Have you ever felt some sudden thoughts while showering? Some unconscious thoughts occur in the mind. After a while, those thoughts become blurred when we engage ourselves in conscious daily routines. Sometimes we generate brilliant ideas in bed, but by morning, we have gradually forgotten those ideas. These moments are often called showering thoughts.
What are showering thoughts?
Showering thoughts are sudden flashes that do little to bring out problem-solving ideas hidden within us. Most people confuse showering thoughts with intrusive thoughts, although there is a significant difference between the two. Apart from that, showering thoughts are also somewhat different from organic thoughts. Today, we will try to understand the differences between organic thoughts, showering thoughts, and intrinsic thoughts.
Showering thoughts vs Organic thoughts.
Showing thoughts are those ideas that come to our mind suddenly and spontaneously. The interesting thing about these thoughts is that they occur when we are at rest. You might have also noticed that when we take a shower, some ideas are created in our mind for which there was no need for any proper planning; these thoughts just came suddenly. Apart from that, some ideas or thoughts come to us even while sitting on the bed.
Organic thoughts are naturally occurring, and intentional thoughts. These thoughts are commonly used to make ideas, to make a decision, and to make a strategy or plan for an event. These thoughts are usually used in daily activities. For example, planning daily tasks, information storage, making decisions, reacting to our environment, and our surroundings. Organic thoughts are goal-oriented and mostly occur in our consciousness.
Difference from intrinsic thoughts?
Most people misjudge the showering thoughts with intrinsic thoughts. While intrinsic thoughts are completely different. Showering thoughts emerged during minds rest position, and these thoughts can be beneficial for problem-solving, emotional support, and positive outcomes. Additionally, showering thoughts enhances creativity, improve problem solving skills, increases self-awareness, and reduces mental pressure.
On the other hand, intrinsic thoughts are repetitive negative thoughts. These thoughts repetitively influence our minds and create uneasiness all the time. For example, unwanted, distressing, and involuntary thoughts, images, or urges that pop into your mind unexpectedly, often involving taboo, violent, sexual, or blasphemous content, even if you’d never act on them.
Specific timings for showering thoughts.
Showering thoughts usually appear in a specific situation. These situations are bathing time, bedtime, driving in low traffic, and doing daily chores. You must have noticed that all of these thoughts have a similar setting, that they appear in less mental effort and fewer distractions.
Mind’s strategy for shower thoughts.
An interesting thing about our brain is that it is always functional. We do not have a switch-off button through which we can turn off the brain. So, thoughts and ideas always keep running in the brain. This is the reason that when we are in a rest position or not doing any physical work, at that time our concentration goes behind the smallest thoughts and all our unconscious thoughts, fantasies, and genius ideas come out in front of us. When our mind is free from daily complex activities or ideas, then the mind gets converted into the default mood network. Now, the default mood network is such a condition where we are relaxed, free from daily chores, daydreaming, and completely bereft of any kind of deadline. In these situations, our mind creates genius ideas for self-reflection, introspection, creative thinking, meaning creation, and problem-solving.
Why do thoughts arise during sleep and bath?
In a state of sleep, our minds get distracted from daily activities. At that time, the concentration of the mind focuses on our subconscious and unconscious mind. According to Sigmund Freud, our unresolved conflicts and ideas are in our unconscious mind. When we distract ourselves from our daily activities and move into the unconscious mind, our suppressed thoughts come to the surface.
It is mostly within these suppressed thoughts that our creative ideas are hidden. Most of the time, our minds are awash with philosophical thoughts, which raise questions about our own existence: who are we as human beings? Where do we originate from? the reasons behind our own existence.
The Role of the Conscious Mind in Shower Thoughts
Showering thoughts are mostly how our unresolved unconscious conflicts also come to the surface. The conscious mind contains memories, experiences, emotions, and ideas of which we are not aware. When the mind is at rest, it begins to reflect on past experiences. As a result, a connection is formed between our past experiences and current thoughts. The improved interaction of past experiences and current thoughts enables us to generate new ideas to resolve our regrets, guilt, failures, and unresolved conflicts.
Showering thoughts acts as a bridge between our past experiences and current thoughts, allowing us to understand our unresolved conflicts and generate better ideas for resolving them.
Are shower thoughts useful?
Showering thoughts are more beneficial than just thinking. The first benefit of these thoughts is that they create our introspection. Furthermore, such thoughts help us identify our confused thoughts and also find solutions to those confused thoughts. Apart from that, these thoughts gave us a new perspective, improved our creativity (as many artistic and scientific ideas have been generated during moments of mental relaxation).
showering thoughts provides indirect solutions towards problem solving, increases self-awareness, and somehow provides a better mental and physical health. Shower thoughts themselves are not harmful; they may convert into a stressor if we turn them into repetitive negative thoughts, negative association and ruminations. Sometimes the showering thoughts can be disturbing, especially disturbs the sleeping patterns, and cause overthinking at night. But that doesn’t mean that they are harmful; these thoughts are beneficial and creative ones.
Are showering thoughts a mental illness?
Showering thoughts are not signs of mental illness. Rather, they are considered creative thoughts. These are the thoughts that allow us to know our potential. Besides, they also generate creative ideas within us.
Conclusion
Many people consider shower thoughts to be overthinking. However, research shows that showering thoughts are the ones that uncover hidden positive qualities within us. Furthermore, showering thoughts also helps us detect unresolved conflicts and provides solutions to resolve them. Actually, they are a natural consequence of a calm mind, a positive subconscious mind, and less mental stress. When the mind is free, it becomes creative. By understanding thoughts that come during showers, we understand the importance of relaxing our brain’s hidden intelligence and human thought. As I mentioned earlier, these thoughts themselves are not harmful; they may convert into a stressor if we turn them into repetitive negative thoughts, negative association and ruminations. Sometimes the showering thoughts can be disturbing, especially disturbs the sleeping patterns, and cause overthinking at night. But that doesn’t mean that showering thoughts are any sign of mental illnesses.