A 5-step process to take better cold showers

Step 1: Love The Suck

There is no getting around it. Cold showers suck. There will be plenty of days when I don’t want to do it. Especially in the chilling Melbourne mornings deep into winter.

But that’s the psychological power of cold showers. Doing something that sucks reinforces your identity that you are someone who does hard things. You don’t back away. No matter uncomfortable or spine-tingling they are.

So get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Loving the suck will help to translate into other aspects of your life. You will take on harder tasks at work, become more confident in tricky situations and learn to back yourself.

Because once you’ve faced the most uncomfortable thing in the morning, nothing else can stop you.

You gain a sense of perspective that something that sucks can also be pleasurable. You get to decide which outcome you want to focus on. The choice is always yours.

Step 2: Embrace The Flinch

Right before you step into the cold water, you will flinch. You will have thoughts and doubts. “Why am I doing this to myself?” is a question I regularly grapple with.

My body tenses up. My heart starts to race. My flight or fight response starts to activate. My mind starts to bargain with me.

“No one will know if you took a cold shower this morning”

“You don’t need to do this”

“Who are you trying to impress?”

This is the moment where you can back out. Your mind is right. No one will know. But you will. Deep down you’ll know you couldn’t back yourself when the moment counted. You let your fears take over.

But in what other areas of your life are you doing the same thing? Where else does this mindset let you down? Remember that how you do one thing tends to be how you do everything.

If you bargain yourself out of a cold shower, maybe you’ve also bargained yourself out of a promotion at work or a relationship. Self-sabotage serves you well because at least you can control the outcome.

Step 3: Enjoy The Flush

You’ve taken no prisoners and gone into the water. Your mind goes blank. Your body goes numb. You forget where you are. Your fears have left you. All your doubts have been frozen. Both literally and metaphorically.

Your senses are temporarily overwhelmed. You can’t comprehend what is happening to you yet. Your mind and body are in different dimensions.

This moment is bliss. Time slows. Seconds start to feel like minutes. This is the peak moment. The revelation at the end of a meditation session. But don’t try and chase this moment because it will start to elude you.

Step 4: Breathe Into The Shake

Your mind and body have caught up to you. Your body will begin to shake. Your mind will start to race again. That’s okay. You might have the urge to tense your body. Fists into balls. Face scrunched up. Teeth clenched.

You want to run out of the shower or turn off the tap. Don’t.

You will be tempted to hold your breath. Don’t.

Breathe deeply for 6 seconds. Hold. And breathe out again for 6 seconds.

Make sure the breath goes into your stomach. Feel the sensation of the cold air in your nose and cold water meandering your body.

Start to unclinch the various parts of your body. Your fist first, your face second and your teeth last. Focus your mind, still your body.

Feel the relaxation come across your body. The cold water will start to feel refreshing. Your body is adapting to the temperature. Keep breathing. Nice and deep. Steady and consistent.

Continue for 2 minutes.

Step 5: Welcome The Calm

Tap off.

Congratulations. The cold shower is over. You’ve done one of the hardest things you could do. Nothing else will suck as bad as that. Not even a crap client or tedious project.

You step out of the shower and into the real world again. You have a deeper appreciation of the feel of your towel, the warmth of your clothes. Your problems have found their perspective again.

You are ready to face the world calmly. Your anxiety and stress levels seem to have tempered off. You have an excitement for challenges. “If I can do this, what’s next?”.

BONUS: Step 6: Repeat.

Consistency is key. This daily ritual will start to become part of your mental and physical preparation for the day.

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