A daily COLD habit that can change your life

Cold showers, although not that attractive, can literally boost your whole system, making it stronger and helping it function properly.

Main Benefits

1. Stimulates your immune system Cold showers stimulate the production of white blood cells and therefore strengthen your ability to fight against harmful pathogens. They also help balance your Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), which controls your overall stress management. Your body has to regulate its internal temperature, and if you exercise that stress mechanism every day, you strengthen your interior vascular vessels, making them overall much more robust and resistant.

Many people say they cannot even think about having a cold shower. This actually shows that their internal system regulation is already weak. This makes them quite vulnerable to parasites or fungal infections.

2. Improves your circulation All the blood gets centralized into the organs to keep them safe and warm, and this has a real therapeutic detoxification benefit. Your body only works properly if it is able to detox, purify and renew all cells constantly.

3. Increases your mood Cold showers enhance the production of norepinephrine, a hormone produced in your brain that is essential for your mood and also alleviates pain. Just try it - stay there for 10 minutes and you will feel the effects straight away.

4. Help you burn fat They make you shiver and speed up your metabolism. Research shows that a person who takes cold showers every day for a year can lose up to 9lbs more than a person who doesn't. This is also due to cold temperatures boosting mitochondrial biogenesis, especially in fat tissue.

5. Great for post-exercise recovery The cold helps your muscles relax after exercising. The cold shock also provokes an increase in testosterone production, which helps with muscle definition and increases sex drive. Very useful for people feeling sluggish or losing strength despite working out.

6. Great for hair and skin The cold tightens up skin, closing all pores, as well as hair cuticles. As a result, your skin looks younger and more energized, and your hair is naturally shinier.

7. Helps you manage stress When having a cold shower, you quickly realize you have to regulate your breath in a very special relaxing way. This teaches you, over time, how to breathe better - especially when under high stress. When you start breathing deeper with your belly (not just the chest as very stressed people do), you physiologically reduce the overall stress in your body and lower cortisol levels.

How to Start

To get the most benefits, aim for at least 10 minutes daily. The more you do it, the more your body gets used to it. Don't worry - start by just staying in cold water after your usual warm shower. Just 1 or 2 minutes. Then increase it slowly.

Deciding to take a cold shower daily can have a great impact on your life overall. After just a month of doing it daily, for at least 10 minutes, you will become a new person.

The first day, you will have all those thoughts: "Oh maybe I don't need to do it after all", or "today is not the right day", or "I will do it when I have less stress in my life"... All those thoughts are the exact same excuses that most people use to not do something, like quitting a job or making any other life-changing decision.

If you REALLY DO IT every day for 30 days, if you commit to it and stick to it, you will become more and more comfortable being... uncomfortable. You will realize how your brain makes up so many reasons for you not to do things, even when you know those things are important.

If you see yourself trapped in life, if you feel you are blocked and that you might be the one blocking yourself... cold showers might be a great help and confidence booster.

Conclusion

Cold showers are amazing physical and mental health boosters. They charge your body up with positive energy and balance your hormones.

Challenging yourself daily, putting yourself out of your comfort zone, sticking to your own promise to yourself - all of this can actually help you change your life.

Note: If you have any acute heart condition, acute vasoconstriction can be too much of a shock for you, so speak to your health practitioner first.

In Health and Happiness,

Stephanie