The truth is I feel blessed to have running water, a functioning bathroom, and a tile floor to stand on. Yet, all of these perks, while physical and beneficial, fail to deliver one integral component: hot water. Like every other unfamiliar task that presents itself, the only real option is to make adjustments – to minimize the downsides – to maximize the experience. After about 100 showers in 66 days (it’s really hot down here), I like to think I know a little bit about this subject. That said, I’ve outlined the following process to offer a dose of the daily routine, and in the event that a future situation should render you hot waterless.
Rule #1: Accept your fate
Unfortunately, taking a cold shower not only requires physical tolerance but mental preparation as well. In other words, be very clear before you step in: You will not look forward to this; you will probably not find it refreshing; you will probably not grow accustomed to it. Setting the appropriate expectations is the most important part of the process because if you think for one second that this particular shower will be any easier or enjoyable than the previous one, you are kidding yourself. Understand what lies ahead and it will serve you well in the long term.
Rule #2: Head first
One tool of the trade that I have learned to utilize is the thickness of my skull. After turning on the shower while staying out of the water’s path, you must position yourself where the water only strikes your head. You can achieve this by simply looking down and leaning your neck forward, the same way you look at your feet. This is critical because initially you want to prevent the cold water from making direct contact with your skin – it’s just painful and causes you to make awkward humiliating...ahhhhhhhhh... noises. Therefore, anticipate your pain and act accordingly.
Rule #3: The 180
While the 180 sounds tricky, its importance is actually more significant than its level of difficulty. After your forward-leaning skull adjusts to the temperature, quickly rotate your body around 180 degrees so that your head is now tilted back and is still the only body part making direct contact with the water. Remember, the key to enduring the cold shower is to avoid direct contact with the skin for as long as possible. That said, by tilting your head back the water will drip down from your skull and deflect to parts of your body. But I said no contact with the skin, right? True, but at some point you do have to wash yourself. This method puts off direct contact with the skin initially, and instead embraces the idea of indirect contact. This indirect contact or water deflection will allow you to ease into the temperature, as opposed to dealing with an all-out direct immediate shocker.*
*Some of you may disagree with this approach. You are the people that dive into the cold swimming pool to "get it over with." My recommendation is the opposite, and resembles lowering your body into a cold swimming pool one limb at a time. Honestly, it's a personality thing. Accept or reject: It's up to you!
Rule #4: Maintain temperature
After the indirect contact of the water has spread to most parts of your body, there is obviously no other option but to engage in full direct contact. By this point you should be adjusted fairly well to the temperature, and the focus should shift to temperature maintenance. It is critical to keep your body wet, because if you start to dry up in one particular area you are basically starting back at square one. For many of you this may not be a problem, but with my shower head and the minimal amount of water it sprays I have to constantly monitor this. So keep the water coming, soap yourself up, and then proceed to the final wash.
Rule #5: Acknowledge your accomplishment
As you desperately reach for that towel to provide the warmth and comfort you have been longing for, realize that you have just accomplished something. And while this in no way prepares you for an easier or more enjoyable shower tomorrow, at the very least you gain some confidence and realize that it is not as bad as it seems.
If you have any questions or concerns about taking a cold shower, please free to contact me. In fact, I have some questions of my own. For example, if this temperature was all I knew throughout my life, as is the case with most Nicaraguans, would it still feel cold? Would I even consider it cold? Conversely, if this temperature was all I knew throughout my life, how would I feel if I came across hot water?
Strange questions to ask but they certainly have relevance. Mind you, what's unfamiliar for some is not unfamiliar for all.
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