The Benefits of a Cold Shower – Happiness Experiment 27 Conclusions

 Experiments  2 Responses »
Jun 172012
 

Firstly, I admit full guilt. You might have noticed I didn’t post any results for this experiment yesterday.

Speaking honestly, there hasn’t exactly been a whole lot to say.

When I started this experiment on the benefits of a cold shower, I was looking for both mental and physical benefits.

Conclusions on the Benefits of a Cold Shower

This experiment was both profound and a bit unsatisfying all at the same time.

The mental benefits of this experiment were immediate and profound. I found a number of resources that talked about using cold showers to build mental toughness.

The physical effects really didn’t manifest in the time frame of this experiment. That’s not to say that they wouldn’t occur – obviously a cold shower does get the blood flow pumping and wake me up, but for a serious contribution to weight loss, I would need to take LONG cold showers, or take more of them.

So, cold showers are great to build mental toughness, and they sure to wake you up. I’ll definitely be taking them occasionally going forward, as I find challenging myself to always be a good decision.

The Benefits of a Cold Shower – Happiness Experiment 27 Day 4

 Experiments  1 Response »
Jun 152012
 

Okay, it might have taken four days, but the impossible is starting to happen. I’m starting to find a comfort zone in the cold section of the dial for showers.

If you’re just joining me now, I’ve been experimenting with the benefits of a cold shower. To see how this had been going for me so far, check out yesterday in the benefits of a cold shower experiment.

But, back to my finding a crazy comfort zone.

I start off with the shower on cool and slowly advance it towards freezing cold over the duration of my shower. I’m finding that there’s a point about a notch or two above as cold as possible which is actually quite comfortable. It’s bracing. Bracing is a good word for this experiment.

Bracing is defined as:

Invigorating or refreshing. Strengthening.

As scary as it is, I might be growing to like taking showers this cold. They don’t have the hedonistic comfort of a warm shower, but they can serve a useful purpose. I certainly feel awake in the morning after I take one!