, and would assist them on their way to the afterlife. 

When researching I found it interesting that the catholic church in the 1340s and 50s had no understanding of germs and believed open pores would allow diseases to enter their body. They shunned bathhouses and labeled them as dens of sin and sex. 

In the Western world, the bubonic plague had scared people from being in water, but Eastern countries and religions still maintained unbroken standards for hygiene and cleanliness.

 In 1351, King Edward III purchased hot and cold taps of water to be provided for his personal bathtub at Westminster Palace.

The 18th and 19th centuries; is when people started taking health more seriously. Previously doctors didn’t even wash their hands before surgery. Ignaz Semmelweis’ findings on germs in the late 1800s is the reason washing hands became a requirement. Semmelweis discovered no midwives ever participated in autopsies or dissections. Students and physicians regularly went between autopsies and deliveries, rarely washing their hands in between. Semmelweis had his department wash their hands in a bowl of chloride solution to sterilize. He was proven correct because puerperal fever and death totals dropped by the end of the year. However his research was not yet accepted.

Gloves were not common in hospitals or surgeries until late in the 19th century. 

Is there a spiritual, psychological feeling? Physical? 

The ancient Greeks were the first to develop showers. They had a concept of hygiene because water flowed through led pipes and out over people’s heads. The Romans took the idea and expanded to bathhouses. 

What I found interesting was how bathhouses were originally seen as a shared ritual to build human connection and community whereas now we see it as a private occasion. At first I was taken back by this. For the most part people are conservitive.

Anime culture has reinforced the theory of bathehouses being used for human connection and community. My Hero Academia uses bathhouses for women and men as a reward for their hard work and training. The movie Spirited Away uses a bathhouse as the main location of the movie. 

Is it a pleasant experience? A happy one? Or…? Is it a ritual? Habit? Necessity?

As a child it might not be a happy experience but it can be made fun with toys! No matter the age I think it is a necessity.

Ritual can be seen in two ways, if you are a person that likes schedules and has a set time of day you prefer to shower that can be seen as a ritual. But ritual in a religious aspect has tradition as a child and as an adult you can make the choice.  

It should be a habit and necessity. We do need to wash away the germs on our skins.