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Cold showers

39K views 40 replies 40 participants last post by  catcharay 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello everyone!

Has anyone tried cold showers?
When I take a warm shower i always finish up with a cold ending even though its freakin cold!
It does wild things believe me, even after your first try! I didnt believe then so i tried.. i took a normal warm shower to wash up, and then in the ending i stood with my head directly under the shower head and turned off the heat - completely! WOW it was cold, felt like my head went numb while the water was running, and when it hit my shoulders and chest i couldnt take more.
10 seconds I did, and i said to myself - no more of this torture!

I stood out of the bath and BAM! Strong euphoria, extreme body calmness and tranquility hit me. Wow, this actually worked!

Euphoria (i was actually laughin a bit for no reason) lasted for only 15 minutes and then faded fast.. But..

The calmness in my body and tranquility lasted for the whole day - it faded slowly after the shower but it was there!

Since then I've been taking these showers almost every time, unless im in a hurry or i dont feel like it.. cause its damn cold! I think other can take it better.

Example, I was at a friends house and he suddenly told me other friends were coming, oh no! i panicked and my SA already grew and grew..

I got the idea of a cold shower and asked my friend if i could take one, and of course i could do that. it worked and i was actually able to enjoy the social gathering.. :D

Try it! It is cold and your body shakes, you begin to hyperventilate instantly and it feels like liquid ice running over your body :afr but it works so well! I sometimes take 3x8 seconds under the water, with intervals with warm water in between the cold water, then it works
best!

Here are some articles for you to read before trying this out:

Cure for depression
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/12/18/depression-cold-shower.html

Remedies to ailments from a to z
http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/showers.html

Weight loss
http://ezinearticles.com/?Cold-Water-Treading---A-Secret-to-Faster-Weight-Loss&id=1086280

Surprising Health Benefits
http://www.bottomlinesecrets.com/article.html?article_id=30209

Google is your friend!

sorry for my danish/english - hope it is readable :)
 
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#2 ·
Cold showers are so great.

It's now middle in the winter but if i stand under a really really cold shower (first wash myself with warm water then the i tap warm water off and the torture can begin.)

The first 2 minutes are hell.

After 5 minutes I feel so f great. It's amazing. All the anxiety that I have suddenly gone.

I feel kinda 'high' for the rest of the day.

Tomorrow I will try them again... if I have the guts for it. :um

Cold showers --> klonopin
Who's with me? I need some motivation.
 
#3 ·
The only time I've took a cold shower was when the couple times when my hot water wasn't working. Didn't have any positive effects, but could be because I didn't start with warm first. I'll try it sometime next week. :b
 
#4 ·
Try it! It is cold and your body shakes, you begin to hyperventilate instantly and it feels like liquid ice running over your body :afr but it works so well!
Woah, isn't this kind of dangerous? Not too long ago I heard of a man who jumped into a cold shower on a hot day; he later suffered a heart attack and died. It's not summer right now but I still think you should be careful...
 
#10 ·
Yeah, sudden changes in water temperature can be harmful. Does it not work if you turn the water down gradually? Not that I'd ever take a cold shower during the 10 degree mornings we've been having lately. I prefer to turn my bathroom into a sauna, though I know it is just horrible for my skin and hair, it feels soooo good. :c
 
#7 ·
Wow I just tried it this morning, that's one hell of a rush. O_O I had to psyche myself up for almost a minute, then I threw myself under the water. It was refreshing, in a masochistic way. It's nice actually being warmer after you get out of the shower too. I don't feel any effects now though, maybe I should have stayed under longer. :?
 
#8 ·
Lately I've had several cold showers, not out of choice, but because the boiler broke and the water suddenly decided to go from pleasantly hot to ice-cold. I couldn't bear it - I had to get out IMMEDIATELY. Cold water all over my body just makes me feel like I want to die. It's nothing but pure misery!
 
#9 ·
I'm reminded of a time when I lived in a trailer in a mountainous region of Tennessee. The hot water heater was powered by gas -- and I remember running out of gas for a substantial period of time before I could purchase more gas. I took cold showers for two months (these were colder months, mind you) and although I got used to taking them after a couple of weeks, it was pretty brutal. I almost froze my nipples off. :(
 
#11 ·
A piece of advice, not to get sick from cold showers you have to gradually change the temperature. One day change to barely warm, second day make it a little colder, and so on. Its better for your body to do it that way, as you have to get used to it first.
 
#12 ·
I only shower with warm water and even in the summer, when I went to central america I was forced to take a shower for 2 months in cold water and that sucked, it sucks just thinking about it, but I like the winter and the snow, I like every season as long as it's not permanent
 
#14 ·
ive take a few cold showers when i was in the army years ago. take a deep breath and hold it, back into the water so the water hits your back first and let the breath out. you'll be able to take your entire shower doing this instead of just a few seconds.
 
#15 ·
works like wonders

I have tried to turn down the water just bit after bit, what that just prolonges the pain i think, and thats why i just go under for like 10-15 second, warm water again and then repeat as much as you like. i have never gotten sick from it!

there are several articles in danish regarding cold shower and the effects on the amygadala and automatic fear in the brai, which say that this kinda thing toughens your amygdala so that fear is better tolerated and lessened.

i cannot really translate through google translate because it's not that good yet..
 
#17 ·
Cold water is good for the soul. I went for a swim in the sea on new years day with about 100 other people. I arrived late and ran down the beach just as the countdown was kicking off. My head felt like an icecube after about five minutes in the Atlantic.
 
#20 ·
I just finished watching a talk with Thomas Scheff, a well-known social psychologist, who works on emotion research. He had this interesting theory about cathartic emotions. For one thing, he said that every primitive, or universal, emotion (e.g., anger, sadness, shame/embarrassment, fear, etc.) has a natural physiological response that helped to dissipate its effects. For example, laughter is the natural reaction to shame and embarrassment, crying is the natural reaction to sadness, and so on.

So if the logic holds, there is a natural response to anxiety and fear as well. He suggested it was a cold sweat and shaking, something to the effect of a fear orgasm. Similarly, he said that anger reaches its peak, not in violence, but in body heat. If you think about it, this makes a whole lot of sense. When you embarrass yourself, and it's not so severe that it makes you angry, the usual reaction is to laugh at yourself - likewise, when someone makes a fool of themselves we find that funny too. I doubt crying needs any explanation. But when it comes to fear and anger I think we're socialized to repress those emotions, because they're seen as being weak or destructive. So some emotions are naturally expressed, and others are repressed. According to the psychological theory on repression this only worsens the emotion. So ironically, the more you try to control or hold back an emotion the more power it has over you.

So if the theory holds then a cold shower should bring about the same bodily reaction as intense fear - which we don't normally allow ourselves to experience. On another note I've also noticed that some of the best fighters will tend to shake up and down instinctively, which probably has something to do with the threat they sense in the ring. The lesson to be drawn seems to be that if we can express the fear or anxiety, to let it fully manifest itself in our bodies, then we can dissipate the fear response. I think that's a revelation. From my own experience I can say that this definitely works. I'd like to hear how others have experienced that, and if anyone has some ideas about how to simulate the fear response in a safe way.

Cheers,
 
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