The crazy benefit of cold showers and how I do them without screaming

So....

I have stopped putting off trying my husband's latest health experiment because... he's usually right. And by usually I mean 99% of the time. True story. 

Which is why when he told me "I'm taking cold showers now!" I knew I would be taking one too the next morning, if just to try it out.

Come to find out, I love them.

There is all sorts of science-y stuff you can research about it but the short version is:

• Your hair is better.
  Less greasy. Lasts longer without showers.
  It's something about the hair follicles and the cold water.
• It reduces inflammation.
  You'd think a hot shower would make you feel more muscle-relaxed (and in doses it does) but for all-over reduction of inflammation and the aches that go with it, cold all the way.
• You are more refreshed and alert for the day.
  And not alert like you just got doused by a bucket of ice water down the back of your neck at a sleepover, but alert in a calm "I got this day" sort of way.
• Your body manages temperature better.
  If you run cold you are actually less cold during the day. (As a woman who used to wear a scarf around her neck every month except August I can attest to this, at least for me.)

Sometime I think my life is the quest "how I can live like a cavewoman with all the trappings of modern life?" Sleeping on earthing sheets so I'm grounded like I'm outside but I'm still inside with my Netflix. Taking a cold bath/shower like I'm waking up in nature next to a live stream. Not Netflix.

But I'm not that hard-core and getting into swimming pool still makes me squeal like a mouse and tuck my shoulders up into my ears. So here's how I do cold showers without feeling like I'm in an excruciating polar bear plunge:

I start my showers warm.

Yep. That's it.

My showers are never as hot as they used to be, but they never start out as cold as they end up. (At least not so far.) I step into a warm shower, feel like it's too warm now and cool it off gradually. By the end I'm doing a super cold rinse for about 30 seconds before I get out.

What is super cold?

Heck, I don't know. Your cold may be way colder than mine. Make it as cold as you want. :) And is it a true 30 seconds? Probably not. I don't count.

Figure out what works for you. This works for me and I know it does because when I don't take the shower cold anymore I miss it.

I honestly never would have thought it.