If you think you have a big comfort Zone. Try taking cold showers. Unknown
Taking a cold shower every morning is a part of my 30-day challenge to develop tiny sustainable habits. I have completed 14 30-day challenges, including cold showers, in the past 4 months. Here is the list of my experiences and learnings.
List of 30-Day Challenges You Can Start Today
I live in Canada and as you may know, it’s a cold country. I am a huge fan of the outdoors therefore, I choose to live in the mountains, a tiny hill station, that is great for hiking.
I’m in my early 30s, and I’ve been hearing stories about the benefits of cold showers for decades.
I grew up in a hot climate in South Asia. The cold shower for me was freshwater (tube well — image below) at 85.1°F / 29.5°C.
Every summer, I spent a lot of time at the tube wells taking showers many times a day to fight the heatwave. Sometimes I also kept watermelons in the tube well like a fridge. lol
Why cold showers?
According to Mr. Google, there are plenty of reasons to start taking a cold shower: alertness, concentration, weight loss, great hair, great for muscle soreness, and skin.
Mr. Google also told me about this guy, Wim Huf who is an extreme athlete. He has Guinness World Records for swimming under ice and prolonged full-body contact with ice. His Whim Hof method is pretty famous.
What is Whim Hof Method (WHM)?
Mr. Hof created this method with his son Enahm Hof to help you connect more deeply to your body. Here are the three pillars of the WHM:
i) Cold therapy
ii) Breathing
iii) Meditation
Why did I experiment with taking a cold shower?
As I said I spent my childhood in a remote village, and for a major part of my life, there wasn’t even power/electricity. If we go back, let’s say roughly 100 years, there wasn’t anything:
- Not a great medical facility
- No hot shower
- No fridge/microwave
- No hairdryers
- And rarely someone had a bathroom
- Life expectancy — 53.6(M) and 54.6(F)
- There were hats tho. Lol
- and the list goes on
Life is too easy nowadays compared to 100+ years ago. Almost everything is at your fingertips. Let me recall; I did this cold shower experiment to improve health and boost productivity.
Necessity is the mother of all inventions. — Albert Einstein
Cold shower Vs. hot shower
Before trying this experiment, I was a massive fan of long hot showers. There is something restorative to taking long showers and also bringing new ideas.
But after taking cold showers, I must say it’s the best way to wake up early in the morning.
From an energy perspective, a cold shower will always wake up your body and increase your alertness.
Both cold and hot showers come with their own benefits. Dr. Green, Dermatologist
Let’s figure out how to take a cold shower. Believe me, it’s not a simple process; it took me around 2-3 minutes just to get under the shower. lol
How to take a cold shower?
Ahh, I wish to tell you the ideal way to take a cold shower. For me, it was a battle in the first 8–10 days. You need to develop a habit in the long run.
I cheated by using warm water and then lowering the temperature at the end of the shower. But after two weeks, I felt confident enough to jump into the Atlantic ocean.
I spend a max of 3–5 minutes under cold water because I started to feel uncomfortable if I stayed longer than 5 minutes. It’s not like a hot steamy shower or bath to spend 10–20 minutes.
Tip: Try a warm/cold way to start!
My 30+ days of cold shower experiment results
Let’s start with the punch line.
I spent the last 3 decades of my life growing up in the South Asian countryside, where the water temperature was around 73.4°F/23.0°C in February and 85.1°F/29.5°C in summer.
Now I live in North America, close to the Atlantic Ocean, where the annual water temperature on average is 41°F/5°C.
- It was almost impossible to take a cold shower for the first couple of days. But I must say relentless personality is an edge factor here.
- I choose the cold shower experiment at the wrong time. It’s winter here and the water temp is lower than 41F/5C. It wasn’t an easy task to accomplish.
- A cold shower helped me to strengthen my willpower. It’s a lot easier to jump under a warm shower than a cold one.
- I had cold showers in the morning before work. I must say it helped me a lot to be more focused. I was pretty much done with the challenging tasks before lunchtime.
- I also felt my mood enhanced positively.
- I felt more energetic and used a cold shower as a stress reliever.
- Study shows that a cold shower helps to improve the immune system. It might help but I did not observe anything.
- I also learned that my hair health improved a lot. There could be two reasons:
- i) Obviously, cold water
- ii) For 30 days, I did not use shampoo while having a cold shower. I’ll write a detailed report on my results soon.
- I’ve also noticed that my eyes’ health and appearance have improved. Maybe a cold can help relieve symptoms like swelling, dryness, and pain.
- I cannot comment on glowing skin because I did not notice anything.
Note: I will not continue this experiment, but I have discovered that it is one of the most effective ways to increase energy. I enjoy taking hot, steamy showers. I plan on doing it once or twice a month. It also depends on my goal of continuing cold showers.
The bottom line
Standing under freezing cold showers every morning, — I did that. I got up to seven minutes most mornings, and it actually works; it immunizes your body, and your body starts getting used to the cold. It really works. — Liam Neeson
I did not hate the experience, but I am still thinking of taking a cold shower every morning in the long run.
I enjoyed my cold showers, especially in the last two weeks of the experiment. After the cold shower, I was ready to handle the day like a boss.
Every morning (after the 2nd week), I looked forward to taking the cold shower, it just helped my body to put it in the right direction, and overcome tiredness.
It’s the simplest way to start your day and you will be surprised how much you can accomplish with this simple experiment.
