My Cold Shower Challenge

The Motive:

The benefits of cold showers are studied, shown, and written about in many places. I will not write of them here; instead I will write of my own experiences. Growing discipline, overcoming inertia, changing perspective...

The Challenge:

Thirty days of cold showers; first thing in the morning. If I skip a day's shower, the challenge duration is extended commensurately. It's the fucking cold season here in Boulder, the water is COLD; this ain't no comfy 60° F shit. Let's do this.

Day 1: 

AYYYYYYIIEEEEEEE!!!! FooFooFoo ahhhh-fucking FOOO! Wow that's cold. My heart rate gets elevated just thinking about it; that was yesterday! Barking like a dog, squealing like a seal; the vocals were something from a 70s psychedelic record. I lasted about three minutes; I was in and out just as fast as I could. I'm not even sure if I lathered the soap that was in my hand.

But wow, was that refreshing. And totally energizing. Like two cups of strong coffee all at once, instantly. Nice.

Day 2 (today): 

WOOOOOOO! WOW! FooFooFoo~~~~ okay, breathing. In through the nose, out through the nose, still breathing. Laughing. Okay, yeah it's cold, we're still here. Horse stance is more painful than this. Still going; still laughing. Soap's lathered, scrub scrub scrub, just some water. Shift position, oh that's cold, but hey, still here, still breathing. All's good. Feels good.

Refreshing. Energizing. Invigorating. And, wow, that's a warm towel. Nice. Totally ready for the day, whatever it throws at me.

Day 3:

It was easier than the first two days. The reward at the end also seemed lesser in magnitude. Still freaking cold.

Days 4, 5:

No easier, maybe even more difficult. Jumping up from bed into the cold shower is easier now; has become a "don't waste time, let's just get this over with" mindset. Definite improvement from my previous waking routine. Glad to see that I have the discipline to do it this way first thing in the morning.

Starting the cold shower in a low squat/crouch, then rising into the cold seems to help a bit. Breathing through the discomfort is easier now than it was in previous days, but now I'm wrestling with my mind-body connection. Rationally, I know that I'm fine, but my body screams otherwise. My extremities (fingers, etc.) scream at me that they're going to fall off and that this is terrible; no blueness or numbness sets in however--I feel every excruciatingly cold drop. This is like horse stance, in a way; strength of will is strength of mind.

I lather and scrub, and I'm thorough but I rush through it. I wonder: will I get to the point in which I "savor the texture of this moment", even when this moment is excruciatingly uncomfortable? That will be a zen moment. But, the moments that I experience as is are also zen moments. No one ever said this zen shit is easy.

I end the cold shower and towel off in a low horse stance. Muscle tension generates heat; I can't think of a better way to tense more of my muscles all at once than in low horse. Toweling off is nice, the cool ambient air seems warm by comparison. The experience is still very invigorating; makes me appreciate being alive and experiencing the thermogenesis of my body in this moment.