After several attempts over the last few years to maintain a cold shower practice through the winter months, I finally succeeded this year, and since we’re into the spring months it will be a little easier to keep the practice going through the rest of this year and into the next winter. Now to be clear, the entire shower I take is not cold. I do still enjoy a nice warm shower, but at the very least 30-60 seconds of the shower uses no hot water at all.

Thirty seconds of cold water may not seem like much to you especially those of you that live in LA like me, but I’ll challenge you to take a 30 second cold-water-only-shower in Pittsburgh between Christmas and New Years. That cold water is icy cold, yet it was somehow easier than the cold water in LA. I think it’s because it was so cold that it numbed my skin, and I couldn’t really feel how cold it was. Whatever the real reason is I was able to do it and keep up with the practice.

For those of you that might be wondering, “Why would you torture yourself like that?” there are many physical and mental health benefits that come from a cold shower routine.