Shower Thoughts & the A-Ha! Connection
Shower Thoughts & the A-Ha! Connection
Legend has it that Greek scholar Archimedes had an idea so revolutionary he shouted “Eureka!” (from the Ancient Greek word that translates to, “I have found [it]”) while running naked through the streets. The idea was discovered in the bathtub, calculated roughly as June 14 those many years ago.
Whether the story holds good or not (1), we do have insights to suggest that spending time in the shower or bathtub can be relaxing and productive. Because close to 60% of our body is made up of water, we feel naturally at ease in the shower, pool or while taking a dip in a lake. Psychologist R. Keith Sawyer, author Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation, explains why we have the "aha!" moment in the shower or the gym—or anywhere but at work:
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“In creativity research, we refer to the three Bs—for the bathtub, the bed and the bus—places where ideas have famously and suddenly emerged.
When we take time off from working on a problem, we change what we're doing and our context, and that can activate different areas of our brain. If the answer wasn't in the part of the brain we were using, it might be in another. If we're lucky, in the next context we may hear or see something that relates—distantly—to the problem that we had temporarily put aside. (2)
You’re more likely to have a creative epiphany when you’re doing something monotonous, like fishing, exercising, or showering.
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Since these routines don’t require much thought, you flip to autopilot. This frees up your unconscious to work on something else. Your mind goes wandering, leaving your brain to quietly play a no-holds-barred game of free association. This kind of daydreaming relaxes the prefrontal cortex—the brain’s command center for decisions, goals, and behaviour. It also switches on the rest of your brain’s “default mode network” (DMN), clearing the pathways that connect different regions of your noggin.
With your cortex loosened up and your DMN switched on, you can make new, creative connections that your conscious mind would have dismissed.(3)
Time of the day, hot or cold?
Most of us wash up either in the morning or at night—when we’re most tired. According to the journal Thinking and Reasoning, that’s our creative peak. The groggy morning fog weakens your brain’s censors, keeping you from blocking the irrelevant, distracting thoughts that make great ideas possible. It’s likely that your shower gushes during your creative sweet spot. (4)
According to John Kounios, a professor of psychology at Drexel University and co-author of “The Eureka Factor: Aha Moments, Creative Insight, and the Brain”, Not only does the warm water elevate your mood, but you also focus your attention inward. “You have some mild sensory deprivation. You can’t see very much. There’s the white noise of the water. The water is warm so you can’t feel the difference between your skin and the air,” says Kounios.
“This sensory restriction is like an extended brain blink. You cut out the outside world and ideas bubble up into awareness.”(5)
Himêya’s A-ha! Moment
Some of our own best ideas have been accidental discoveries. Revolutionary and the first of its kind, Himêya’s Rescue Towels are made with yarns from production waste. They are a by-product of waste yarns that do not conform to a designed size, weight or pattern. Yet when woven together, they become blessed with an inherent design element and vibrancy that makes them our Founder's favourite.
What’s more, we donate 20% of our Rescue Towel proceeds to the International Rescue Committee (IRC): an organisation dedicated to supporting those whose livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster, to survive, recover and regain control of their future.
(1) https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-archimede/
(2) http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1147152,00.html
(3) https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/52586/why-do-our-best-ideas-come-us-shower
(4) https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/52586/why-do-our-best-ideas-come-us-shower
(5) https://www.headspace.com/blog/2017/07/28/shower-epiphanies/
