Five Resolutions for a Better Time in the Toilet
The new year provides a great opportunity to take a look at our daily routines and think about how we can set our lives up with a bit more balance and joy. One regular daily rhythm that’s easily overlooked is our trips to the loo - a shame, since the average Brit spends about 3.5 hours in the smallest room per week!
So we’ve taken inspiration from the New Year to come up with five healthy New Year's reso-loo-tions (sorry, couldn’t resist) that can upgrade your bathroom routine for 2024. Let’s get rolling…
1. Good Hydration
Take this as a cue to refresh your glasses, bottles, and mugs. Resolution number one is centred around one of the most fundamental aspects of health – hydration.
Many of us are guilty of not drinking enough water throughout the day, leaving us parched and sluggish. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere this is particularly the case in the winter. While summer heat encourages many of us to keep a glass of water on the desk and bedside table, we often neglect this habit in the colder months, and feel all the worse for it.
Going without enough water is bad for your overall health, and the bathroom is the first place you’ll notice issues. Dehydration causes constipation, an issue that affects about one in seven adults in the UK, and it’s also a leading cause of Urinary Tract Infections (UTI’s).
To foster this resolution, consider keeping a reusable water bottle handy, and aim to drink at least six to eight glasses of water a day - to a total of at least 1.2 litres. The good news for the tea addicts among us is that tea is almost as good for hydration as water, so if you’d prefer you can get your minimum daily intake with five mugs of tea!
2. Squatting for success
There’s no polite way to put this - the best posture for a number two is not sitting bolt upright. Western toilets encourage a chair-like sitting position that is familiar and comfortable, but not the most natural or efficient posture for the task at hand. If you want to ensure the most healthy and comfortable toilet experience, it’s far better to squat.
The benefits of squatting have been proven by medical research, with people who squat to go to the toilet reporting less straining, less time taken to go to the loo, and better overall mobility as a nice side effect.
Luckily for those of us in countries where raised toilets are the norm, there’s no need to totally overhaul your bathroom, (or try to balance on the seat!) to feel the benefits of squatting. There are companies that sell particular products (they’re called “squatting stools”) - but any low stool or box that you can store in the bathroom will do the job.
3. Mindful Hand Washing:
Okay, bear with us here. We generally think of a trip to the loo as an unavoidable interruption in our day. But what if we embraced these intervals of alone-time?
Mindfulness techniques are becoming part of many of our lives, encouraging us to look for the simple, repeating moments that can bring us back to ourselves. We might concentrate on our breathing for a few moments when stuck in traffic, or listen to the sounds of our neighbourhood and home while we’re having our tea in the morning.
Why not bring some of this attitude of mindful awareness to our regular trips to the loo? Washing your hands is a great opportunity; take a minute to actually feel the flow of hot water, the smell of the soap, the texture of the towel or feel of hot air when you’re drying them. Then take a few deep breaths before heading back into the world.
4. Digital Detox:
Here’s another resolution for a calmer bathroom - how about a digital detox?
In a world dominated by social media and 24-hour news feeds, we all find it harder and harder to put our phones down, and many of us will even admit to bringing it into the loo with us!
Not only is this not the most sanitary habit, it’s also not great for our eyes, or our mental health, to be glued to screens. So with a fresh new year on the books let’s re-frame our bathroom time as a regular opportunity to disconnect. Instead of scrolling through social media or checking emails, consider the classic book or magazine in the loo, or you could just hang an interesting print or poster on the wall if you want something to look at.
5. Eco-Friendly Flushing
And finally, we couldn’t write a list of ways to improve our bathroom habits without sparing a thought for our environment.
Resolution number five involves making sure your toilet is working as efficiently and sustainably as possible. Consider upgrading to a low-flow toilet or installing a dual-flush system if you haven't already. These options allow you to choose between a full and a partial flush, so you’re just using the water you need for each visit.
It’s also a good idea to be mindful of what goes down the drain. Make sure there’s a bin handy so nobody’s tempted to flush items that can harm the plumbing system or the environment, such as wet wipes, tampons, and sanitary towels. And for full marks switch over to unbleached recycled or unbleached bamboo toilet paper - like the soft, sustainable rolls from Naked Sprout, made using onsite renewable energy generated at our factory.
Conclusion:
We’re guessing you didn’t have “upgrade toilet habits” at the top of your to-do list of for 2024, but we’re all about ringing the change at Naked Sprout! By adopting these small resolutions – focusing on hydration, posture, mindfulness, and our environment – we can make this regular part of life a little window of calm.
Want to roll into 2024 with an innovative, sustainable toilet tissue?
