The cold teacher
The hardest part of a cold shower isn't the cold. It's the second before.
Every morning starts the same way for me: a cold shower. It's a habit I'm genuinely proud of.
The reset
It wakes me up completely — not just physically, but mentally. And that small win right at the start of the day puts me in a great mindset for everything that follows.
The cold is also a powerful teacher. It pulls you into the present instantly. The moment the water hits you, every worry and bad thought just disappears. All that's left is raw sensation. I walk in with one state of mind and walk out with a completely different one.
How I built it
I started slowly. A few seconds at first, just my arms, then my feet. Then I built up the time. Today I go further: I stand under the shower with the water off, and only then turn it on, so I face the flinch head-on.
The second before
After a few months, something changed: I started enjoying it. When the cold water hits my skin, I actually laugh — the sensation feels great.
But I still dread the moment before. Standing there, hand on the tap, my mind still expects the worst. It hasn't yet connected the good feeling to the moment before it. That's what I'm working on now: liking it not just during, but before. And that lesson — handling the anticipation of discomfort — carries into almost every area of life.
The Iceman
I can't talk about the cold without mentioning Wim Hof. The Dutchman developed a method combining breathing techniques and cold exposure, and in a 2014 study, people trained in his method showed they could influence their own immune response.
His feats are hard to believe. He climbed to around 22,000 feet on Mount Everest wearing only shorts and shoes. He reached the top of Kilimanjaro in shorts in two days, a climb that usually takes five to seven. He ran a full marathon above the Arctic Circle in temperatures near -20°C, wearing only shorts — and another in the Namib Desert without drinking water. And he set a Guinness World Record by standing in an ice-filled container for 1 hour, 52 minutes, and 42 seconds.
Next step
One day, I want a cold plunge of my own so I can do real ice baths every day. That's my future goal.
What sensation brings you to the present?