14. Torah Thoughts

4:3 A person shouldn’t strain while taking care of their bathroom needs because doing so can cause one to injure himself. A person shouldn’t rush; rather, one should take the time to ensure that he’s taken care of his needs. A man should not hold himself in a way that is sexually stimulating.

4:4 One may not think about Torah matters in a bathroom. One should occupy one’s thoughts with secular matters, such as business. On Shabbos, when one shouldn’t think about business, he should try to distract himself with other things, such as current events. It should go without saying that one may never occupy one’s self with sinful thoughts, not even in the bathroom. If the only way to get sinful thoughts out of one’s head is to think Torah in the bathroom, then that is preferable. (See Mishnah Brurah 85:13.)