Cold showers

I had a difficult Monday, I woke up with low energy and felt dizzy. So instead of being productive that day I read articles online. One of the posts I read was the excellent On stress and comfort, where Slava Akhmechet discusses how he adapted to the Covid lock-down and how cold morning showers lift his mood.

The next day I woke up still felling tired and sluggish. So I took a 10 seconds cold shower that morning, and it rebooted my mind: I felt energized and had a renewed sense of purpose. I had a productive day, and went to bed felling good.

Every day my friend Cyrille takes cold showers or goes for cold swims, he started 6 weeks ago and he loves it thus far. I often heard or read about the beneficial effects of cold water. When I was a student I took cold showers to wake myself up after some late night partying, it worked great. I stopped taking cold showers after graduating, possibly because the late night partying also stopped.

There’s a randomized study that shows that people taking daily cold showers tend to be less sick. The study seems robust and its results significant. Many health professionals already use cold showers and baths to help athletes recover.

With all these anecdotes about cold showers, it’s time I jump on the band wagon and take one daily. I’ll update this blog with my experiences.