<aside> 🕰️ Archived newsletter

This is a past issue of the newsletter, and therefore may have references and commentary that are no longer accurate. This website is iterative and evolves week on week, so just keep that in mind. The latest newsletter is at the top of the homepage, here. Happy reading!

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<aside> 📝 Author's note:

If you like this newsletter, I did a follow-up newsletter later in that same year with a complete compilation of all of my tips and tricks, in The cold shower masterclass

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• 👈 What's in this newsletter

Cold showers are a little scary, I'm not going to lie. Even having that in the title has likely already put you in a certain state of mind, and if you're not inclined to the shock and horror of cold water, you've probably unknowingly already got your heels dug in mentally here.

But bear with me.

Let me lay out a case for cold showers and reassure you it's not as bad as you think. I strongly feel they are objectively the better option, with all personal preferences set aside. (It's not that simple though, since it's definitely hard, when 'difficulty' isn't really a concept when it comes to showers, normally 😂 ).

So let's take a quick run through why anyone might subject themselves to this.

<aside> ✋ Hold up

First of all, you need to at least give me a chance to present you with these ideas. And I don't just mean reading ahead and letting it wash over your already-made-up mind. Please leave your "yeah, no thanks that sounds horrible" mindset at the door, and feel free to pick it up again on your way out if you feel so inclined. Just take a moment to consider the below for its own merits, and maybe ponder if you ought to try it and "see it in action" before firming your resolve to continue not doing it.

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The obvious reasons

(That you've probably heard before).

All credit where it's due to these legitimate reasons, but you've possibly heard these before, so let's get these out of the way, and get to the less obvious reasons:

1. Good for your skin.
   • Hot showers really dry out your skin, and if your skin is naturally sensitive and irritable like mine, or if you're prone to eczema - bad news. Even if it feels good, not good for you.
2. Invigorating; a shock to the system; a natural stimulant.
   • More immediately tangible than a cup of coffee, legitimately.
   • The post-shower "body feel" is really something, and it feels good. It's almost warm, in its own way, but it certainly makes getting out of the shower a pleasant feeling when normally (e.g. exiting a hot shower) it's not a nice experience.
3. Perhaps a little unintuitively, also good for sleep, before bed.
   • This is because our bodies respond well to temperature change, especially cool temperature changes, when winding down for bed. If you want to learn more about this (it's very legit, I'm mildly certain 🤔), you can search for yourself.
4. Allegedly: circulation, immunity, fertility, energy, willpower, etc.

This isn't a post where we'll go into the science or debate the claims of the above, nor make arguments and cite studies. You can find all those and more, readily enough, through an Internet search.

So, let's move on — to: