| 5 star (15) | 94% | |
 (1) | 6% |
Lorica (New Albany, Indian) on 03/22/2010: 
This is what works for me to make the whole experience kind of pleasant instead of shocking to my system.
It helps to have a hand held hose with a spray. If not, I guess one could modify this approach. I start with one foot at a time, spraying it. Very quickly the cold does not bother me there. It seems to help to get the strong spray very close to the skin, as a kind of massage & blood stimulation agent, then spray quickly back and forth one section at a time, working one's way up the legs this way as much as feels comfrotable.
Once you past the thighs, the skin becomes more sensitive to the cold water. What can help is to first hand splash some of the cold water on the next area to get the cold spray, or use a washcloth to get the cold water there. It's amazing how much more easy it then becomes to not flinch with the spray following. As someone else said, don't forget to get the arm pits and all those nerves there.
For some reason once I have sprayed all my body up to my neck, when I lean over to spray my head it doesn't bother me at all, but feels good. Oh, pre preparations: First, if you have a space heater, use it in the bathroom! Get the room a little uncomfortably hot even. Have some cayenne pepper in something like yogurt to cool it down (wonderful stuff for your health - tho it might cause you to start seeing "white rice" in your stools, i.e. tapeworm segments, which means you gotta do a parasite cleanse).
Do some light exercises. Yes, slick your face & neck especially with your favorite oily moisturizer. I use plain ol' olive oil w/essential oils that are good for the skin. For me anyway, the face gets dry from cold showers but the rest of my body does not, if I don't just some oil before & after.
If you really, really don't wanna take a cold shower or health prevents it, you can modify with cold packs. You know those old fashioned ice packs for the head, neck wraps, etc. If you don't have the resources, you can make your own cold packs with freezer bags stuffed with cotton pads placed in a sock & put in the freezer. Putting cold packs simultanaeously on the head, down the spine, under the arm pits, under the feet, down the abdomen, can make one feel similar to taking a cold shower, tho it is not quite as invigorating or powerful against depression.
James (Roseburg, Oregon) on 05/05/2009:
My Method and what I Know:
First how I got started. I got involved because my father told me about it (he his interested in some of the Hindu's practices and practices some of them) and that it was beneficial to ones health. He also told me of some other Hindu practices that I now combine into my shower regime.
So, next is what I do. First I turn the tap on warm. But since I am not close to the hot water source, it takes some time for it to reach me. So I usually have a 10-15 second cold shower. I then take a hot shower for the next minute or so. Following that I rinse myself with another 10-20 second shower. At the end I pat myself dry with a towel. Also during the shower I usually yell as loud as I can for stress relief reasons. Plus to give my vocal cords some exercise.
Now I will tell you what I experienced during my time taking cold-hot-cold showers. First, I noticed a peculiar thing about my perception of the waters temperature. The first section felt quite cold and I usually try to keep it short. The portion after the hot part on the other hand did not fell anything like the one before. It was almost like my body had created a shield; likely to be the blood rising to the surface from the first cold water blast, and then my body was further heated from the hot water. Two last thoughts, At the beginning I had a lot of trouble turning the water on. But, I noticed that as I continued it was taking less and less effort on my part, till now I have next to no trouble. Thought two, I also noticed that taking my shower is very revitalizing, and is good for clearing my head so I can think properly.
This next section I will talk about the benefits I have seen of taking a cold-hot-cold shower. I know it would be good for warding off sickness in two ways. First, it acts as a mixer to the blood. The cold bringing the blood to the surface, then the hot driving it inwards, and finally the cold drawing it back out again. ( I think the blood does this because of homeostasis, a bodies mechanism for keeping balance.) The second reason I think these showers are good for wellness is that hot promotes openness and movement, essentially opening the pores of your skin. Cold on the other hand closes things and promotes stillness.
So, I would advise a person to end with a session of cold water at the end of a period of hot water. UNLESS, that is, they wish to have their pores open for health purposes. Although as general practice I would usually close my pores.
Also a word of caution. Try to keep the water from being to hot. Especially where your hair is concerned, as it can cause damage to the roots. (Or so I have hear. But it does make some sense.)
Thank you for reading this, and I hope you got something out of reading it.
Good Vitality and Enthusiasm to you!
Paul (Uxbridge, MA) on 12/01/2008:
2. Fixed shower heads probably work better b/c you need to force yourself under the cold water. A moveable head doesn't give you the full affect of the refreshing blast of cold water coming at you.
3. I used to take hot showers for a good 15 minutes. I've been able to cut my showers down to 5 minutes while fully cleaning myself. Cold showers are extremely environmental friendly in that respect.
4. Dry off. I don't feel the need to shiver in the bathroom and try to warm myself up. My body temp has risen to the point where I can get out of the shower and not reach for the towel to warm up but rather dry off.
5. Not at all. I thought it would when I first started but it really isn't. The shampoo and soap come off just as if it was warm water.
6. Dimensions... I don't think it matters. One thing I do is run in place as soon as that cold blast hits me. You do feel a good shock to the body but compose yourself and run in place for 30 seconds and you will notice that you can handle the cold water better.
7. Not that I can think of.
The best way to promote cold showers would be to talk about how healthy cold showers are. My moods have improved, Headaches are limited, I almost never get sick, I can handle sleeping in a cold basement now, my hair is thicker and stronger, my skin is smoother, I have much better circulation. To be honest, I didn't even think of the environmental effect cold showers would have, but it certainly has cut my oil and water bill drastically.
Best of Luck!!!
Nadia (Chicago, Illinois) on 05/06/2008:
Kayla (San Jose, California) on 01/28/2008:
Take cold showers, not freezing. A freezing shower made my head hurt really bad and I started to hyperventalate. so yeah im 15 and cold showers were awsome for me:) i say tough it out and just do it!
Alexa Fleckenstein M.D. (Brookline, MA) on 11/25/2007:
And, please, refer to the contraindications and cautions in my water book "Health20".
Alexa Fleckenstein M.D. (Brookline, MA) on 11/07/2007:
Eddie (Minneapolis, USA) on 10/24/2007:
Remy (Buffalo, NY) on 09/22/2007: 
Warning
For people who are "underweight" it may be a good idea by slowly decreasing the temp. each time you take a shower, followed by taking your temperature afterward.
Core Temp. Side Effect
95 Shivering
90 Confusion
85 Lethargic
80 Coma
78 Death
Measuring the length of the shower is important, as the longer you expose your self to cold water, the lower your body temperature will drop.
I hope this helps, and as always; if you think you may have an eating disorder, you may have one, or develop one!
Brian (Irvine, California) on 09/03/2007:
I remember taking a cold shower one time right after a brisk run and that one felt amazing. Actually, I ran intensely for about 15 minutes, then quickly smoked a cigarette right after, and immediately ran in the house and took a cold shower. At first, I was just enjoying the cold water as a much as I could. I had severe palpitations but it felt wonderful. I wouldn't recommend this to anybody though since I'm guessing there is a risk of heart damage or failure. I haven't tried again since then either.
For the people who are wondering if they should try a cold bath or shower, they should consider how cold their cold water is. My cold water is not that cold right now because its 100F outside, so bath water may warm too quickly for me. But if your water is super cold - somewhere in South Argentina during this time - immersing your entire body in ice cold water might weaken your immune system too much. The shower provides a stream of water at a consistent controlled temperature and exposes only parts of your body to the cold at a time.
