Cold Showers. Why?

Yeah and that's a pretty big deal if you think about it. At least for me the whole caving into this addiction for many years can be seen as an inability (I used to think 'unwillingness' but that just denies I was addicted) to deal with discomfort... the discomfort of not having the woman I want, the intense relations ship I want, the pure physical discomfort of not having a release, the discomfort of humiliating social interactions, the discomfort of not being able to solve a problem quickly enough (school/work) ,the discomfort of my general emotional issues... each time one of these discomforts popped up I would self medicate to feel better rather than to just ride it out and let it be...

 

ASK WHY YOU SHOULD TAKE A COLD SHOWER FOR NOFAP ONE MORE TIME...

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoFap/comments/2rbeaq/this_is_why_you_need_to_take_cold_showers/

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoFap/comments/29dtzm/why_cold_showers_are_essential_to_succeed_with/

 

Thought it would be righteous and kind of rad to post Mark's blog post from his site that goes along with this video:

This post is about taking cold showers. The topic of cold showers has been discussed quite a bit in the NoFap community so I thought that I would give you all my take on it. I’m going to share my thoughts on why you should take cold showers and also give you some tips on how to maximize their effectiveness.

I actually went the entire month of September taking nothing but ice cold showers. For the entire month that temperature knob was set on maximum cold and it never budged an inch.

Now, some of you may be thinking “wow, that sounds terrible. also what the hell does this have to do with NoFap?” Well basically, I believe that taking cold showers is absolutely one of the most effective ways for you to get comfortable with discomfort. And being comfortable with discomfort is one of the biggest keys for successfully quitting porn.

Think about it – what is one of the main reasons for relapse? In most cases it’s that we can’t handle the discomfort of denying our urges to watch porn. When you are addicted to porn, your mind and body craves it. When you don’t answer that craving, it can be quite unpleasant! By taking cold showers you essentially gain practice at confronting the weakness of the flesh.

In fact, this idea can be applied to almost every obstacle in life. If you can step into an ice cold shower, then you can pretty much do anything. When we learn how to move forward despite that internal resistance – we gain true freedom. If you can take a cold shower, you can say no to porn. If you can take a cold shower, you can approach any girl. If you can take a cold shower, you could wrestle a gorilla. You might not beat him, or live, but at least you’d have the balls to try!

Tips for maximizing the effectiveness of cold showers
1. Commit to a set amount of time for doing cold showers. I did a month, but maybe you can just start off with a week or a couple of days. The true positive effects are cumulative so don’t short change yourself!

2. Turn the shower ALLL the way cold from the very beginning. Some people like to suggest that you start it warm and gradually make it cold. Don’t be a wuss! This defeats the purpose!

3. Observe your mental state throughout the process. This is an excellent opportunity for getting to understand how to control your mind under stress. When you first do this there are going to be a myriad of feelings running through you. Notice how you feel right before you get in, during the shower, and after.

These feelings will change as you practice your control under stress and will give you a tremendous advantage when dealing with other uncomfortable things. Ultimately try to approach the activity with a calm and nonplussed mindset. When you can approach a cold shower with the same mindset as a warm one then you’ve become significantly more badass.

4. Relax your body completely! This might be the most important thing and is the one that I focused on the most. You will realize that if you can completely relax your muscles, you feel far less discomfort. This is excellent practice for learning how to “embrace” discomfort. When you get all tensed up and contorted, that tension represents resistance to the experience.

By relaxing yourself, it shows that you have embraced the experience and when you do this, it becomes much more bearable. This is also true for dealing with urges to watch porn and really any other experience you have an aversion to.

5. Use cold showers as a healthier mood modifier (instead of porn). When you are finished with a cold shower chances are you will literally feel amazing. The first few times I did this I ended up just laughing afterwards. This kind of stress releases all kinds of pent up energy and endorphins and I now use it as one of my favorite ways of knocking me out of a negative or depressed mood.

After doing a whole month of cold showers they almost got too easy. Because of that I’ve decided to just mix in cold showers with my normal warm ones. That way they maintain their challenge and ability to sharpen my edge. I know that this tool is one that I’ll never completely remove from my self-development toolbox and I hope you find it just as useful!

 

This is cut and pasted from a previous (Cold, Cold, COLDER!) thread, so you might have a bit of deja vu if you've been around here for a while… I've edited it a little.

I'm about 6 months in to cold showers, started off with the James Bond 007 method; Hot as you can stand / cold as you can stand thing, now it's just pure cold… cold as it gets. And I love it…

My reason for starting is a bit weird. I watched "Big Brother" and they turned the hot water off, and some of the housemates had to take cold showers. I thought that's the one thing I could NEVER do. Just the thought of it made my blood run cold. How could anyone stand under cold water? But I've got a strange brain, and I hate being told I can't do something – even by my self. So I set myself the challenge of having a cold shower every morning for a week.

Here's what happened…

For me, the first 5 seconds are the worst, getting every bit of skin wet… when it makes you gasp and takes your breath away. It's mostly mental, and once I'm in, I kinda relax into the cold, and savour it, the longer I'm in, the less the discomfort… but it's usually somewhere between 5-7 minutes for me.

The benefits I've noticed are;

• Energy – You get in sleepy – and get our bursting with energy!
• Improved Mood – It literally does make me almost euphoric… to the point of genuine laughter on occasions… a great morning mood booster!
• Feeling of Power – You really feel if you can deal with this, you can deal with anything
• Improved Hair & Skin – Less spotty, clearer skin – and no dandruff, stopped using an anti-dandruff shampoo
• Less sweating – I used to sweat profusely. Now during the day I no longer leak like a menopausal sow coming off smack, but do work up a healthy sweat at the gym (after which I have a cold shower of course).
• No fapping – I suppose you could if you really tried, but it would take a definite effort.
• Last but not least – No more steamed up bathroom mirrors – you can shave straight after without dealing with condensation. Do NOT underestimate this!

The downsides I've noticed are;

• I get a slight 'ringing in the ears' but it seems to sharpen my hearing – weird, and not too disconcerting though (this doesn't happen any more)

Other than that… None!

A brisk towel-off after further boosts the circulation (I'm no Doctor, but it feels like it does) and warms you up.

It's a no-brainer for me. I can't see myself ever going back to hot / warm showers. I tried one the other weekend as a 'luxury' BUT it felt 'wrong' and uncomfortable… soon turned it all the way down. So, cold showers may not be for everyone, but they work for me.

 

I treated the cold showers differently. I accept all the benefits of the cold showers of course. What was the first thing that came to my mind, when I read the phrase "cold showers"?

Turn off the fire!!!! I am sure that everyone can feel the heat in the genital area. The cold showers can turn off the heat and return genitals in normal condition. That's why I love cold showers except of course of the rest benefits.

 

Gonna start doing cold showers again. Just had my first. Now, I'm rolling like I'm platinum!
POTM

 

I have had issues pushing myself ever since becoming depressed. I will try a cold shower tomorrow morning.