Contrast showers improve blood flow, increase the circulation of lymphatic fluid, improve the immune system and make you feel energized. But taking them requires a lot of will-power. It’s not easy to get into the stream of icy water.
I think showers are real pleasures whether they are hot, cold or contrast. There is an easy way to get used to contrasts and then cold showers. There is no need for willpower. Here is how I learned to enjoy cold water.
How contrast showers changed my life
I started taking contrast showers in hopes that it would invigorate me in the mornings. I used to wake up feeling sore and lackadaisical. It could take several hours to get into shape. Now it’s not a problem anymore: I get up, go for the contrast shower, and immediately feel personally energized.
I’ve being taking contrast showers for about four years, and since then, I never was gravely ill or even caught a cold. I can still have a little throat ache or feel a little sick, but the pain is never too loud, and it vanishes by itself in 2–3 days without any treatment.
Before taking contrast showers, I used to catch a cold or a flu almost on a monthly basis. I recall myself regularly buying medicine to prevent getting ill again. But those medications never really helped.
Flu strikes stopped as soon as I started taking contrast showers.
Contrast showers had a tremendous impact in my life. Just think about it.
I don’t catch cases of flu anymore. I don’t care if somebody coughs or sneezes near me. I don’t care when there is another flu epidemic. I always commence my days with great mood and energy.
How contrast showers became a habit
I didn’t deliberately form a habit to take contrast showers. It naturally ingrained as a habit.
I examined contrast showers, hoping that it would help me feel invigorated. And it did. I became dependent on this kind of shower and took it almost every day, because I wanted to feel energized in the morning.
After about 3 months after commencing, I had a little throat ache and it stroke me: I didn’t catch a cold for 3 months! Realising that motivated me to continue taking contrast showers.
Here is the best part: I didn’t use cold water for the cold part of the contrast shower. To create a contrast shower, I would place the water a little cooler but still at a warm, comfortable temperature.
I didn’t need any willpower or discipline because I didn’t stray from my comfort zone. I would begin at a comfortable hot temperature, then making a contrast with cooler but still lukewarm water. I repeated the process 3 times.
That’s the main secret of how a contrast shower became a habit: It was a pure pleasure, not a test of my will.
Contrast showers worked even when I didn’t use cold water. They energized me, improved my mood, and I stopped getting flu attacks immediately after I began taking contrast showers.
After I noticed I didn’t get sick anymore, I gradually began decreasing the cold water’s temperature. And in a month or two, I was taking real contrast showers, with the cold part of the shower being real cold. I also learned the true joy that emanates with very cold ice-temperature water.
When I’d been taking contrast showers for about a year, I realised I could easily take a cold shower. Sometimes, I now take a cold shower instead of a contrast one. I can easily stand under cold water for a long time.
How I take contrast showers.
1. First warm up your body.
I start with hot water and making sure I warm up my body. You’ll enjoy much more if you wash your body with a hard sponge. But don’t do it too often. Your body has a protective layer and, if you wash it with a soap and sponge every day, that layer will be destroyed.
2. Add contrast.
I cool the water or (as I do now) completely crank the knob to cool the water as it gets. I start with my head (excluding my long hairs), and I reassure myself that the cold water reaches every part of my body, including the soles of my feet.
I don’t take the cold part of the shower for too long. It should be at least 3 times shorter than the hot part. If you’re unaccustomed to taking cold showers, standing under cold water for too long might lead to colds. In the beginning, it’s enough to make sure cool water reaches every part of your body.
With time, you’ll learn that the colder the water, the more pleasure you receive from contrast showers.
3. Repeat 3 times.
Then I turn on hot water and repeat the process 2 more times. Usually I end up on hot water, or if I feel like, on cold water. But still, the main point is making contrast showers not something you have to do, but something you want to do.
Key takeaways
- Focus on joy: make contrast showers something you want to do, not something you have to do and you will quickly ingrain it as a habit.
- Commence with little contrast: make the cold portion of the shower just a little cooler than the hot portion and you will enjoy the process, instead of testing your willpower.
- The cold part of the shower should be at least 3 times shorter than the hot portion.
- Any contrast boosts energy, improves mood and your immune system.
- With time, you’ll learn that the colder the water, the more pleasure you’ll receive.
- You will be able to easily take cold showers, after you’ve get used to contrast showers with really cold water.
Action steps
1. Enjoy the contrast
The next time you take a shower, try adding a little contrast. After you warmed your body, make the water cooler but still at a comfortable temperature. Don’t start with real cold water. Your task, for now, is to enjoy the contrast process.
Pour the cool water to all skin areas including your feet soles, and then, apply hot water again. Repeat the process 3 times.
Notice how you feel yourself. Do you feel empowered? Are you in a better mood? Did you enjoy the contrast shower?
2. Take contrast showers after you wake up
If you feel lackadaisical in the mornings, try contrast showers after you get up. It will immediately make you feel invigorated and empowered. With contrast showers, you will rise your days with pleasure and great emotions, ready for a new day.
3. Make contrast showers a habit.
Start your day with contrast showers regularly. After you get used to it, gradually decrease the cool water’s temperature until it gets to the minimum.
Don’t hurry, focus on joy, not on your desire to be a powerful or will-powered person. If you enjoy contrast showers, you will not quit and will continue taking it for years from now. Remember that most benefits of contrast showers will show up even on low contrasts.
In the process, you’ll learn that the colder the cold portion of the shower, the more pleasure you get.
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