Cold showers - As a life changing experience
How well we feel under the warm shower especially in winter, right? I can spend minutes and minutes enjoying the shower … so why sacrifice that luxury for taking cold showers?
So at first glance it doesn’t make much sense, but keep reading and I bet what you want , at least, I’m going to get you to start thinking about it. As a brief summary, let me tell you that since I finished each of my showers with cold water, my energy and awakeness have increased considerably. And those are just some of the benefits I’ve experienced.
After electricity, water expenditure is the second bill in which at home we spend more. that’s why I want to change my consumption habits to save money and my carbon foot print allocated to this service.
Below I tell you more about my experience with cold showers, day by day.
October 5 — First Day (Attempt)
I woke up at 7:30 am, I left my boyfriend sleeping in bed and it took me a lot to separate from him. But today was a special day. It’s Saturday, and today I start the new challenge. Yesterday, during class I decided that this challenge would be the most suitable for me, it will be a good change and I know that it will help me to wake up faster (I usually wake up in a zombie state).
I have taken my alarm clock with me and I have programmed it to vibrate in 7 minutes. I have opened the tap of the cold water to the maximum, I have waited a few seconds (thinking about it a lot) and I have submerged. Much colder than I expected (much). I have not tried it before or thought about it, because I knew it would be worse and that a shock therapy instead of gradually entering would be much more effective; It would also reduce the likelihood of cowering and leaving the challenge … for tomorrow.
I dipped my head under the stream of cold water and kept it there as much as I could (it was centuries for me). As the seconds went by, maybe around twenty, I felt a terrible cold, I got goosebumps, and for a few moments I found it unbearable. The head has trembled and I have started to take small jumps in the shower to try to overcome the pain. For a few seconds I have been on the verge of abandoning.
After a few more seconds, maybe another thirty more, the critical moment has passed and I felt the water less hurtful. Instead of over the head, I let the water hit my chest and slide over the rest of my body. So I thought I could stand it but the water was still so cold that I thought it would be better to do something else instead of focusing on the sensations.
I took the shampoo bottle and poured a good jet in my hand; then I vigorously rubbed my head. As I am not used to cold water, not even to warm water (I have always liked showering with very hot water) I have wondered if shampoo would be effective in cold water; I thought not, that maybe I would have to wash my head later with hot water.
I have kept soaping myself and after a few minutes, I don’t know how many, I begun to think that maybe the time had already ended or that I had programmed the alarm badly or that I had not heard it underwater… Subjectively, I felt that it had taken maybe 7 or 8 minutes . I realized that this was a thought to try to get out of the shower for a few seconds. I inhibited the impulse and I stayed under the freezing water.
Finally, I heard the sound of the alarm and with a gesture of tremendous relief I rushed out of the shower. I took my towel and started to dry. Right away I felt very warm and comforted, my body has generated heat and in a few seconds I felt almost euphoric, with a mixture of pride and physical relief.
October 7 — First Day (Now we’re talking…)
I’m already on the second day, but I could say that this is the first day again. On sunday after starting the challenge I had no motivation to enter the cold shower, I had woken up late, I was very comfortable and warm in bed, when I was approaching the shower I thought “Tomorrow I’ll seriously begin this challenge, I want to enjoy my bath of Sunday”. Usually my sundays are days of taking care of myself, taking long showers, getting masks, massages, etc. So I was weak and did not continue, however from today I made the commitment to myself not to leave, even on weekends.
And I’m on the first day again, maybe as a miracle. Today in the first minute I was about to leave it. I felt the desire to lie on the blog and run away from the challenge as soon as the water went cold. I could clearly feel the feeling. I even made the gesture of getting out of the shower. But I restrained myself, fortunately I restrained myself.
Today has been difficult. Today I had thoughts that almost prevented me from entering the shower. I woke up a little earlier, I had breakfast because I was hungry and I didn’t take a shower because it seemed too early. I have gone back to bed for a while. After a while I thought this:
“I have eaten. I have not digested. The water is terribly cold. It can give me a stomachache. Better postpone the shower for the afternoon”
I’ve been about to give out, I’ve convinced myself, and I’ve gone to the bathroom ready to take a hot shower. I have not even had to refute the thought by arguing that there are no stomachaches from bathing in cold water or that if they existed they would not take place having eaten so little.
The fact is that my most noble, courageous and impartial part has decided that I was going to take a cold shower after all. No excuses, no dramas, goodbye thoughts.
October 8 — Not so bad for being 2nd time in a row
This morning, by mistake, I put the hot water, I touched it with my skin and then I left the shower to change the water to cold and re-enter. I felt the hot water so good on my skin. Only two days and I already miss the hot water like crazy.
The water is still as cold as yesterday, but I feel it was not as difficult to enter as yesterday. I almost didn’t have to take small jumps to stay in the shower. Today, for a little while, I have been able to forget about the cold water and thought about tasks that I have to solve in the day. I don’t know if this is good or not.
Today my mind has roamed the future. This means that I could adapt. Nothing wrong with adapting to things. The surprising thing is that we are able to get used to something so quickly that we had always thought it was terribly difficult or uncomfortable.
