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Cold Showers

attempt4

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 21, 2010
Messages
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Does anybody else partake in the art of Cold Showers?

The health benefits are exceptional. Seriously...I can't even begin to explain how much it has positively affected my mood, confidence and anxiety.

My skin feels better aswell. I also can't help but giggle and laugh as soon as I get out. It's like it instantly injects me with euphoria that lasts for hours on end.

I've been looking up alot about it and there are a myriad of health benefits from immune-boosting effects to lowering allergic responses to decreasing chances of developing many types of cancer amongst many others.

Try it yourself!
 
I partake in the "art" of taking cold showers, but only if the temperature outside is HOT. It helps you cool down after a long, hard day (meaning I've been outside all day in the sun). However, usually if the temperature is warm, I'll take a lukewarm / chilly shower.
 
I do cold showers when it is very hot outside, otherwise I am wayyyy too cold when I get out (look up "Raynaud's phenomenon" if you don't know what it is).

When I washed every day, I found "military showers" to be the most invigorating: Get in, turn water on, wet hair/body, water off, lather, water on, rinse, water off, done. Doesn't work as well for long hair, so I fell out of the practice of that for years.

Nowadays I don't wash every day (I still shower, I just don't use soap every day) I find this the most invigorating. Dry skin is gone, hair is adjusting (finally got over a foot of it cut off too so that's helping), and I don't stink.

Threads on bathing that may be of interest: Soap free?, Is it nessasary to shower everday?, ...I'll post back if I find the one I remember but cannot find. :)
 
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OP maybe you should post some links as to the benefits of cold showers?
 
Talk about euphoria! I had just finished working out and immediately hopped in the shower. As soon as I stepped in I was overcame with a maniacal case of the giggles. Anyone who overheard me probably thought Iwas having an orgasm it was that ridiculous. I went from sweaty hot to ice cold. Not having caught my breath fully before getting wet made things al ittle tricky as it was difficujlt for me tocatch my breath. I meditated for a few seconds to calm myself down.

I feel great! It was very refreshing after such a hot day and workout. Such a temp shock made my head hurt for a few minutes but I'm fine now, settling down with a glass of water and a nice salad. What an interesting experience =]
 
I don't like taking cold showers when it is hot out, since you start sweating instantly when you're done. Only works in the winter...
 
I seriously had no idea people actually did this, I thought it was a figure of speech - talk about masochism :p
 
I used to take contrast showers to prevent DOMS.. I've done it to cool down too, because if I take a hot shower after a workout I'll get out and start sweating like I'm on drugs.. It's seriously uncool to get al sticky right after taking a shower.
 
Get a nice work out in, some cardio, hit the cold showers right after for a few minutes, hop in the steam room, back in the cold shower dry off get dressed ahhhhhh bring it on world.

This is at a gym locker room i dont have a steam room in my house haaa.
 
This is a very interesting read, I have looked at alot of info on the net explaining the benefits of cold showers after reading this post and cant believe what im reading tbh!

In theory this does make sense about cleansing the spirit and all the mental and physical benefits etc

I'm definatly going to give this a go as I have been suffering depression for 8 years and have yet to rid this horrible illness and I have been doing just about everything to banish my life from it (meditation, anti depressants, CBT, councelling, reading, su doku, brain training, drawing, painting, excercise, rec. drugs) all of which do help but I still feel like something is missing in my life and maybe cold showers is that thing?

Honestly im so excited about all this as it has given me a sense of hope and prosperity!
 
I hate taking cold showers. Except if I am really hot.... It's just I hate when you turn on the water and you just stand in the back of the tub dreading when you step into that icy cold water..... It just doesn't feel good to me and I rather not take a shower if I don't have any hot water.
 
I have to admit that a routine I like after working out is a hot shower to get clean, followed by about 30 seconds of freezing cold water. Extremely exhilarating =D
 
I first found out how great if feels to regularly take cold showers when I lived in a village in Western Samoa (In the South Pacific) where all but the rich were without hot water. Nobody wanted it anyways, since it was so blistering hot all year round.

