Woman, 37, Hated Showering. Then, She Turned It Into a Daily Self-Care ‘Challenge’ (Exclusive)

NEED TO KNOW

• For Eve Tilley-Coulson, skipping showers always felt natural

• Then, two years ago, while on a girls’ trip, she realized her routine wasn’t exactly typical

• That moment prompted Tilley-Coulson, 37, to reflect on her lifelong approach to showering

For Eve Tilley-Coulson, skipping showers always felt natural — until a girls’ trip to Nashville, Tenn., two years ago made her realize her routine wasn’t exactly typical.

The 37-year-old remembers showering Friday morning before the trip and not again until Sunday night. “We just went to brunch and shopping, nothing that really called for it,” she tells PEOPLE exclusively.

Her friend, however, couldn’t believe it. “She showered three times a day all weekend and was like, ‘You’re not gonna shower?’ And I was like, why would I? It just felt like a waste of time and energy.”

That moment prompted Tilley-Coulson to reflect on her lifelong approach to showering.

Growing up, it was never a household rule. Her dad is British — “and the British are notorious for not really showering,” she says with a laugh — and her parents never insisted on nightly baths. Her Montessori preschool, which emphasized choice, only reinforced the idea that showering was optional.

Even as a teenager playing competitive soccer, she often skipped showers if she was too tired. “I was lucky in that it didn’t really affect me in high school, so I never suffered any repercussions from it,” she recalls. “I’ve pretty much always hated it.”

After that Nashville trip, though, she started asking herself why. Part of it, she realized, was sensory. “That weird half-dry, half-wet feeling, being cold and hot at the same time — I hate it,” she explains.

It wasn’t until she spoke about her habits on TikTok that she began connecting deeper dots. “I started thinking maybe my dislike of showering had to do with my on-and-off depression, maybe with some OCD tendencies,” she says. “I didn’t just wake up one day and decide I hated showering — there are reasons.”

Her honesty struck a nerve. The video went viral, and she received hundreds of thousands of messages from people who admitted they felt the same way.

“Most people don’t comment because they’re afraid of being judged,” she says. “But I’ve gotten so many DMs saying, ‘I’m exactly like you. I’ve never thought about the reasons, but thank you for opening up.’ ”

The public response, however, wasn’t always kind. “I also got so much hate,” she admits. “Even though I was getting so many supportive DMs, I thought, okay, what if I could change the narrative? What if I could dig into the reasons? What if I could learn to love showering — and take it on as a challenge?”

So, she embarked on a daily shower experiment. To make the process more manageable, she introduced small adjustments: a towel warmer to ease the temperature discomfort, music to break the silence, and reframing the shower as an act of self-care rather than a chore.

Since sharing her journey, she’s gained a following of over 200,000 people who have connected with her story.

“One of the reasons people with mental health issues struggle with showering is because they’re alone with their thoughts,” she explains. “The silence can be triggering or derailing. So I thought, what if I make this a better space for myself?”

By about day nine, something shifted. “I noticed that when I hadn’t had my shower yet, I actually missed it,” she recalls with a laugh. “And I thought, wait — I like this?”

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That shift also revealed a deeper truth. “Not showering sometimes felt like hiding from the world,” she explains. “It’s almost like makeup — when you put it on, you’re showing up. But if I didn’t want to be noticed, if I wanted to retreat into my shell, not showering was another way to do that.”

Soon, committing to daily showers — and talking about it publicly — became a form of accountability. “It made me show up, both online and in real life. It was about feeling worthy enough to appear as a person every day, instead of trying to disappear,” she says.

She also realized how much habits shape perception.

“If you’re used to not showering for three or four days, you don’t actually feel gross — it’s just what your body adjusts to, like not eating breakfast,” she explains. “But once I started showering daily, if I skipped even 24 hours, I felt gross. Suddenly, I understood why people thought it was disgusting.”

“It’s all about what your body normalizes,” she adds.

For Tilley-Coulson, the journey has gone far beyond hygiene.

“That outpouring — both the judgment and the solidarity — fascinated me,” she says. “It showed me how something as simple as showering can open up much bigger conversations. People assume there’s one ‘normal’ way of doing things. But for some of us, there are other layers. Even though it’s just showering, it’s not always that simple.”

Looking ahead, she has a plan to make showering an even more intentional practice.

“I’ve committed to adding a new element or doing something additional to romanticize the experience for 30 days,” she says. “After that, hopefully I’ll have figured out what I really like, what I don’t, and what makes showering something I’m genuinely excited about — a real opportunity for self-care every day.”

Read the original article on People