Don’t let the fear of a cold shower scare you away from experiencing all of the wonderful benefits that can come along with them for both your mind and body. When you decide you’d like to start taking cold showers, it’s best to ease yourself in gently. For your first few showers, have it at your regular temperature and finish the last 30 seconds with a colder temp. This gradually builds up your tolerance to the cold water, instead of diving in feet first and shocking your system. Eventually, you’ll find that you can stand a full cold shower, and it will become part of your routine. So, what are some of the benefits of taking a cold shower?
– You’ll notice yourself becoming more alert
By taking a cold shower you’ll be waking your body up and getting it into action. It’s suggested that when you take a cold shower, you’ll feel stimulated to take much deeper breaths, which will in turn decrease the level of CO2 running through your system, which will actually help you concentrate much better. This will allow you to stay much more focused and aware of your surroundings throughout your day.
– Your immune response will become stronger
It has been suggested by some scientists that taking cold showers can increase white blood cells in your system. White blood cells are what help your body fight infections and diseases. So, in turn, cold showers can help improve your immune system and your bodies ability to fight off bugs.
– You’ll notice reduced stress levels
When you introduce cold showers into your routine, you’ll also be subjecting your body to a small amount of stress from the cold water each time. This means that as your body builds up a tolerance to the cold water, it also builds up a tolerance to small amounts of stress in your day to day life.
– You’ll gain a stronger mental willpower
We all know that cold water in the shower can be uncomfortable, and when the shower does feel cold we instantly go to turn the heat up, almost like it’s a reflex. When you introduce cold water to your shower routine, you’ll find you need a certain level of willpower to keep the cold water running, and not turn the temperature up. This will become easier and easier as time goes on, as your willpower will be increasing each time. You may find you will be able to apply this to your daily life.
– You may notice weight loss
Various studies have found that cold water and cold showers, at temperatures below approximately 14 degrees Celsius, can increase your metabolism by 350%. When you eat and drink your body goes through a process called metabolism, where your body converts what you put into it into energy. A higher metabolism can often mean more energy is burned, helping drop the weight.
– You’ll notice healthier skin and hair
Cold showers are great for tightening the pores in your skin and hair. This will keep all of the natural oils your body produces trapped where they need to be. If you have particularly dry skin or brittle hair, cold showers can be especially advantageous, as any natural oils you’d normally wash off in the shower will be retained.
There you have some of the benefits of taking a cold shower. We hope you’ve found them useful and now feel motivated to take the plunge! Tag us in pictures of your shower set up on Instagram, @bathroommountainuk, we love seeing your designs!
