There's a reason I take cold showers.
Sure… there's a ton of physical health benefits. Something something adipose tissue getting stronger. Something something circulation. Something something longevity. Dude, we've heard it all before. There's a million and one facts that will back up the fact that cold showers in the morning are healthy for you.
We fucking get it.
But why do I really take a cold shower? What's the reason that I keep getting into that 2×2 ice box every morning (I skip some mornings, I'm human) and have my breath ripped from me, my blood pushed back into my organs, my toes go numb, my fingers go numb, and practice all my curse words really quickly while I try to soap up all those numb extremities?
Because it's miserable.
I'm no longer comfortable. I'm no longer warm. I'm no longer sitting at this baseline of complacency.
When you force the cold shower upon yourself (and I mean starting cold, showering cold, and finishing cold) everything is warmer after.
When you step out of the shower, the air feels like it came straight on the winds from Jamaica. The towel feels like it just came out of 5 hour dryer cycle. Your clothes feel like they had been laying out in the sun all day. Your car instantly heats up instead of taking a few minutes.
The benefits of the cold shower carry FAR beyond some fun health benefits like something something healthier skin.
It creates mindset benefits. Benefits that aren't always documented by science because there's something intangible about it. HURR DURR BUT SCIENCE?!?! I recently heard that no amount of facts will change someone's mind. Which is great, because I'd have to google any facts, cite the sources, give you YouTube clips. Frankly, I just don't care what you do. It's your path, not mine.
Cold showers work for me. Why? Sometimes I wake up and I'm plagued by self-doubt, financial despair, thought paralysis, worry, depression, anxiety, and whatever other mental and emotional pain you can think of. Why do you think I pursued martial arts and medical qigong? Because I've had to learn how to heal (and CONTINUE TO HEAL) myself.
When I'm battling these wars of self, usually I can be quick to realize - "I've got it too good. We need to reset the baseline."
For some of us, we're resourceful. I don't need much to be happy. Food, water, shelter, friends, family, and a little freedom bring me more joy than most humans living in America. So, when I'm so easily found in the comfort zone, we have to find ways to bring ourselves discomfort. Through this, we develop a hardening. We develop a sense of "being comfortable being uncomfortable." This helps us strive for more, work towards goals, and push through situations that others cannot handle. The problem with this ability is that if it is not fed, it will turn in on one's self. The stronger the ability, the more it will consume you.
You must continue to force yourself into the uncomfortable. You must find ways to rip away the comforts of the modern world. If you continue to allow yourself those primal feelings of comfort, the same driving force that has brought you such success in your life will turn inward on you… even partially can start to cause some of the aformentioned mental/emotional issues.
So find a way that you can bring yourself some phsyical discomfort, something that appeals to your inner animal. If you do not keep him fed, he will start to eat away at your soul.
For me, I'll take the cold shower in the morning. Not because of something something dopamine receptors, but because it feeds my inner animal.
But unfortunately, that's only breakfast…. and he's a glutton.