Week 2 - 'Day 8'

Since I missed the cold shower that one day I decided to add an extra day onto the 'week'.

I've decided to now make myself get up earlier and do it in the morning on an empty stomach and a way to start my day a bit more energized.

My retention times are also better this week in terms of holding the breath before inhaling again and holding. While I'm still not getting to where I would like as the PH of the blood rises after holding the breath for a minute and a half, I'm still above this.

Times in total (which I forgot to mention will now include the time I held the breath, as well as the time after when I've taken another breath and held it) were

1:30->2:30

2:00->2:30

1:55->2:10

I did around 50 pushups afterwards on round 5, I sort of lost count.

Week 2- Day 7

By the time I actually got around to doing my exercises it was 12:40 in the morning, so I decided to forgo the cold shower as I was dead tired.

Times were low after a big meal.

2:00, 220, 230 (but held breath times were poorer)

I've been trying out 'letting go' of the breath vs exhaling. Just letting the breath come out instead of pushing it out half way. Mixed results so far.

My joints felt lubricated after round 3 and I stopped at 60 pushups.

Week 2 - Day 6

Times were 230, 230 and 216 There was extreme ringing in my ears followed by dead air after round two that subsided after a few minutes. I felt natural, charged, and alive. Everything else went as expected, showers are becoming a bit easier every day to get through.

Week 2 - Day 5

Today I tried sitting with upright posture in my lower back, adjusting my breathing so its two seconds on the in-breath and two seconds on the out-breath, taking more than 30 breaths (more towards 50) and it is working a lot better.

My retention times were 2:03, 2:19, 3:00

Afterwards on 'round 4' my push-ups were awful just because I've been doing them every day so far on top of training jiu jitsu, which means my pecs and triceps are killing me. I stopped at 40.

I did the exercises after jiu jitsu at 9pm with no food, and it made everything so much easier.

I felt bulletproof going into that cold shower, the warm was meh, and going back to cold is as if nothing even changes.

I definitely think having an empty stomach helped a lot with entering the cold shower as my body is not spending energy digesting food.

Week 2 - Day 4

I remember when I was younger wondering

"How do animals in winter deal with the cold? Do they actually experience cold and it doesn't bother them, or does it bother them but they hover just around the point of dying”

I think I’m starting to figure that out outside of scientific reasoning and taking into account the concept of self-awareness.

After review of today, I wasn’t happy with my retention times, but I think part of the problem is that im eating/drinking coffee then 45minutes to an hour later doing the exercise as opposed to being on an empty stomach. I’ll try that out tomorrow.

I also noticed my lower back posture is not upright. I’ll make that change tomorrow.

Times were 150, 155, 207 and I did 69 pushups on ‘round 4’, elbows in.

Afterwards something weird happened in the shower. I went in, started the cold, and after a few minutes my hands started cramping to the point where it was difficult to open them.

I asked online about this and someone added I may have just been dehydrated. I was drinking coffee before starting, so that was likely the case.

Getting into the cold shower is easier and easier with focus, breathing, and I feel more able to calm the mind after each passing day.

Week 2 - Day 3

Today my head hurt and my back was tight from training.
I’ve been ‘playing around’ with the breathing, postures, etc.

Times were 1:40, 2:15 (ears started ringing very loud), 2:15 – ears still ringing.
Now I had to do pushups and I kept my elbows inside instead of out, and to my surprise the results were a lot better, having done 60.

The cold shower was much to be expected. Terrible, but it is getting easier.

Week 2 - Day 2

I'm starting to really experience some amazing things.

Times were 2:03, 2:55, 2:00. Again, I think my tight chest and back is restricting my airflow.

Then came entering the cold shower. I stood there focusing on it before entering, every so often touching the water to remind myself how cold it was.

After a few minutes I just entered and it was awful... but once I got used to it to the point where I was completely covered, it put me into an extremely high meditation.

This might sound a bit 'far out' to someone with a bit more judgmental mind, but this is how I would describe it;

The cold didn't feel 'cold' anymore. It didn't feel like anything. My body's receptors of what was pleasurable and un-pleasurable had fallen by the wayside. I felt for maybe the first time in my life that I was in sync with my body. I entered a deep meditation trance where my mind was completely calm and I was extremely present. Even when I had a daily meditation practice I had never felt this present before.

The experience is what I imagine people experience in the last moments of their life when they are about to die of hypothermia or trapped under ice. Just blissful awareness, complete presence without the pestering mind. The self or any inclination of selfishness is gone. It just 'is'.

When I switched back to the hot shower, which I normally enjoy or experience pleasure from, there was no pleasure. It was literally like my body and mind could not perform a connection between good or bad, pleasurable and un-pleasurable. Surprisingly to myself, I wanted back in the cold as quickly as I could.

I went back into the cold and it didn't affect me at all. I felt like a 'master' of the cold, my body and my mind. It was a liberating experience.