The Benefits of a cold shower
BRRR…. The thought of a cold shower in January does not feel appealing, does it? Phase 1 of 75 hard requires a 5 minute cold shower everyday for 30 days. I almost didn’t do phase 1 because of this. Then I read the benefits of it.
When I was going through the cancer 6 years ago, one of the surgeries was a full hysterectomy. Cancer is in my families genes on my moms side. They call it Lynch Syndrome and it can cause cancer in your female parts and colon mostly, but also your bladder & kidneys. The cancer I had was not part of Lynch Syndrome so who know where it came from however, what we decided to do was a full hysterectomy while they were in there getting the “cyst”. When I woke up The “cyst” which was really a cancerous tumor was still there and my female reproductive parts were gone. They found they were clean of any cancer but hey I was 45 and not having anymore children. The thing I didn’t think about was um HELLO MENOPAUSE. The Dr. put me on an estradiol patch which my skin didn’t like and then to a low does birth control which I took up until 6 months ago. So what does this story have to do with cold showers?
I’ll tell you NIGHT SWEATS! I get hot flashes about 2 -3 a day then 2-3 nights sweats during the night. So yesterday when I woke up I said what if I jump in a cold shower right now? I have been sweating all night and it may feel good. So I did just that yesterday and this morning work up with my eyes still closed (kind of what I used to do when I ran at 5am) turned on the shower, threw my hair in a pony and got in. It was a shock at first but the longer I was in there the better I felt. My body temperature was coming down and I could feel the heat and sweat rinsing off. When I got out I was wide awake AND happy lol. YES happy!
These are some of the benefits to cold showers:
Reduced levels of stress
Higher levels of alertness
Builds up you immune system
Increased will power
Weight loss
Increasing circulation
Glowing hair and skin
Reduces muscle soreness
Increase metabolism
Increased dopamine (hello happy!)
So why not give it a try? I wouldn’t suggest jumping right in with doing 5 minutes but starting with 15 seconds at the end of your shower each day could help with these benefits. ALSO make sure your stoma is covered when doing this. I wear my bag in the shower during these ones. And always if you have concerns check with your Dr. first!
Let me know if you decide too! I would love to hear it.
xo