October 9 — I don’t want this on cold days
Today I felt no desire to continue beyond five minutes. I’ve been a few minutes just because I had to take a shower before going to class but I really didn’t want the cold water on my skin. Today the day is especially cold and dark, seeing my boyfriend in bed, warm and comfortable really took away the little motivation I had left. Again I wanted to lie on the blog, invent any story of having bathed in cold water and continue with my day as if nothing happened, but I thought:
“If I really decide to lie now I lose the three days that I have tried well, I want to know what happens at the end, anyway after the cold water you feel more awake and in the mood to leave … just 5 minutes”
The other day I read in a facebook post “Time does not exist. Don’t hurry”. But I thought the one who wrote that doesn’t take showers in cold water in winter.
October 10 — Meh.
Today I woke up at 9.30 in the morning, I was so confortable in bed that I didn’t want to leave bed. As I had the morning free I planned to stay away from the shower just for a couple of hours more, I was expecting the weather to change…It didn’t happen but at least was sunny.
These mornings I was expecting to get used to cold water but still not happening completely so I decided at 11 am to go directly to the shower and try to think that after this I can go out to the sunny balcony in my house at get some sun.
As the other days, after taking the shower I was feeling more warm and also more awake, and having the sun outside really helped me today. I can say that these days I spend less time in the shower and also less time getting ready (as after cold water I want to put clothes on as fast as possible).
I’m also taking more care about my hair, as it’s so hurtful to wash it with cold water, I’m washing it interdially, and it feels more healthier. There is abundant literature on the physical benefits of showers or baths in cold or icy water; Among them, immune system improvements, improved sleep quality or better mood, let’s see if I see more benefits these days.
October 11 — Friday!
Finally friday! Today I was awake waiting for the alarm to start, It was completely dark and my room was so warm but for some reason today I wanted to start the day as soon as possible. I go directly to the shower and put the cold water on, some music, and …today, for the first time, I felt the desire to continue beyond five minutes, I was able to be 10 minutes under the shower.
I knew this moment would end up coming. The most surprising thing is that it has not been so difficult. Not only do I adapt to the cold in less time but I am also now able to spend more time under the cold water without much suffering.
I have noticed another important emotional effect: on the days when I get up lower or lazy, the shower is having a very positive emotional effect. It seems that after undergoing physical stress, anxiety, worries, negative thoughts are neutralized. I feel that it is very unlikely that I will not be able to complete the challenge. All right.
October 12 — Free saturday
Today I felt much more awake and active throughout the morning. I haven’t slept too much, which is strange, I love on weekends because I can sleep all I want.
Today I had a quiet day, I was with my boyfriend all day without doing much, but I enjoyed it as much as other times, we decided to go to dinner after a relaxing day. At this point it was 7 in the afternoon and I had not bathed, the restaurant opened at 8, I had the exact time to take a shower and get ready, go out together and arrive at about 9 at dinner.
It is not a secret to anyone that bathing in the afternoon in winter is even more difficult than in the morning (with cold water), at the end of the day your body is warm, you are comfortable in your clothes, perfect temperature to not leave home. The fact of not being able to do this type of plans during the week motivated me to go to the shower finally.
I have set the alarm for 5 minutes, I have turned the tap to the maximum and I have gone into the water. Once the tap was turned on, I told myself that it would be better to enter as soon as possible and enjoy a few seconds of non-freezing water, enough to start really cold.
This argument, for me, seems very effective. I put a little motivation in front (a few seconds of warm water) before supporting the cold water. As the mind can be deceived in the short term, it helped me to quickly rush into the shower for fear of losing those precious seconds of still not painful water. It’s a silly reaction, because would have those precious seconds same outside the shower. But it works. It motivates me.
October 13-Just face washing (but cold)
After yesterday ended, I didn’t want to get out of bed, even when I was already awake, I had breakfast in bed with my boyfriend and we went back to bed while watching videos on the internet. I woke up with a little stomachache from food excesses the day before, so I wanted to work in bed today.
I had to work in research, I thought:
“I can do it from bed, today I don’t need to get ready (or take a shower)”
Then I received a message from a friend from Taiwan, he had just arrived in Milan and had brought gifts for me and my boyfriend, unfortunately he had no more time during the week to meet, so it must be today. It was against my plans to be in bed all day, not gettin ready and all the cold shower stuff.
I tried to avoid the shower as much time as possible, to the point that my friend was 15 minutes from arriving at my house and with a little embarrassment I knew that the possibility of bathing was already 0. I ran to the bathroom and washed my face and teeth (with cold, cold water), dressed to receive my friend.
After his visit (in which he did not notice at all the absence of the shower, fortunately), I felt bad for the challenge, it is not like I did not want to fulfill it, and I really did not cheat, since I did not bath with hot water I just didn’t take a bath … Does this count as cheating? After he left, I realized that I had to advance my research work so I didn’t contemplate the idea of taking a shower later at night, since I would be busy.
