Hot Shower X Cold Shower

[Lukks]

Hello my chi friends here I'm, back at it with another controversy 

 

The question today is: HOW DOES WATER TEMPERATURE AFFECT OUR Qi?

 

Does HOT or COLD showers drains our Qi?

 

I've already seen EVERYTHING:

- People saying that HOT showers drains your Qi and you should take only COLD showers.

- People saying that COLD is the villain and you should only take HOT showers.

 

-*I've also seen a master claiming that you shouldn't shower at all because the water(he didn't mention the temperature in this case, he only said "water") takes away the Qi from your body.

*I think this is impractical for everyone  living in the "normal world" but maybe it does make sense for him living isolated in the mountains, that's why I'm asking about water temperature because I'm not ready to leave my shower behind, but if anyone knows about "water taking your Qi away" it would be a nice contribution to the topic   

 

 I decided to post this to bring this discussion to see if we can find a point where we all agree to what is the best for everyone's health  

[Kojiro]

I have also studied this question for a while. What I can say is too cold drains your energy, and too hot too. Hope you don't mind!

[Lukks]

23 minutes ago, Kojiro said:

I have also studied this question for a while. What I can say is too cold drains your energy, and too hot too. Hope you don't mind!

hahaha then I guess the answer is in the middle... 

 

Warm water then

[Kojiro]

yes but it is not funny that way. a little bit of stress is always good, otherwise it becomes too comfortable. try both hot and cold, none of them will do any miracle to you but let's see.

[Thrice Daily]

Depends what you’re after. I know what you mean though. I took just warm showers for years as I thought this the best for qi.

 

Last year though I had cold shower everyday and cold adapted which suited the climate where I am living as it gets well into the minus temps. 
 

I did much better last year in terms of the cold affecting me, it hardly did and I wore less clothing outside…

 

Akso it seems cold water really helps with recovery if I train a lot. Although I don’t do it close to strength training as that inflammation is good to leave as is for the muscle building response.

 

Them there is the massive dopamine spike that comes after cold showering.I think it’s like 300% and can last for hours afterwards. I felt great I must say. 
 

I run the water hot afterwards though. Then soap and rinse which is still nice.

 

I will say I still use the same cold water method I read in a stretching book 20 years ago (much better for the heart this way).

Reduces the shock and decreases temp more gradually and safely via the blood stream

 

First cold water on legs for some time, then on arms, then face and finally if you choose , back and then front chest etc

 

i find the water is so freezing in my shower I just do 10-20 seconds on each leg, 10-20 on each arm and 10-20 seconds on face and head, then I repeat this 3-4 times

 

i still get hella cold and get shiver response (which is what’s wanted apparently)

 

butt without the insane stress of doing back and chest. 
 

Hope that helps. If you wanna learn about cold adaptation I’m steer clear of Wim Hoff and go straight to Huberman for all the juicy tips …

 

works well when fasted and after heaps of coffee, but is also good right after a nice protein meal 

 

Enjoy

[Lukks]

21 minutes ago, Thrice Daily said:

Depends what you’re after. I know what you mean though. I took just warm showers for years as I thought this the best for qi.

 

Last year though I had cold shower everyday and cold adapted which suited the climate where I am living as it gets well into the minus temps. 
 

I did much better last year in terms of the cold affecting me, it hardly did and I wore less clothing outside…

 

Akso it seems cold water really helps with recovery if I train a lot. Although I don’t do it close to strength training as that inflammation is good to leave as is for the muscle building response.

 

Them there is the massive dopamine spike that comes after cold showering.I think it’s like 300% and can last for hours afterwards. I felt great I must say. 
 

I run the water hot afterwards though. Then soap and rinse which is still nice.

 

I will say I still use the same cold water method I read in a stretching book 20 years ago (much better for the heart this way).

