Psychiatrist Daniel Amen, founder of Amen Clinics in California, promotes what he calls "dark showering" on his social-media channels, urging people to turn off the bathroom light as a quick way to calm the nervous system. Wellness influencers repeated the idea, sending search interest upward almost overnight.
The practice, already gaining traction across the US, involved bathing in complete darkness or very low light to create what participants described as a more restorative experience, reported Fox News. “Bright lights and blue light suppress melatonin, waking the body, but darkness stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, switching the body to rest mode,” said Amen, according to Fox News.
“Light has a powerful effect on the brain through the retinohypothalamic tract, which connects the eyes to the brain’s main biological clock, the suprachiasmatic nucleus,” he explained in the same interview. He added that reducing illumination “turns down the brain’s threat radar,” easing activity in areas linked to fear and stress.
Amen advised removing external stimuli: no screens, no overhead glare, and a few sensory anchors such as lavender or frankincense oil, room temperatures near 65-68°F, and soft towels within reach. For beginners, he suggested dimming household lights 60–90 minutes before bed or swapping harsh bulbs for amber or red hues. “Dark sensory rituals are more passive and somatic—you’re not doing something to calm the brain; you’re creating an environment that allows the brain to downshift on its own,” he said.
He believed the method could help people with anxiety disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or insomnia, but warned that a pitch-black bathroom might feel threatening to those with trauma histories. “If being alone in the dark increases anxiety rather than calming, adjust,” he said, recommending soft lighting, quiet music, or comforting scents for added safety.
Psychologist Stefanie Mazer echoed the caution. “Showering in the dark lowers visual stimulation, which can help the nervous system calm down,” she told Real Simple, noting that many clients reported fewer racing thoughts after even a five-minute rinse. Sleep specialist Michael Breus framed warm showers about 90 minutes before bed as a strategy that raised then dropped core body temperature, a sequence that “helps melatonin production.” Dim lighting, he added, amplified the effect.
Ayurvedic practitioner Nidhi Pandya traced the ritual’s ancestry to twilight baths in India performed under oil lamps to cleanse the energetic residue of the day and prepare for night, rest, or intimacy. Similar low-lit traditions appeared in Japanese wooden bathhouses and in the tepidariums of ancient Greece and Rome, where patrons soaked beneath lanterns to relax.
Supporters said the muted environment heightened touch and smell, turning a routine scrub into a near-meditative pause. “These sensations bring the mind into a natural meditative state,” noted Pandya, calling the practice useful for anyone who felt “too anxious to meditate.”
Some advocates adapted the technique for mornings. Amen conceded that not everyone could shower at night; for them, a brief cold splash might energize and sharpen focus. Cold water, he said, stimulated the vagus nerve and, when used sparingly at bedtime, should be followed by warmth so as not to disturb sleep.
Researchers cited by Asia Economy found that fifteen to twenty minutes in a dark shower at an indoor temperature of 18–20°C reduced anxiety and promoted deeper rest. Their observations aligned with wider reports that dimly lit bathing lowered cortisol and improved subjective sleep quality.
Dark showering required no gadgets, subscriptions, or renovations—only the willingness to flip a switch and let the senses recalibrate.
Written with the help of a news-analysis system.