Sweat on the skin, left unwashed. Who am I? Consciousness!

October 25, 2024

Hi! Here’s how I look after brushing and combing my hair with just my hands:

Last night after Ecstatic Dance, I just couldn't fall asleep. It was already 2:00 a.m., and I was listening to a podcast by Parua Esmahil, where she talked about the ego and Eckhart Tolle. While I have a lot of respect for Martin Wehrle, who emphasizes that one shouldn’t tolerate everything, I find Eckhart Tolle's approach – letting go of the ego – to be the best solution for a contented life without losing self-respect.

The podcast introduced me to Ulrich Warnke. I hadn’t heard of him before, but my first impression is very positive. It seems I could learn quite a bit from him.

Despite the short night, I was up by 7:30 a.m. and headed out at 10°C to start my day at the Espresso Café.

Yesterday, after sweating, I did shower but intentionally didn’t wash my face (or hair) to avoid drying them out unnecessarily. This morning, I noticed that my facial skin looked softer than usual. This sparked my curiosity: could it be a result of not washing off the sweat? It seems plausible since our ancestors likely didn't wash up right after physical exertion. Perhaps, over the course of evolution, sweat has developed additional health-promoting functions beyond just temperature regulation.

My research on this was interesting: most sources strongly advise washing off sweat after exercise, claiming that it clogs pores and causes acne or skin irritation. That’s what I had thought as well.

I had to dig a bit deeper to find additional functions and benefits of sweat:

• Sweat contains antimicrobial peptides that help protect the skin against certain pathogens.
• Sweat supports the growth of beneficial skin microbiome.
• Sweat contains pheromones, giving it significance in the sexual arousal of a partner.
• Sweat includes moisturizing substances like urea and lactic acid, which contribute to the skin's natural hydration. (This might be why my facial skin looks softer 🧐).

My conclusion from this research is that I can view sweat as something positive for the skin. It naturally nourishes the skin and its microbiome. Next time I sweat, I’ll experiment and observe what happens to my skin if I don’t wash the sweat off right away.

On the way home, I gathered some leaves and flowers for today’s meditation, which I’ll be doing with Julia. I also stepped in dog poop for the first time. Will I stop walking barefoot because of this? Of course not.

The leaves and plants I gathered were inspired by the first chapter of Eckhart Tolle's book, where he talks about the deeper beauty of flowers—a beauty that goes beyond the physical. Today, I want to feel this in my 30-minute meditation while looking at the flowers.

Initially, I wanted to focus on a single flower during today’s meditation, but something else happened—entirely unplanned. I let my gaze drift and noticed a spider on my arm. In that moment, I put myself in the spider's perspective, imagining I was the spider. Then a fly landed on my hand, and I felt myself as the fly. I looked at a mushroom beside me and envisioned being the mushroom. Then came the tree. This time, I didn’t just imagine myself as the tree—I was the tree. A bird flew past, and suddenly I felt that I could fly because I was the bird. With both hands, I touched the ground, and for a moment, I felt as though I wasn't just sitting on the Earth but was the Earth itself. I looked at the sun and didn’t just see it—I saw myself. Finally, I glanced at Julia, who was meditating beside me, and in her, I recognized myself. In these fleeting moments, I felt who I am: Consciousness.

Unfortunately, this state was only temporary and faded as we finished meditating.

It was the most insightful meditation I’ve ever experienced, for today I truly understood who I am—the consciousness.

The next step is not only to know who I am but to deeply feel it.

After eating with Julia, I headed to Borsum. On the way to the train station, I was aware of the people around me, the nature that surrounded me—and felt, even if imperfectly, that in a way, all of it is also me.

“Cool shoes,” a few passing teenagers said to me.

“Thank you,” I replied to myself with a big grin and walked on.

Until tomorrow! 🙏

Today, I am grateful for:

• Developing a positive view of sweat.
• Knowing who I really am and who I truly want to be.
• That Julia and I chose meditation over exercise, or else I wouldn’t have had this profound experience of consciousness.

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