Banning Warm Water
Some weeks ago I switched the warm water off in my house. I now shower cold, and more generally wash myself only with cold water. Here’s why.
I think that we humans, especially in the western culture, have gotten way too soft and weak. We hide in heated houses, use cars instead of walking, cover ourselves in huge amounts of clothes, whine around and swallow pills as soon as something hurts a tiny little bit, and get a cold or a flu each time we have the opportunity to. What a shame. We’re such wimps.
Even though I don’t get sick anymore since I went raw, I have decided to toughen up. To begin with, I want to get used to cold. I can already deal with high temperatures, even if I hate them, but when it gets too cold I think I’m going to die. This is intolerable!
So the first obvious step is to ban warm water from my house, which is what I did. Doing the dishes with cold water is no problem on a raw diet, since you don’t have any greasy pots and pans to wash. Showering cold also is no problem. We don’t need warm water to get clean. Green clay or organic shower gels together with cold water are enough. Particularly on a raw diet you’re less dirty and don’t need any warm water & loads of soap in order not to stink obnoxiously.
On a practical note, moving from South France, which is damn fucking hot for my taste, to Norway, which I imagine to be damn fucking cold, will probably be quite a shock! Getting used to tolerating more cold already now is a good preparation. Especially since my intention is to make it through the Norwegian winter barefoot. I love walking barefoot so much, I’d hate to have to wear shoes again.
I’m also thinking about the environmental impact. Heating all this water costs lots of energy. How unnecessary. Using less water and less energy to heat it seems to be a respectful thing to do to me. Warm showers are a luxury that I can easily live without.
Actually, I don’t consider warm showers to be a luxury anymore. How can something unhealthy be called a luxury?
We’re just not meant to use warm water. Except for very few places on Earth, there’s none naturally available to us out there. Especially our skin isn’t made for dealing with it. I’ve known for a long time now that warm water harms my skin. I have a very sensitive skin, and obviously it’s much better off when it doesn’t get in contact with warm water.
When I was eating mostly cooked foods, my legs used to hurt, probably because of invisible varices. This always was much worse after showering (warm) and a bit better after putting some cold water on my legs. Since I switched to raw food, my legs don’t hurt anymore. However, I have learned from it that cold water is better for my blood circulation.
Showering cold betters the skin, boosts the blood circulation and strengthens the immune system. It’s just healthier!
I had to get used to it. It was quite a shock when I switched. At first I was screaming, laughing hysterically and cursing under the shower (French is such a great language to curse in!). But adapting was doable.
Last week I showered warm a few times. I was having PMS, and I thought “Come on, let’s have a nice warm shower as a way of “taking special care of myself” during PMS…”. Well, after two or three nice warm showers, I naturally went back to showering cold, ’cause that just felt so much better! From now on, “taking special care of myself” involves showering cold.
What do you think?
No related posts.
I like your natural lifestyle posts. :) They’re inspiring.
I really don’t think Norway is so cold that you have to adapt by showering cold showers… It don’t sound healthy to me… :s
But your thoughts about manipulation was surely something to make use of. =)
@Víkþórr: I actually think they’re kinda off-topic here, but I’m just not done with the “serious” ones.
@Rudolff: I don’t know how cold Norway really is! Never been there. I have the wildest fantasies about Norway! :D
There will be three more posts about manipulation, I think.
To me, in the long run, showering cold didn’t feel as well-cleaning as hot showering.
Außerdem glaub ich nicht, dass wir Schlappschwänze sind, bloß weil wir in beheizten Unterkünften wohnen. Im Winter würden wir doch ohne Heizung erfrieren, einfach wegen nicht-Angepasstheit.
(Edit by Rose: Very loose translation: “Moreover, I don’t think we are wimps just because we live in heated houses. Without heating we would die in winter, simply because we’re not adapted to such climates.”)
