Cold Showers: A Mentality Trainer We Avoid
What we learn from the cold is the control we have over our body and the mind.
Overview:
+ Wim Hof On Confronting Fear
+ Personal Experience
+ Health Benefits
+ Mental Benefits
It is moments like this that one needs to face his fears. The best way to have such a moment is to gradually confront the fear and approach it in a way that is both exciting and inspiring. You have to be decisive and physically prepared to do your best. After that, little by little, you will see progress — Wim Hof
| Personal Recognitions
Lately, the war against resistance in my life is more real than it’s even been. When it makes its presence known, that’s the direction pursued. It’s changed my life more over the course of 45 days than all of last year. Our morning debrief each day goes like this:
Me: “aghhhh…this is going to be cold”
Resistance: “yeah let’s not do it”
Me: *turns handle all the way to cold*
Me: *breath begins being sporadic*
Resistance: *non-existent because I beat it through action*
Me: *After 5 mins of cold showering* “I feel absolutely incredible”
Putting the shower on freezing and getting in really isn’t appealing to anyone. My showers do the exact opposite, beginning warm-ish, and ending as cold as it can get for 4–5mins. Here are a few things that have been noticed since incorporating this into my life:
- Anyone taking a cold shower is training their mentality to do the uncomfortable. By doing it every day, we do more than most the majority of the population does in a month.
- Breathe control keeps the body calm and regulates our internal thermostat.
- Coldwater stops the incessant chatter of the mind. When it hits the body, a meditative state takes over, all thoughts fade away, and we get a taste of being completely present.
- Coffee can be replaced with cold showers. Don’t believe me? Stay in the cold water for 3–5 mins. At the 2 minutes mark, it's barely noticeable. When it’s over the amount of alertness and energy beats caffeine tenfold.
- A connection gets formed between us and the cold water. An appreciation for its ability to teach us to silence the mind, and control our breathing takes place. Eventually, we anticipate it because it’s one of the best ways to begin the day.
| Health Observations
Personal experience helped me gather this in regards to health benefits:
- Dry skin disappeared.
- Sickness has been non-existent.
- Acne rarely surfaces.
- Inflammation and soreness from exercise substantially reduced in comparison to physical activity without cold showering.
| Mentality Training
Everything Wim Hof has released on YouTube is perfect for the foundations to succeed with the cold. It’s a simple morning implementation that changes lives. Once done, we tend to ask ourselves why we haven’t done it sooner.
Besides what is felt and seen, there’s an intangible aspect that the cold teaches — consistency and overcoming fear. We are afraid of the cold, it’s that simple. The uncomfortable presence makes us stray away from facing it. By doing what we avoid every day, that habit transfers over into all other areas of our lives. We have the opportunity to begin our day by conquering our minds through the control of our bodies and environment.
- Trains us to face uncomfortable situations.
- Builds the habit of consistently doing what we resist.
- Teaches us to remain calm.
