Learn Hardcore Russian: Утром я моюсь в душе и готовлюсь к спокойному дню. - In the morning I wash myself in the shower and get ready for a calm day.

Утром is an adverbial of time (“in the morning”). In Russian it’s very common to put time expressions at the beginning of the sentence to set the scene:

Утром я моюсь в душе… – In the morning I shower…

You can also say:

Я утром моюсь в душе…

Both are grammatically correct. The difference is subtle:

Утром я… slightly emphasizes the time (“As for the morning, I…”).
Я утром… slightly emphasizes the subject “I”.

No comma is needed after Утром in this short sentence.

Is the я necessary? Could you just say Утром моюсь в душе…?

You can drop я:

Утром моюсь в душе и готовлюсь к спокойному дню.

This is still grammatically correct, because the verb endings (-юсь) already show that the subject is “I” (1st person singular).

However, including я is very common and sounds neutral. Dropping the pronoun is more typical when:

The subject is obvious from context, or
You’re listing actions in a more “diary-like” or informal style.

So both versions are fine, but with я is the safest “textbook” option.

What is the difference between моюсь and мою?

моюсь comes from мыться (to wash oneself, to bathe, to shower).
мою comes from мыть (to wash something).

Compare:

Я моюсь в душе. – I wash myself in the shower / I’m having a shower.
Я мою посуду. – I wash the dishes.
Я мою пол. – I wash / mop the floor.

So in this sentence we need моюсь because the person is washing themselves, not some object.

How is мыться conjugated? I see моюсь, but what about other persons?

Мыться (to wash oneself) is conjugated like мыть, plus the reflexive ending -ся / -сь:

я моюсь
ты моешься
он / она / оно моется
мы моемся
вы моетесь
они моются

The -сь or -ся is the reflexive marker. It shows that the action is done to the subject themselves (wash myself, yourself, etc.).

Why is it в душе and not в душ?

Because в + a location normally uses the prepositional case.

The noun:

душ (shower) – nominative (dictionary form)
в душе – prepositional (in the shower)

So:

Я моюсь в душе. – I wash in the shower / I’m in the shower.

If you said в душ, that would be the accusative case, and it would mean movement into the shower:

Я иду в душ. – I’m going to the shower / to take a shower.

So:

в душ – movement to the shower
в душе – location in the shower

Isn’t в душе also “in the soul”? How do you know it means “in the shower” here?

Yes, there is a homonym:

душ (shower) – masculine noun
душа (soul) – feminine noun

In the prepositional case, both can become в душе in writing, but:

душ (shower) – в душе is pronounced [v du‑SHÉ]
душа (soul) – в душе is also [v du‑SHÉ]

So they look and sound the same in this form; you understand the meaning from context:

Я моюсь в душе. – Clearly “in the shower” (we’re talking about washing).
В душе я спокоен. – “In my soul I am calm / At heart I am calm.”

In your sentence, since the verb is моюсь (I wash myself), в душе can only sensibly mean “in the shower.”

What exactly does готовлюсь mean, and how is it different from готовлю?

готовлюсь comes from готовиться – “to prepare oneself, to get ready (for something).”
готовлю comes from готовить – mainly “to cook” or “to prepare something.”

Compare:

Я готовлю ужин. – I cook dinner / I prepare dinner.
Я готовлюсь к экзамену. – I’m getting ready for the exam / I’m preparing for the exam.

In the sentence:

…и готовлюсь к спокойному дню. – “and I get ready for a calm day.”

So готовлюсь is reflexive and focuses on your own preparation, not on preparing some object.

Why is the preposition к used with готовлюсь? Could I use something like для instead?

The verb готовиться normally takes the preposition к + dative case to show what you’re preparing for:

готовиться к экзамену – to prepare for an exam
готовиться к поездке – to prepare for a trip
готовиться к работе – to get ready for work
готовиться к спокойному дню – to prepare for a calm day

Using для here (готовиться для спокойного дня) is not idiomatic. Для means “for (the benefit/purpose of)” and usually goes with nouns directly (подарок для мамы – a present for mom), not with готовиться.

So:
готовиться к + dative is the standard pattern: “to get ready for X.”

Why do we say к спокойному дню and not something like к спокойный день?

Because к requires the dative case, and both the adjective and the noun must be in the dative singular masculine:

спокойный день – nominative (a calm day)
к спокойному дню – dative (for a calm day)

Dative singular masculine endings (for hard-stem words) are:

Adjective: -ому → спокойный → спокойному
Noun: -у / -ю → день → дню

So:

к какому дню? – к спокойному дню.

What nuance does спокойному дню have? Does спокойный mean “quiet” or “peaceful”?

спокойный can mean:

calm, peaceful (no stress, no worries)
quiet, not turbulent

In спокойному дню, it suggests a day that is calm, not stressful, without problems or drama.

It’s more about inner calm / lack of stress than physical silence.
For “quiet” in the sense of low noise, you might also hear тихий день, but that’s less common. Спокойный день is the natural phrase for a day that goes smoothly and calmly.

What tense and aspect are моюсь and готовлюсь? Are they like “I do” or “I am doing”?

Both моюсь and готовлюсь are:

Present tense
Imperfective aspect

In Russian, the present tense of the imperfective can cover both:

I do X regularly / habitually
I am doing X now

So Утром я моюсь в душе и готовлюсь к спокойному дню is best understood as a habitual action:

“In the mornings, I (usually) shower and get ready for a calm day.”

The perfective forms, used to talk about a single completed action, would be:

я вымоюсь – I will wash myself (once, to completion)
я приготовлюсь – I will get ready (once, to completion)

You don’t use those here, because we’re talking about a routine, not a one-time completed event.

Is there another common way to say “I take a shower in the morning” in Russian?

Yes. Besides мыться в душе, a very common idiomatic phrase is принимать душ (“to take a shower”):

Утром я принимаю душ и готовлюсь к спокойному дню.

This sounds very natural. Differences:

я моюсь в душе – literally “I wash myself in the shower”; a bit more concrete.
я принимаю душ – literally “I take a shower”; very common everyday phrase.

Both are correct and natural; they just use slightly different wording for the same idea.