I took cold showers for a year straight

It is just half-past 10 pm on a Wednesday night. My hair is wet from a shower—a cold shower. Flashback to 300 days ago, during the final days of 2019, and there I was taking my last hot showers. 

On the 31st of December, I made a challenge to myself that I would spend 1 year without taking a hot shower. Now every time I step in my tub, the water is always cold, and not a day has gone by when the water has been hot. By the end of this month, I will have completed my 1-year challenge. 

Why did I do this? 

It was a personal challenge. I had already been taking cold showers on and off during 2019, and as the last days of December ebbed away, I decided to go full throttle.

Believe it or not, aside from being a surefire way to freeze yourself, it is scientifically proven that cold showers actually have plenty of health benefits. You can read what legitimate scientific peer-reviewed articles say about this on your own time, but here are three off the top of my head:

1. Reduces acne 
2. Stress relief (shocks the body into snapping out of negative thought loops) 
3. Improves blood and oxygen circulation

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The Challenge

Before I get into what resulted, let me just say that the challenge wasn’t to take a cold shower every day, but rather, it was to never take a hot shower. What initially sounded like splitting hairs actually turned out to be a lifesaver. When I didn’t want to take cold showers, I simply went without showering. Sometimes for days. In fact, I just took my first shower in about 4 days. 

The point I’m trying to get at is that taking cold showers is no easy feat, and I would gladly sacrifice my basic hygiene just to keep the no-hot-shower-2020 streak clean. 

The fact that cold showers are no easy feat is especially true in the winter season that occupies the front and back end of the year. If you want to try taking cold showers but find it too daunting, then you can do what I do and take it with music in the background. I find it really helps with taking your mind off the cold. 

Results 

Honestly, the best advantage that taking cold showers has given me is the ability to withstand cold weather (the everyday cold). No, “withstand” isn’t the right word for it. 

When the cold air hit me on my way home from a late shift at work, it was almost as if the breeze went right through me. A bit surreal, and easier felt than explained, but it was almost as if you felt the coldness, but you didn’t feel cold. You feel the icelike air prickle your skin, you notice the hair on your arm rise up, you feel the coldness to its very extent, but you don’t feel cold. 

You feel it in the sense of stimuli, as in, touching something. Imagine touching a hot stove, you feel the heat, but you don’t feel it burn. That’s the best way I can explain it. I’ll leave it at that, because there is really no way to make it clear until you, well, feel it for yourself. 

Oh, and another thing, after taking a cold shower, you always walk out feeling a bit floaty. Again, a bit hard to explain, but for those of you who have tried meditating, you definitely know what I am talking about. It’s that feeling of having your mind wiped clean.

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Those were the two most noticeable results that stuck out in my mind: supreme tolerance of cold and a clarity of mind. 

In no way is it necessary to take cold showers for the rest of your life or even for a year as I have. But every once in a while, when you feel stressed, when you need to literally wash away negative thoughts, just shock your body with a cold shower and I promise you’ll walk out different.

Additional information

If you want more information, I would recommend checking out Wim Hof. He has his own breathing technique which literally allows him to be submerged under ice and run without water across deserts. Also, athletes take a thing called ice-baths, which affects the way their muscles recover, optimizing their performance. 

Again, like I said, science backs up the fact that cold showers are a blessing, so definitely give it a try.

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