Teeth-Cleaning Meditation

This might sound odd, but whenever I have my teeth cleaned, I meditate. It is my teeth-cleaning meditation. I think it developed out of two practices. First, I have a habit of meditating while lying in bed. I lie on my back, cross my arms over my chest, close my eyes, and focus on breathing or on being quiet with myself. Second, when my teeth are being cleaned, I have a habit of tightening all the muscles in my body, as though this tightening will somehow prevent the picking, poking, and scraping.

As a way to relax my muscles, I began to use my meditation techniques. I am already on my back in the chair. I just add the crossed arms, close my eyes, and focus on being quiet and at rest. It works. I have been doing this for years now. I became more aware of it today as my teeth were being cleaned. For some reason, I had the curious thought that my teeth were happy. I focused on the cleaning. I felt the tugging, the chipping, the scratching, the washing, the sucking, the pulling, and the nicking. And it felt good. I noticed it all.

My body remained relaxed and still, but my mind was alert to the process. I knew each tooth. And weird as it sounds, my teeth knew me. I felt united to them and we were glad. I imagine this created body wants to be recognized as worthy and honorable. A body to be noticed. Even those teeth touched by the hand of God deserve some notice. I wonder if their happiness was increased because I noticed.