5 Surprising Benefits of Cold Showers | Cold Exposure Therapy
If you’re reading this right now, odds are you have gone your whole life with the luxury of heated water; however, did you know that our ancestors went thousands of years without being able to control the temperature of their bathing water? Yikes. Now that we have this new technology, most of us find it virtually impossible to imagine dousing ourselves in cold water however some people have made it a part of their daily practice and swear by its health benefits. In this article, we discuss why:
Benefit #1 – Stronger Immune System
Believe it or not, taking cold showers actually help play a huge role in your overall health. When rapidly exposed to cold water, the body responds by going into a state of shock – resetting your immune system which in turn allows your body to be more prepared in fighting off harmful bacteria and viruses. Multiple studies have been done showing that people who take cold showers for 30-90 seconds daily called into work less than people who took hot showers.
Benefit #2 – Increased Alertness
Unsurprisingly, stepping into a cold shower can make a person feel more alert, awake, and focused. This is largely due to the effects it has on the physical body; remember that your physiology determines your psychology – in other words, the way your body feels has a direct correlation to your attitude. Originally preached by inspirational giant, Tony Robbins, this theory has been tested and proved by Harvard University and many other prestigious organizations
By taking a cold shower first thing in the morning, you are essentially resetting your immune system as well as improving your focus for the day – not bad for a few seconds of discomfort and freezing your tail off.
Benefit #3 – Increased Will-Power, Discipline, & Mental Toughness.
Let’s be real, if you instill the habit of forcing yourself to do uncomfortable things on a daily basis solely for the purpose of improving yourself in the future, you are on the path to success in every area of your life. By sacrificing the present moment for the future and training yourself to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations, you quite literally train your mind to endure suffering with ease.
When I am standing outside of that cold shower, completely comfortable in my nice air conditioned house, there is absolutely zero desire for me to sacrifice that feeling for a terrible, freezing, uncomfortable shower. However, by training my mind to say f*ck it and step into the uncomfortable situation, I immediately have a newfound sense of confidence in myself through my ability to suffer – plus the feeling on your skin after you get out of a cold shower is GLORIOUS, trust me on this one.
Benefit #4 – Boosted Mood | Depression & Anxiety Relief
As counterintuitive as it seems, deliberately making yourself suffer actually has a positive impact on your mental health. Crazy, right? Maybe.
Depression, as vast and confusing as it is, can be summed up as a belief that the future is going to be worse than the present or past. By adopting this false belief, people slowly and sadly fall down a horrible spiral with every action they take. Taking a cold shower is effective in combating depression and anxiety because it instills in your mind that you are taking conscious, deliberate actions to ensure the betterment of your future. This simple action completely shatters the belief that the future is going to be worse than the past because you start to realize that you control your actions -which control your thoughts – which in turn control your reality.
Multiple studies have also been done proving the effectiveness in cold showers, aka hydrotherapy, of combating depression and anxiety. It is also important to state that you should not stop taking your current prescribed medication for depression and or anxiety but instead add cold showers to your arsenal in the fight against depression.
Benefit #5 – Reduced Pain
As stated previously, hydrotherapy is one of the oldest natural medicine treatments in the world. It comes as no surprise that modern science is proving the medical benefits of cold showers still to this day. A study by the North American Journal of Medical Sciences, proves that applications of cold water can have local anesthetic-like effects for pain relief. The reason for this is because exposure of cold water causes the blood vessels to constrict, which reduces swelling and edema that causes paid. On top of this, cold showers and hydrotherapy can also slow down the speed at which nerve signals conduct impulses – reducing the brain’s perception of pain. (MedicalNewsToday)
Conclusion:
By now, you should be quite convinced of the medical benefits hiding behind the un-comfortability of cold showers. As one of the world’s oldest holistic medicine practices, cold showers are a great option for improving your physical and mental health; however, it is not advised to ditch other forms of medicines simply because you take cold showers.
It is advised to start implementing cold showers into your daily routine for about 30 seconds to two minutes. You do not have to spend the whole time under cold water to experience the health benefits. To get started, we recommend gradually lowering the temperature of your shower until it is unbearable. Then, each day timing yourself to last longer and longer.
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