Last time I wrote, we spoke about the concept of 'no pain, no gain’ and that sometimes we need to experience a little bit of discomfort in order to grow.
I realised that I had challenged you to do something for yourselves, so I thought I better practise what I preach. Consequently, I threw a personal challenge to myself and my family.
The 20 Day COLD SHOWER Challenge!
Now, this is from a person (me) who loves nothing more than having 2 x piping hot showers every morning and night as a daily ritual. So this was not something that I was looking forward to.
So why would I throw this challenge down, cold showers, as we head into the colder months of May & June?
Let me explain.
As you know, I help develop the leadership of individuals in order to maximise performance and wellbeing. The way we see it, delivering outcomes at work is great, but not if it is at the expense of our health and wellbeing. So the leadership model we believe in (The i4 Neuroleader Model) is a model with the brain and wellbeing at its core. It aims to develop the leadership competencies for the future of work.
Our program gives insights into the research around the huge health benefits of sleep, gut health, brain health, not to mention, the benefits of cold showers on our overall health.
At first, when I first learned of the research, I thought they were taking the piss.
WHAT? I LOVE hot showers.
“I am NOT giving up my hot showers, no way!”
So I needed to understand what are some of these health benefits were.
According to *Medical Daily, here are 7 reasons why taking cool showers is good for your health:
Increases Alertness
Refines hair and skin
Improves immunity and circulation
Stimulates weight loss
Speeds up muscle soreness and recovery
Eases Stress
Relives depression
Hmmmm sounds too good to be true.
So I figured, let’s do this. Hence the Rowe Family 20 day Cold Shower Challenge.
The result?
We LOVE it!
Time will tell if the long term effects are there, but in the meantime, we all feel so alert and ready to take on the day. We love it so much, it is no longer a 20-day challenge rather a new daily ritual.
I highly recommend it.
If you are keen to take up the cold shower challenge, here are tips on how:
Start with normal warm/hot shower & wash yourself
Relax and Breathe slowly
Turn water to cold
Start with extremities (hands and feet)
Immerse entire body, dance and be silly
Build up timeframe you are under from 15sec - 30 sec - 60secs till until as long as you like
Do this for at least 5 times per week
You got this!
Keep smiling,
Medical Daily
Don't forget to check out the Medical Daily article about the health benefits of taking cool showers!
If you are now convinced of the benefits and want to take up the challenge yourself, print out the attached sheet so you can track your progress! Go luck!
BLYTHE ROWE & Her Life on Heels.
The founder and director of Human Incite, is widely recognised for her passion, energy and her ability to shake things up. Blythe is brilliant at revving-up productivity and performance in organisations. She is on a mission to rid our workplaces of toxic behaviours, build meaningful relationships, personally and professionally and create workplaces worth belonging. Her enthusiasm simply is infectious!