Be one with winter
Embrace the cold
I have made no secret about how much cold showers have changed my life. For a number of years, I’d heard about them, and after much resistance, I finally read The Wim Hof Method. It has changed my life. It’s not just about cold showers. It’s also about the breathing that comes naturally when we are immersed in cold. Our body knows how to protect itself as long as possible in the cold, and breath is a big part of that protection. But the showers…those are amazing. I started, as suggested with a few moments of cold at the end of a normal hot shower last May while visiting Colorado to decompress from a year teaching under COVID weirdness. I have to admit, at first it was shocking. I know…that’s a no-brainer right? But by July in steamy hot Kansas, I stopped doing the hot part of the shower. After working outside, the cold water was electrifying! So, I just kept doing it. And I noticed benefits pretty quickly. My body started finding more ease and less tension. Research on Wim Hof has shown benefits of increased circulation, strengthened immune system and even reduction in depression and i’ve experienced all of these. I’ve noticed it helps keep inflammation down and I’m sleeping better.
Cold is cool!
The biggest shift is that my relationship with winter has changed. I stood outside in 0 degrees this morning with nothing on my legs while I took a leak (yes, I love to pee outside, one of the many benefits of living a secluded life in the country!). I’ve always loved winter even if not the cold. This year, the cold really isn’t bothering me. I’ve learned other aspects of managing body temperature, which is affected by my Qi, breath, and state of mind. But the biggest of these is just getting more comfortable at a temperature other than 70 degrees. I think Wim Hof is right, for those of us who live with seasons. Our bodies were not made to always be in a constant temperature environment. Living in AC and heat that keeps us at 70 degrees puts us out of harmony with our environment and also our bodies. Like the “eat local” movement, maybe we should start a “local temperature” movement. Cold showers is a great way to get that inner fire burning, and harmonize the inside with the outside!
Getting beyond “but I hate cold…”
The biggest hurdle for cold showers is the mind. I’ve watched my internal dialog when i step into the shower. At first, I really had to stir up the courage, which also increased my resistance to what that cold water was going to feel like. Taking a couple deep breaths helped. Turning it on full blast, and rotating around once to get the whole body into it also helps. Now, after months of experiencing how exhilarating it is, I actually look forward to it! It feels so good when I run that cold on my brainstem. My brain actually feels like it’s shrinking from inflammation. What’s the first thing you feel in any season when you get out of a hot shower? Cold, right? Even in the summer. Not after a cold shower! When I turn off the cold water in the shower, I feel immediately warm. No more shivering after getting out of a hot shower!
I thought I might have trouble sustaining these cold showers through the winter, but they just keep getting better. So, this morning, when my house was 58 degrees, I decided to jump in a cold shower. I even shampooed my hair, which adds time to the shower. And it was amazing! My water sits in the ground in a cistern, so is 56 degrees pretty consistently. So I actually felt warm when I got out, and so invigorated. Yes, I did put warm clothes on, but because of the increased circulation, I never felt cold. So, I’m a believer. Not because Wim Hof says so, but because of how I feel after the showers. I’ve gotten up in the middle of the night to take them, taken them right before bed, and now, first thing in the morning on a really cold day in a cold house. The effects are lasting and cumulative.
Be one with the cold!
Oh, and if you think taking a hot show makes taking a cold dunk easier, it doesn’t IMHO! The cold water is WAY more shocking after you heat up your skin. And so, perhaps the biggest benefit of these cold showers is the mind-over-matter practice. Two or three minutes of cold water will not kill me, but my mind wants to judge the discomfort in all the ways it wants to judge any experience that i’m not used to. It’s been great practice at reminding myself that cold is a sensation just like hot or any other sensation. It’s not good or bad, just different. We humans spend a lot of time bitching about what is, instead of embracing it. In the winter we moan about the cold and in the summer complain about the heat. And that's what makes it uncomfortable. The cold showers have taught me that temperature just is, and it is me who gets to decide who I’m going to feel about it. The cold is just a sensation, and after some practice, I enjoying that sensation, just like any other. Any my body, mind and spirit are thanking me for it!
I’m thinking about starting a polar bear club at Perry Lake next year. Anyone want to join me?