Or you can start by turning on the cold water for couple of seconds at the end of your regular shower. Holding your breath helps. Gradually you will be able to stay in the cold water for longer and longer and it won't hurt. A neat side effect to this is that you won't feel cold when you get out.

That’s known as the Scottish Shower, perhaps because Scotland is all too often wet and cold, or perhaps as a reminder not to relax in indulgent things as there’ll soon be something along to spoil the fun!

On a more serious note, I take cold or Scottish showers all year except for the coldest part (because Japanese houses have the worst insulation you’ll come across so you’ll go from cold to cold) and it does make me feel better. Even just enduring the pain of the cold seems to bring benefits.

You do lose some of the benefit tho - you need mild stress for it to be functional.

Also, hot water, especially with chlorine in it (as usual, unless you have a filter) will make it evaporate and thus you will inhale it (not good). Very damaging for the skin too as you wash up natural oils that protect it.

So its not the same.

This is Wim Hof’s advice.

If you do his breathing exercises you can step into a cold shower and legitimately not notice the cold.

That sounds awful. I think I'll give it a try.

Its not awful at all. Its the only way to do it.

The only way to do what?

Face washing. Doing it with hot water is totally different experience. To say it another way, I do it for the cold water effect, not for cleaning.

There seems to be a lot of benefits from it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diving_reflex

Guinness World Record holder Stig Severinsen just did an AMA on reddit - single breathe 22 minute swim (physical exertion).

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/kppxkn/i_just_set_the...

Wow, nice find:

> Bradycardia is the response to facial contact with cold water: the human heart rate slows down ten to twenty-five percent.

I just had comments above on washing face with cold water.

Hi,

>> ... washing your face with cold water after you wake up every morning

I've been doing this. It sure feels great and the best part is you don't even feel your face after a couple of splash and the cold doesn't bother you anyway (Yeah! It's a "Frozen" reference).

Can't really say if it has something to do with wrinkles lessness, but take it as a commitment, give you a feeling of accomplishment and a thing to brag about ;)

I have tried it a few times. Perhaps the worst physical feeling I have ever experienced. Almost made me afraid of showering altogether