Since a few months every morning I’m having a cold shower as part of my morning routine. After a workout I let the water go for a while to be as cold as it can be and then I get into the shower for a few moments of pain.
I recently met a lot of people that, when heard about it, felt the need to inform me: “I could never do it, I hate cold water!”. And like every time I hear other people’s opinions, I started to reflect about it, and I confirmed to myself that that’s exactly the point: I’m doing it right because I hate cold water as much as them. If not more.
So why am I punishing myself in a such hateful way? Well, in the lines before lies part of the answer: some people see something they don’t really feel they can do, and picture themselves as so. I prefer to think about me as a person that can overcome some of his limits.
And that’s where cold showering comes to help.
Benefits of taking a cold shower
There are several benefits in taking cold showers in the morning. They help your blood circulation and strengthen your immune system. They also help you recover after workouts.
But the most useful thing comes from Stoicism. It’s no secret that cold showers are an ancient stoic practice to help you accept discomfort in your life: exposing yourself to daily doses of middle discomfort makes you actually stronger. Of course, getting used to pain caused by cold water will not make you a superhuman that can handle every bad situation in his life, but it will surely help you to accept some things more easily.
What I found really interesting in this practice is that it requires self-discipline. Getting ready to open the shower tap in the morning cold, knowing what you’re going into, is not an easy task. Your mind could start to find excuses and you could feel like you’re about to do something that you don’t really want to. But that’s the power of it: winning the resistance no matter what, avoiding listening to your thoughts, dealing with the discomfort and winning one of the first battles of the day. This gives you a huge boost, a sense of satisfaction.
If you don’t believe me, just try it!
And if you thing that you could never do it for your aversion of cold… well, I’ve already explained that!
I’ve been finishing my showers cold for about 4 months now, up to about 3 minutes since reading Wim Hof’s book. I get the same pushback from my family, but it feels incredible. The other benefit is I almost never feel cold any more. Keep it up!
Thank you for your feedback man! Keep going on!