But yeah, it feels wonderful to take a nice long cold shower routinely. I started learning more about them back in the States when I got addicted to a stimulant that was pulling down my circulation. I learned about the importance of hot/cold showers. I recommend you try hot/cold showers semi-regularly as well and see if you enjoy/benefit from them.

What happens is when you take a hot shower, blood rushes to the surface of your skin. When you take a cold shower, and it rushes away from your skin. So when you take a shower compromised of say 2 3min hot periods and 2 3min cold periods, alternating, what happens is basically you flush you circulatory system, get everything moving and churning where it often slows. Blood rushes to and from your organs. It just feels good!
 
Changed....UR DOIN IT WRONG :p The only time you sweat after a shower is when you've just had a really hot one!
Surely you dont sweat after a cold shower....dunno how you experience this...
You feel nice and warm when you get out, but there is no condensation/humidity in the atmosphere of the bathroom and your body temp. isn't elevated to frankly unhealthy and unnecessary levels and everybody I know agrees that you simply don't sweat after a cold one.
Obviously I can't argue with your experience and if you find you swear after it, then clearly I can't tell you you don't, but I just don't see how you do and yo're the only person on this planet that I know who enounters this.

Links on the subject:

http://ownyourhealth.wordpress.com/...ce-about-the-health-benefits-of-cold-showers/

http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/showers.html

http://www.cold-showers.com/a-doctors-view-on-cold-showers/

Look up "Ishnaan Therapy"

Personal experience surpasses "controlled studies" in some situations, and this is one of them. Though there is a mountain of evidence supporting the health benefits and it;s been known to mankind for a LONG TIME but you've never heard of it because GlaxoSmithKline could never patent COLD WATER.

BIGHOOTER - I feel your pain and i'm sorry to hear about your plight with the depression. I too have suffered with depression for most of my life, aswell as crippling anxiety, panic attacks, bipolar and manic psychosis from time to time.
I seriously feel like a new man after doing this. I urge you to try it...and keep your head/face under the cold water for as long as your body. I feel it is important to make sure your head gets possibly the most attention (but envelope your whole body with the cold shower :))
But I actually feel like how I imagine others to feel like in their normal day-to-day life. I have more energy, I feel more confident, my anxiety is near-enough gone, I can feel a more prevalent testosterone effect within, I feel much more clear-headed and generally happier.

It should also be noted that I have also completely given up shampoo/shower gel/deoderant for various health reasons, which should warrant a thread in it's own right, but you should definitely look into this.
Some of the chemicals in shampoo are disgusting - Sodium Laureth Sulfate, for one.
But my acne is nearly gone, my hair looks great and I just can't believe how much of an effect it's had on me.

ektamine Firstly, that's cool that you lived in Samoa!Secondly....yes, thermal stress is the key factor here that we don't experience enough of in day-to-day life. It is often prescribed information that you should do as you say, like a 3 min hot shower and a 2 minute cold, and do this a couple times getting hotter/colder each time....but to be honest, I find that each time I go from hot to cold it just makes it harder to adjust back to the cold feeling! It's hard enough as it is, without having to do it several times in a row so I just prefer to have a full on cold one (though I do start at lukewarm to wash with jst water and a flannel and get progressively colder...I wish I knew what temperature the water I am using is though.)
 
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The climate I live in is basically 100% humidity all the time. The summer temperatures are basically above 90* (32*C) everyday, as well.

taking cold showers = lowering your body temperature, then getting out into 100* heat. that's why I sweat!

taking hot showers in summer = equalizing your body temperature w/ the hot air, resulting in longer-lasting feelings of comfort. the opposite is true in the winter.
 
I knew that ending a shower with cold water can close up the pores that the steam opens. I have pretty big pores which this could probably assist with, I'm just too much of a pussy to try a cold shower. This needs to change! I am sure the other benefits are just as tangible.
 
Its worth the benefits and feel goodness of it no need to be a little vag about it give it a go!:D
 
I knew that ending a shower with cold water can close up the pores that the steam opens. I have pretty big pores which this could probably assist with, I'm just too much of a pussy to try a cold shower. This needs to change! I am sure the other benefits are just as tangible.

haha its not that hard. just slowly try and take a less hot shower erryday. eventually youll be able to tolerate it;)
 
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