Again, is this cheating? Washing my face with cold water counts? It’s Sunday, everything counts, I hope.
October 14 — I woke up extra late
My alarm usually sounds at 7 in the morning, I normally postpone it 10 minutes and then I am awake. Today was not like that. The alarm rang and I turned it off completely. It was 8:30 in the morning, my class starts at 9:30, it takes me an hour to get to class, I thought:
“It is already impossible to arrive on time, maybe I should reach the middle of the class”
Since I did not bath yesterday I had no excuse today, I had to bath and in less time than I usually do… if I wanted to arrive not so late to not interrupt the class.
I hate being late, I’m very embarrassed to interrupt the teacher, in general I prefer to wait outside for the10 minutes of break to enter. Besides, I felt twice as guilty, I really like today’s class, the way the teacher explains the design history class seems very entertaining, I can keep the attention for a long time.
I ran into the bathroom, closed the shower door and opened the tap (this is new, I never open the tap with me inside), today I wanted to take less time so if I felt the water quickly in my body I would not have an excuse to stay longer. It was less than 5 minutes, I can bet it, but enough to recover the day of no bath.
I put on the first thing I found (I even used a little hoodie that I normally wear for pj’s), I took some cookies, a fruit, the lunch of today and ran out of my house. My boyfriend gave me words of encouragement:
“If you arrive a today late, only for today, they won’t tell you anything, so relax”
I love how he manages to calm me down quickly … in the end, I got to class half an hour late, but I was able to take advantage of the day anyway. Tomorrow I need to take a long bath, I want to take it more calmly.
October 15 — October rains
Today I woke up very sleepy and cold, I could hear how it rained all night, I still had the sound of the rain that was lulling me.
I wanted to recover the minutes of bath that I missed yesterday so I got up in the dark and went straight to the bathroom. Today I had the morning off, but I had to take some documents to the university, I had to be there at 11 am.
I had enough time, I opened the tap and entered slowly, I felt like the cold water woke me up automatically, today it was especially cold. I washed my hair and applied a hair mask (I regret this), which meant I should be in the shower longer than normal. For this I decided to close the water tap, since I didn’t want to waste it.
I could feel how waiting 10 minutes for the mask had an impact on my body, I felt the cold quickly, normally my body heats up as soon as I get out of the shower because I dry completely with a towel, but now I was full wet, inside the shower and with a mask over. This 10 minutes were eternal for me, I don’t think I will try something like this again with cold water. Reopening the water was especially painful, for that moment I was used to my body temperature and the cold water felt like an ice bucket on top.
I removed my mask as quickly as I could, I finished rinsing the remaining soap and left quickly. I can say that today was not quite a good experience, it took me more time to recover my body temperature.
I decided to get into bed for a moment, since I had enough time, so I could warm up faster. When it was time to leave, a torrential rain was falling outside, with a very strong wind that carried the rain in all directions. It was like taking a second shower, not planned.
I arrived at the office and had some problems with the documents, I had to return to my house to bring some that had not been requested before, so third unplanned shower, I returned to my house as a soup (this is a common expression at my home, being completely wet as a soup, it makes more sense in spanish), completely wet, the funny thing is that I had umbrella, but the rain was not decided in which direction to fall.
I went out again, completed my documents, arrived at the office, fourth shower in the day also not planned, completely wet. By the time I left the office I was hoping it would have stopped raining, but it didn’t.
5 showers in one day, great.
October 16 — Ended well
Today I needed to arrive early to class. It was quite cold in the morning, it was more difficult than usual to get out of bed. Finally at 6:30 am I succeeded, suffering a little, but with enthusiasm since there was little to finish the challenge. I thought:
“It’s only two more days, no problem”
My shower was a little longer than normal since I wanted to my body get used to the cold so that I can be warm when I got out of the shower. Fortunately I did it, so much so that I didn’t wear a jacket to leave the house (I don’t regret it). I could feel that Milan is getting colder, I can especially feel it in my hands, and today it hurt a little.
I thought about this morning, it really doesn’t seem bad to me to continue with the challenge … I mean, I get more awake faster, that helps me a lot in the mornings, since I rarely want to go back to bed since I bath with cold water. I will continue to consider it until I see how I feel on Friday.
Today started being a cold day but it ended sunny, I liked it.
October 17 — Dance, dance
Today I had the morning off, I could rest a lot … almost 10 hours.
This morning I wanted to do something different instead of going straight to bath, I thought about my options.
My boyfriend has a nintendo switch with a dance game, this is an excellent option to exercise when it’s cold, you don’t have to leave the house and dance the funniest songs ever. It was an excellent option.
I danced around 2 hours, I really enjoyed it and my body thanked it, I was very relaxed and happy. Physical exercise helps a lot to improve mood and warm the body. Which encouraged me to enter the shower, since it was very sweaty.
My body thanked the cold water as never before, I felt that I rested, and the skin felt great. I took about 10 minutes, I didn’t count it. When I got out of the shower, I felt full of energy to go to class, it was great. It really is something I want to do again, the feeling is incomparable.
