Howdy friend,

Today I start week 3 of Wim Hof's cold shower method.

For the longest time when I heard talk of cold showers, I always assumed it meant taking a full shower in freezing cold water. Because of that assumption, I never tried it.

When I read Wim Hof's book, The Wim Hof Method, I realized I was VERY wrong. Cold showers are much easier than what I had imagined.

Wim Hof's cold shower method looks like this:

• Week 1: 30 seconds of cold water at the end of a warm shower.
• Week 2: 1 minute of cold water at the end of a warm shower.
• Week 3: 1.5 minutes of cold water at the end of a warm shower.
• Week 4: 2 minutes of cold water at the end of a warm shower.

That I could do.

The first shower was the hardest (and not even that hard). After that, the cold gradually became easier to endure. Today I did my first 1.5 minutes of cold water. It wasn't all that different than 30 seconds or 1 minute as far as difficulty.

But I'm not just following a trend. I decided to try cold showers after I read about the amazing health benefits.

From Wim Hof's book: "When you take a cold shower, all of those little muscles in your vascular system are activated and exercised. Within ten days of taking these showers you will notice that your hear rate has decreased significantly, and that it remains that way twenty-four hours a day. That translates to a lot less stress. Your heart rate increases when your body experiences stress. That sends a primordial signal to the body to activate adrenaline and cortisol, which sets off a series of biochemical processes that exhaust your adrenal axis, your energy, because you're in poor vascular condition. Your heart needs to pump more, work harder.

At the same time, while your energy is depleted, life demands a lot from you, which increases your stress levels. The result is that your heart has to pump even more without any way to cool down, to rest, because your vascular system is compromised.

With cold showers you feel more energized. The improved blood flow delivers better nutrition to your cells. You find that you don't get sick anymore because your body is no longer vulnerable. Instead, you feel strong."

This is one of those habits where the benefits highly outweigh the cost. And anyone can do 30 seconds of cold water at the end of a warm shower. Especially if it means not getting sick anymore!

All the best,

Nick

(2/10) Writing Prompt: What are the habits or activities that you feel most like yourself when you are doing them? (i.e. if I don't meditate or write for more than a month, I know something is wrong). Pick one or two and write about how they make you feel.