Tom: that’s because you eat crap! :þ
I didn’t say we are wimps for the only reason that we live in heated houses. It’s the whole thing, all this lifestyle full of comfort and protection that we surround ourselves with. I don’t think it is healthy. It might feel cozy, but in the long run, it weakens us.
I love your perspective on this topic!
I’m also trying to walk barefoot as long as possible. I’m excited to see whether I can make it through the winter. You certainly encourage me not to give up too soon.
I’m excited about it too. I remember the rude German winters… I always had cold feet. But then again, they were stuck in shoes that prevented them from moving. I bet when the feet can move freely, they’re less cold. We’ll see!
You are an inspiration for me too, you know. :)
Is it true that they do naked skiing in Norway?
@Tom: Only on comedy shows, I think… but I’m sure some people do it in secret as well. ;)
Rose: Wow! Now I want to try it. You are a bad influence you know. ;)
Tom: I’ve heard in scandinavian countries they like to enjoy a nice sauna, then run outside nakid and jump into a freezing lake. :o
You’ve inspired me to try showering cold. I think I’ll ease
into it by lowering my shower temperature slowly until it
matches something close to the temperature of the nearby
lake.
@Eric: I am 0% responsible for your actions. :þ
Btw, you forgot to mention the group sex that they regularly have in the nice sauna before running outside and jumping in a freezing lake. But they have to be careful not to step on a polar bear on the way to the lake. Polar bears are everywhere in Norway, and since they’re white, you can’t see them very well in the snow!
XD :þ XD
@Ken: :) For me the progressive method didn’t work well, I guess I’m a bit extreme at times so I tend to prefer shocking changes. But I’m sure your approach is smarter. :)
@Rose: I am sure you will have no problem seeing a polar bear, since it can get 3 metres long, and weigh 500 kg. :)
Anyways, Polar Bears don’t like the climat in Norway. It’s too warm. They prefer to live near the polar circle, and can be found at the Norwegian administrated Svalbard archipelago.
:)
Rudolff, Víkþórr tried to tell me the same. I didn’t believe him of course. Why are you guys trying to lie to me!
I know how it is in Norway. There are polar bears everywhere, even on the streets. Almost as many as vikings. Those run around with big beards and helmets and shout things in Old Norse. All Norwegian people have blond hair and a sauna in their house, and every time they use it, they have wild group sex in it. And of course, all Norwegian men are incredibly sexy.
Trying to convince me otherwise is futile.
HAHA xD
I have also heard that Norwegians are born with skis on their legs.. (Be aware of that if you are planning to make a child with a Norwegian!) Ouch!
Is cold showering making people silly? ;)
@Rudolff: haha! :D :þ
@Tom: showering cold reveals what is hidden inside of us, and allows us to eventually express what was there all along. ;)
I do not know any sources that say that warm showers are healthy for you. I know plenty that say that cold showers are healthy for you. Some say to at the least end your shower with cold water. Warm water is more comfortable. We are more comfortable than the greatest kings of 1,000 years ago.
During hot weather we can sit in an air condtioned house, while surfing the internet and watching TV. Then when hungry we can call and have food delivered. But it does not bring us happiness. I read this article about a Mexican family living in America. The parents were making less and the daughter was unhappy not getting the luxuries she was used to.
So she was sent to live with relatives in Mexico that were poor farmers and they had no electricity. but they learned to get their happiess from elsewhere. So the daughter learned what happiness really was and felt it for the first time while there. Then she returned home to America and broght that happiness with her.
Wow, interesting I find this now Rosine :) Had actually been considering switching to cold water for environmental reasons. I think, even more now, after reading this, that I’d like to give it a try !!!
Thank you so much :)
Inspiring story, Chuck. :)
Angie, I definitely love it. When it was really cold in winter I could not do it consistently. Or I guess I could have, but I was too comfortable. :)
I have also found that when I eat cooked food I sometimes need a shower with warm water to get really clean, as Tom said above. When my diet is cleaner though, that is not necessary.
When I live in hot Brazil, I definitely intend to stick with cold water all the time. :D