Reduces the shock and decreases temp more gradually and safely via the blood stream

 

First cold water on legs for some time, then on arms, then face and finally if you choose , back and then front chest etc

 

i find the water is so freezing in my shower I just do 10-20 seconds on each leg, 10-20 on each arm and 10-20 seconds on face and head, then I repeat this 3-4 times

 

i still get hella cold and get shiver response (which is what’s wanted apparently)

 

butt without the insane stress of doing back and chest. 
 

Hope that helps. If you wanna learn about cold adaptation I’m steer clear of Wim Hoff and go straight to Huberman for all the juicy tips …

 

works well when fasted and after heaps of coffee, but is also good right after a nice protein meal 

 

Enjoy

 

Yes I also feel very good after a cold shower and normal after a hot shower.

After a LONG hot shower I feel sleepy haha

I'm still thinking that warm water is the best

 

But we are supposed to feel good after a cold shower, science explains this but I don't know what happens in a energetic level.

 

I honestly don't like Wim Hof method, it caused trouble to too many people, like ringings in the ears and back pain, signs of yin deficiency, so that's why I'm careful with the cold shower thing, I know it makes us feel good but energetically I think there's something else going on.

[Kojiro]

16 hours ago, Lukks said:

 

Yes I also feel very good after a cold shower and normal after a hot shower.

After a LONG hot shower I feel sleepy haha

I'm still thinking that warm water is the best

 

But we are supposed to feel good after a cold shower, science explains this but I don't know what happens in a energetic level.

 

I honestly don't like Wim Hof method, it caused trouble to too many people, like ringings in the ears and back pain, signs of yin deficiency, so that's why I'm careful with the cold shower thing, I know it makes us feel good but energetically I think there's something else going on.

 

I don't like Wim hof but I can't understand how this cold showers cause ringing in the ears. I don't find a good explanation for that.

 

This being said, it also happens to me sometimes that after a hot shower i become sleepy and languid, though not always.

 

Regarding cold showers I only do them in summer time when there is sun and heat so I can easily recover a good temperature. It is stimulating at first, but I never do them in winter time.

Edited October 12 by Kojiro

[Master Logray]

In Chi cultivation, they often warn of wind chill into the body which can lead to sicknesses.   And the coldness (and/or dampness) can accumulate for years until the person is weak and creates havoc.  One of the reasons is that cultivators are trained to have their skin breathing (initial stage of spore breathing), it makes them even easier to get a flu than normal persons.   By the same token, cold shower is not recommended.   But this wisdom applies to China.  If you are 300 pounds and living in a hot desert, I think a cooler shower during the day time could be of less harm with so much internal and external heat.

[Thrice Daily]

I hear what your saying and I pondered it when I started thinking there may be damage. 
 

but you know I thought, access to hot water showers everyday was much rarer or even not possible in how much of our human history.

 

hiw many 1000’s of years would we have made a fire at night to get warm. Slept close by, got up in the morning, ate our remaining food , 

 

then,

 

headed to the nearest, river, stream, lake or ocean shore and just gone in the cold water for refreshment. 
 

I think most of human history we would have done this , and typically the water would have been cold.

 

what do you bums think?

 

this is what made me feel it’s probably ok in my physiology to take the cold showers and made the positive effects make sense to me. 
 

interested to here more specifics on it really, humbly yours,

 

Thrice D

[ChiDragon]

On 10/10/2024 at 10:26 AM, Lukks said:

I've already seen EVERYTHING:

- People saying that HOT showers drains your Qi and you should take only COLD showers.

- People saying that COLD is the villain and you should only take HOT showers.

 

Let's put it this way!
All the notions about hot and cold was based with the yin-yang concept from the Yijing, 易經. Based on the definition of Yijing, yin attributes cold and yang attributes hot. Yin and Yang are integrate as a whole. In nature,  Yin and Yang interact with each other. It was not ideal to have the Yin-Yin nor Yang-Yang conditions in any manner. Based on the Yijing concept, if the body has cold chi, then, it should not take cold showers and a hot body should not take hot showers. That is how the TCM theories were derived from the Yijing.

