Siva (Burlingame CA) on 03/01/2004

I somehow sensed that hot water was making me spend a lot of time in the shower. So I decided to have cold water shower, but I found it very difficult as I started showering but felt great by the end of the shower. As opposed to a hot water shower which feels great at the beginning and made me dull and drowsy by the time I stepped out, cold water felt scary and chilly in the beginning but got better and better, and made me feel fresh and energetic by the end of the shower.
I was looking for some info on cold water therapy a few months ago and I found this web page. Everyone's comments have helped me a lot. Let me add my 2 cents:
The most challenging part of the cold-water shower is the initial part of the shower, i.e. the first 10-30 secs. A few things that have helped me either some or all of the following:
1. Doing some mild exercise like skipping, jogging or push-ups just before taking the cold shower.
2. As mentioned about massaging the body with almond oil before taking shower.
3. Dancing in the shower while taking shower!
4. Starting with normal or luke warm water.
A cold shower causes a sudden increase in heart rate and breathing rate. So if we increase our heart rate and breathing by some mild exercise like the ones mentioned above, it really prepares us for the cold shower, and makes it pleasant throughout.
I start with a blast of moderately cold water and run it all over my body from head to toe as someone has mentioned. Then when I reach the feet, I make it colder. Then back to head, colder... Then I repeat a mantra 10 times keeping the water at head level. Back to torso and feet....repeat. Wow, that was cool.
Enjoy!