How to feel like the King of the World
By: Cosmin Angheluta
Tags: Self-awareness, Self Improvement, Motivation, Cold Shower, Habit Building

How to feel like the King of the World

Top 5 Benefits of Cold Showers (and some tips to start)

Photo from Xannah Xu on Unsplash

There was a period in my life when I started doing challenges, one after another, constantly. Most of them just passed by, while some stayed. This one I never gave up on.

Why?

Because if you want to feel good and get out of your comfort zone cold showers could be the strongest practice you will ever find out there.

I have been doing them daily for almost 3 months now: it is time I share with you the enormous benefits I got from it. You might be skeptical, I was, but you will never know until you will try, right?

In the meantime, here are 5 benefits I got from cold showers. Hope you will reach the same results!

1. Cold showers make you feel like the king of the world

The first benefit I noticed once I started taking cold showers was the amazing feeling I experienced once I finished. It is a mixture of joy and strength that I hardly could get from anywhere else: just amazing.

The reason behind that feeling is a natural reaction of our body. As human beings we developed a strong resistance to cold temperature, hence overcoming that block will give you the impression you could defeat any obstacle on your way.

Your decision to go under cold water is a conscious decision into stepping out of the comfort zone. By taking that step into the water, aware that it will hurt your comfort, you are taking a step into the unknown. Your body will never be prepared for what is coming. You will feel like you are taking part in a completely new fight, every time, winning it over and over again besides its harshnesses.

This is exactly what will make you feel like the king of the world.

Moreover, your decision will empower your resilience.

How? Simple. Cold water will cause your body to produces eustress, which is the kind of stress that forces our mental health to get stronger. So, when you will get out of that shower, not only you will feel like the king of the world, but also your resilience will permanently improve.

2. Cold showers refill your energies and make you productive

There are two types of energies you could get in your life: the one static and refreshing that comes from sleeping, and the one dynamic and explosive that you get from high impact activities, like jumping with a parachute.

A cold shower is like jumping with a parachute in miniature, it is like bungee jumping with your eyes closed. You get a fast boost of that dynamic energy but staying in your bathroom, and you get it for free!

One thing I experienced once I got out of the shower was exactly this enormous amount of rush power filling my body. Being under cold water for some minutes was recharging my brain and my muscles.

Of course, it was less strong than jumping from a 20k feet height but still considerable. There is no other way you could get that adrenaline that simple.

Moreover, that rush will make you feel the necessity of acting, the need of doing something, which might be very productive if you learn to use it properly.

3. Cold showers get you into a meditative state

The first time I got under cold water I noticed how it built a block between me and the external world. My mind was completely erased, and all the thoughts that were draining me disappeared. I could not think about anything else but survival and, with a little effort, I could stop that too.

Thus, the most important side benefit that you will get from cold showers is a deeper awareness of every inch of your body. At first, you will be able to distinguish between the parts of the skin exposed to the cold water and the relaxed ones. Then you will slowly become more conscious of your internal body by noticing how it fills up with air at every breath you take.

This is exactly what you want to achieve with meditation: the mental clarity given by the absence of thoughts, and the mental embodiment given by a deeper comprehension of your body.

4. Cold showers make you reconnect to yourself

When I first went under cold water I was so hyped by the benefits I did not think that much about how harsh could it be. The following repetitions were harder, but once you take that decision of going under you don’t come back. What happens next it’s the real challenge.

Staying under the shower is a constant internal fight that makes you ultimately discover yourself on a deeper level. With time you will start to recognize which patterns your brain uses to get you out of danger, and which to keep you resistant.

Being aware of the patterns that get you out of trouble is very important. First of all because you will recognize danger easier, and secondly you can stop your brain from overreacting in situations that are only apparently dangerous.

5. Cold showers improve your cold tolerance

I remember when I moved out and I started living alone. I was economizing on the bills so the temperature in my house was very very low. I had to put always my sweater on and it was not that comfy.

Then I started the cold shower challenge. After the first 30 days, I recognized how I was able to stay without any clothes on, at the same usual temperature, for around one hour, without feeling cold. Not only that, but also my general cold resistance improved, and I was able to remain in the house wearing just a simple T-shirt.