If the body has too much hot chi, then, it should be taken away some of it by taken a cold shower. The same token goes with the cold chi in the body. It was assumed that the yin chi is not good for the body. Therefore, Yang chi should enter the body to counteract with the Yin. Hence, it will keep the balance of Yin-yang.

BTW When you are in doubt with anything involving the Yin-Yang concept, please consult with Yijing.

Edited October 12 by ChiDragon

[Lukks]

21 hours ago, Thrice Daily said:

I hear what your saying and I pondered it when I started thinking there may be damage. 
 

but you know I thought, access to hot water showers everyday was much rarer or even not possible in how much of our human history.

 

hiw many 1000’s of years would we have made a fire at night to get warm. Slept close by, got up in the morning, ate our remaining food , 

 

then,

 

headed to the nearest, river, stream, lake or ocean shore and just gone in the cold water for refreshment. 
 

I think most of human history we would have done this , and typically the water would have been cold.

 

what do you bums think?

 

this is what made me feel it’s probably ok in my physiology to take the cold showers and made the positive effects make sense to me. 
 

interested to here more specifics on it really, humbly yours,

 

Thrice D

 

Yea but it's not because our ancestors did it that it was the right thing to do.

 

A lot of things evolved and if we can take advantage of these new technologies for our benefit, I absolutely think we should.

 

They just did it because they had no "hot water" option. And they were depleting their bodies by doing so.

 

Coincidentaly there's a Wim Hof thread going on at the time we are talking about cold showers here, check it out:

 

I posted some links there, I still advice you to stay away from cold showers unless you know what your doing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sir Darius the Clairvoyent]

There is zero controversial. The correct answer is warn shower.

[Miffymog]

Just to add my contribution, I cut back on showers a few years ago to save money and now only shower once a week. My skin seems to prefer it this way, and I don't think I end up smelling.

But when I do shower, I have it as warm as possible.

[RobB]

Cold is generally seen as a thing to avoid or actively balance out in chinese medicine. Cold pathologies are far more likely to arise than heat-based ones. As others have mentioned, there may be specific circumstances when it is more OK but in general best to steer clear.

[Taomeow]

Take a bath.  The Japanese do it every night.  And they currently hold the record in longevity.  

 

They make it hot.  So hot in fact that a European or an American would in all likelihood cook in that water.

 

I wonder what concentrations of chlorine they use in their water though, compared to ours.  I don't like hot showers because the steam releases too much chlorine and breathing it in makes me very aware -- physically -- of being somewhat poisoned.  I don't like cold showers because...  well, self-explanatory.   And I don't like warm showers because there's always an option of taking a bath.  Very versatile -- it can be a quick bath (yes, it can be quicker than a shower if you like), a long relaxing bath, a bath with medicinal herbal concoctions added to it, a hot-as-can-be bath after physical exertion (nullifies lactic acid buildup and prevents sore muscles), and at the end, a splash of cold(ish) water if you still have things to do, or not if you want to go straight to bed the way the Japanese do it.   

[Thrice Daily]

The Japanese have an amazing understanding of water don’t they. 
 

For years I used Japanese water method, how and when to drink it though.

 

They know what there are doing with Water. I would love to go back to Onsen. How relaxing 😌 Hot Springs is my favourite possible activity!!!

[Kojiro]

29 minutes ago, Taomeow said:

Take a bath.  The Japanese do it every night.  And they currently hold the record in longevity.  

 

They make it hot.  So hot in fact that a European or an American would in all likelihood cook in that water.

