A friend of mine recommended a book to me a while back that really made a good impact on me. Many topics I will mention here on my blog have reached me due to this friend of mine and the knowledge has shared with me. He also writes a blog, and is a much more satirical, witty writer than I. Check out his blog here.
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| image from: thetrendguys.com |
The name of this particular book he recommended is called “The Flinch” written by Julien Smith (it can be downloaded for free as an ebook if you want to check it out). The concept of this book is that of a topic I mentioned in my first post about striving to put yourself in uncomfortable situations on a daily basis. In this book he discusses different exercises to try on a daily basis. One that stood out to me (and that everyone can try) is the cold shower exercise. I have always been any advocate of hot showers my entire life and would refuse anything different. This concept resonated with me and got me to thinking. Was this really necessary to take a cold shower?? Why did something so simple take so much thinking about before I could even try it? The whole point of this exercise to do like Nike says: “Just Do It!”.
As hesitant as I was, I finally mustered up the courage to just try it. No one has ever died from a cold shower… I think. The thing that this practice taught me is that the hardest part of so many things in life is just going for it and jumping right in head first. I learned that with time many things that are uncomfortable at first become much easier to stand.
I ended up doing some research on cold showers and found it also had some amazing health benefits along with the psychological aspect of the practice. These things include:l
- Enhance immunity against infections and cancer
- Give your glands (thyroid, adrenals, ovaries/testes) a boost, improving hormonal activity Jump-start your mood and motivation
- Crank up your metabolism to fight type 2 diabetes, obesity, gout, rheumatic diseases, depression, and more
- Normalize your blood pressure
- Decrease chronic pain
- Train and improve your blood circulation
- Detoxify your body
- Fight fatigue
- Strengthen exhausted, irritable nerves
- Rejuvenate, heal, and tone the skin
- Deepen your breathing
- Help with insomnia
- Improve kidney function
- Reduce swelling and edema
- Improve lymphatic circulation, thereby increasing immune function
- Reduce stress by regulating your autonomic nervous system
- Regulate temperature, fighting chronically cold hands and cold feet and excessive sweating
- Keep your hair healthy
- Improve hemorrhoids and varicose veins
image from:therunningbug.co.uk - Reduce aches and pains
information from: http://www.cold-showers.com/
One of the best reasons I found for a taking showers was not included here. The reason is called brown fat adipose tissue. This tissue is normally found in infants or animals that hiberbate. The function of this tissue is to degerate body heat. This brown tissue burns calories from fat cells to keep the body warm. Unfortunately, as people grow older they loose most of this brown fat. It has been shown people have regenerate this brown fat, however, by increasing their exposure to cold. You can read more about this great way to loose fat while doing nothing HERE!
One of the best reasons I found for a taking showers was not included here. The reason is called brown fat adipose tissue. This tissue is normally found in infants or animals that hiberbate. The function of this tissue is to degerate body heat. This brown tissue burns calories from fat cells to keep the body warm. Unfortunately, as people grow older they loose most of this brown fat. It has been shown people have regenerate this brown fat, however, by increasing their exposure to cold. You can read more about this great way to loose fat while doing nothing HERE!
What I believe the best way to go about these shower are by going from water as hot as you can stand it to turning the water to as cold as the shower can get. This helps increase your body’s blood circulation and lymphatic function by stimulating vasodilation (from the hot water) and vasoconstriction (from the cold water). This acts like a pump for your lymphatic system, which is responsible for removing your bodies toxins from the blood stream. I do this after every workout I do to get more blood flow to my muscles to recover faster. I have been doing this at least once every day for about two months now, and I feel great after every shower. Do some research on your own and give it a try if it interests you!
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