Voluntarily Freezing Myself

 While this blog was initially meant to suggest ways of comfort and stress-relief for those who are struggling from the whirlwind that is life, I decided to actually go out of my comfort zone for this week's blog post. After reading Lawrence's blog on 5 minute cold showers every day, I was quite intrigued. I have cross country practice nearly every day, and as you might imagine, it's exhausting and I often come back quite gross from sweat, mud, dirt, leaves, etc. Hopping into the toasty, comforting vesicle that is my shower is often a method of relaxation for me and gives me a chance to soothe my sore muscles and have some time for myself. I am a strong supporter of hot showers, and will often not be satisfied until steam fogs up my bathroom mirror and it turns my skin a tinge red from the heat. 

As a result, you might imagine my horror reading Lawrence's blog about 5-minute cold showers. It was yet another reminder of the words my hair dresser told me ("Danbi, your hair is already so damaged from bleach. Stop taking such hot showers"). Inspired, I decided to finally take on a week of cold showers.

While Lawrence mentioned he eased into colder/shorter showers, I kind of just went for it and put my shower on the coldest setting. Maybe it wasn't the smartest decision judging by the fact that I had to close my eyes and jump in to get started but I was in and out in record time (a little less than 5 minutes). While it was certainly difficult getting into the shower, I actually felt quite refreshed. In the following days, it became much easier to get into the water, especially because I was getting used to it. Honestly, even after the "challenge", I'm still taking cold showers and kind of look forward to that daily rush of adrenaline from the chattering of my teeth. While I don't think I am completely converted from hot showers, taking cold showers has definitely reduced my water usage and is not as terrible as I thought.