My first Cold Shower

Since starting my reboot, I have seen countless videos on the benefits of taking cold showers (I've posted a few below.) I have also read dozens of blogs from people doing nofap who are experimenting with cold showers to strengthen their mental and physical endurance. So basically the cold shower is more of a psychological battle than a physical battle. It is forcing us to abandon the comforts of what we know and accept (hot showers) and forcing us to confront the mental discomfort of radically abandoning a practice that we have done for years (sounds familiar?  )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pD7jpcbR5Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxz8QNqrzwY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvmYINIXN5U


I have considered trying it before but have always punked out or told myself that I just wasn't ready for it. I promised myself that I will try it for the first time once we started the new year so today was the first time I just got in the shower and just went for it!

In all honesty, it was one of the most difficult things that I have done in a very long time. Initially, I stood in the shower and actually cried because I was too scared to get under the cold water. It was almost like, my whole body went numb and I could not move. So I ran the water just enough to lather my rag with soap, took another rag and stuffed it in my mouth, then finally turned the cold water on full blast and stood under it. For the first 10 seconds I literally could not think, all I could do was scream and shiver, then all of a sudden the water wasn't so bad anymore. I was still aware that it was uncomfortable, but I got through it!!! Afterwards, I felt like I could do anything. The fear that I had accumulated in myself before taking the cold shower was more traumatic than the shower itself. I'm going to try it again tomorrow and see what happens.  :

Hi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb0h8ZKvJW4
add this one also

Awesome video! Thanks for sharing!

Hey Rival, that sounds like it was a good overall experience.  It's crazy how we as humans can build the fear and anxiety of something, but in reality it isn't so terrible.  I think that is something very common in people who are giving up porn.  We are all so afraid of what we will do without porn, but in reality without it we begin to truly live without the chains.  I may give this a try!  Is it cold where you live right now?  I do enjoy a nice warm shower in the morning haha.

Thanks for commenting Freedom! Yes, it was an overall rewarding experience, extremely difficult, but rewarding. I'm sure after a couple of weeks taking cold showers I will look back on this first experience and laugh at how scared I was.  ;D  Yes! I live in Illinois and it is very cold here! I was actually worried that I should wait until it was warmer outside before trying this, but I took it anyway, and I feel perfectly fine! I say go for it!

Awesome! I'm from Illinois haha.  Yeah I am going to do it tomorrow morning! I'll turn on a floor heater before I get in lol.  Keep up the good work man 17 days is awesome!

Hi Rival.
Some time ago me too tried the cold shower. What I did was lowering water's temperature and try to get accustomed to it. I wonder if you make this direcly in shower putting water's temperature at its minimum. Did you do it? For me, just the idea of something like that is scary!

freedom2015 said:

Awesome! I'm from Illinois haha.  Yeah I am going to do it tomorrow morning! I'll turn on a floor heater before I get in lol.  Keep up the good work man 17 days is awesome!

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Yeah I actually had the heater on in my room to "greet" me when I got out the shower! But do it for sure! I look forward to reading about your experience! 

Blu88 said:

Hi Rival.
Some time ago me too tried the cold shower. What I did was lowering water's temperature and try to get accustomed to it. I wonder if you make this directly in shower putting water's temperature at its minimum. Did you do it? For me, just the idea of something like that is scary!

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I definitely wanted to turn the water to warm and then gradually reduce the temperature but many of the guys that have reclaimed their mental strength with cold showers warn that we shouldn't do that. Check out the last link that I posted The idea is to completely leave yourself vulnerable to be uncomfortable. If we start warm then go colder, it defeats the purpose of conquering our fears. I was very very scared to take the cold shower at first, but I promise once you do it full on, you will realize it's not as bad as you think!  8) 

Hi,I just did my 2nd day of cold shower it little bit of uncomfortable and after that i did with towel i walked in balcony i just seen more joy

Congrats man!!! Keep it up

Just made my 1st cold shower at this streak.
I began with warm water finding excuses like "I have to cut my beard and can't do it with cold water". Then, at a certain point I began to move the crank toward cold water's setting. I made it gradually. I washed my body with cold water flowing. When I finished washing me, I moved more the crank to set colder water. I began to count, setting 60 seconds to achieve. Well, the first 10 seconds were terrible, I was telling myself "I can't do it. When does this nightmare end?"... But after that traumatic beginning I felt fine. I thought "I'm ok, and this is going to be easy". Infact, I reached 60 seconds without efforts! After that I felt fine! No, I felt great! I had a sudden wave of optimism spreading in my brain. I felt motivated to do anything! I didn't have headache (which I often suffer) and all urges/porn flashbacks were dying in a few! It was a marvelous sensation and now I look forward to feel it again. I look forward to have another cold shower!
I want copy-paste these words in my journal ad day 32's report and read them any time I will be scared of having cold showers!
Thank you for inspiring me.

Blu88 said:

Just made my 1st cold shower at this streak.
I began with warm water finding excuses like "I have to cut my beard and can't do it with cold water". Then, at a certain point I began to move the crank toward cold water's setting. I made it gradually. I washed my body with cold water flowing. When I finished washing me, I moved more the crank to set colder water. I began to count, setting 60 seconds to achieve. Well, the first 10 seconds were terrible, I was telling myself "I can't do it. When does this nightmare end?"... But after that traumatic beginning I felt fine. I thought "I'm ok, and this is going to be easy". Infact, I reached 60 seconds without efforts! After that I felt fine! No, I felt great! I had a sudden wave of optimism spreading in my brain. I felt motivated to do anything! I didn't have headache (which I often suffer) and all urges/porn flashbacks were dying in a few! It was a marvelous sensation and now I look forward to feel it again. I look forward to have another cold shower!
I want copy-paste these words in my journal ad day 32's report and read them any time I will be scared of having cold showers!
Thank you for inspiring me.

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I am so happy to hear that I was able to help a fellow rebooter! This is amazing news man. I am glad that the cold shower experience was a positive one for you too. I must admit cold showers still intimidate me, but slowly I am learning that it is just cold water and not the end of the world. Keep rebooting man! Success is near!  ;D

After two weeks I was taking cold shower almost all the days I've noticed a few things:

1) the fear of freezing water ripping from the shower is not fading; it always shows up at the first approach
2) the suffering for cold water gets shorter and shorter with experience
3) you enter in the shower depressed and you go out laughing for happiness!