 

I wonder what concentrations of chlorine they use in their water though, compared to ours.  I don't like hot showers because the steam releases too much chlorine and breathing it in makes me very aware -- physically -- of being somewhat poisoned.  I don't like cold showers because...  well, self-explanatory.   And I don't like warm showers because there's always an option of taking a bath.  Very versatile -- it can be a quick bath (yes, it can be quicker than a shower if you like), a long relaxing bath, a bath with medicinal herbal concoctions added to it, a hot-as-can-be bath after physical exertion (nullifies lactic acid buildup and prevents sore muscles), and at the end, a splash of cold(ish) water if you still have things to do, or not if you want to go straight to bed the way the Japanese do it.   

and don't you feel sleepy and tired after a hot bath? I like them too but I tend to avoid them for this very reason. I can feel quite lethargic after taking one, maybe it is because it is detoxying, and I have a lot to detox, that is for sure! lol

Edited October 14 by Kojiro

[Taomeow]

6 minutes ago, Kojiro said:

and don't you feel sleepy and tired after a hot bath? I like them too but I tend to avoid them for this very reason. I can feel quite lethargic after taking one, maybe it is because it is detoxying, and I have a lot to detox, that is for sure! lol

 

Yes, they do make me sleepy and tired, which is why most of the time I take a hot bath before bed, or before I intend a nap.  (A very late-in-life discovery, the healing power of naps!  Cats tried to teach me for many years -- in vain -- but finally the lessons sunk in.) 

 

But I mentioned a splash of cold water at the end of a hot bath -- this can be used if you want to sort of cancel the relaxing/tiring effects in case you don't intend to retire after the bath, it may restore your energy (not a guarantee, may be individual, but I'd experiment.)   

[Kojiro]

Now a very pertinent quesrion would be, what is more detoxying a cold shower/bath or a hot one? This is the question!!

[silent thunder]

4 hours ago, Kojiro said:

Now a very pertinent quesrion would be, what is more detoxying a cold shower/bath or a hot one? This is the question!!

Neither.

Proper hydration and the function of your liver, kidneys and lymph system take care of this.

[Kojiro]

10 hours ago, silent thunder said:

Neither.

Proper hydration and the function of your liver, kidneys and lymph system take care of this.

True, you are right. But how can we attain this? Not so easy once we are out of balance

[silent thunder]

@Kojiro   No idea what another might need to balance.  My gut's response is to turn the light of awareness inward and the innate wisdom of your being will respond with what would be appropriate in each situation, once awareness is quiet enough to hear and then listen and adopt what is offered.   This one has found an authentic query to the universe is never ignored, (though i am not always receptive or capable of hearing at the time)  Patience and diligence and much self love seem to be crucial as well. 

 

i have found detox is more to do with the foundation of awareness as relates to emotional states and the constant dance of craving and aversion.  Far more impacting on my quality of life and being than what foods i eat or how i wash my body, is what i habitually think, crave and seek to avoid.

 

peace

 

 

 

[Thrice Daily]

Re Hot and Cold Liquids…

 

I drink coffee in the morning, a lot of it… I don’t eat for ages in the morning.

 

(I went for years without drinking it, I know it’s not a great bum practice but alas it is my vice)

 

Anyway Coffee cools the body down right. And now winter is practically here I’m going to switch to a warming tea with Ginger In the morning… as I’ve noticed the cold getting in if I sit at the laptop drinking coffee as usual in the other seasons… 

 

Does anyone else go through this with coffee or just me?

Edited October 15 by Thrice Daily

[Miffymog]

I had the flu a few months ago and the enforced bed rest meant I ended up not drinking coffee for a week. I felt quite a bit better for it and stayed off it for some time. It has now crept back in to my life where I have one coffee a day again.

 

But I do now know that actually I do feel a little better overall not having it, but as a vice goes, it is a pretty tame one.

[Lukks]

On 14/10/2024 at 5:53 AM, Miffymog said:

Just to add my contribution, I cut back on showers a few years ago to save money and now only shower once a week. My skin seems to prefer it this way, and I don't think I end up smelling.

But when I do shower, I have it as warm as possible.

 

I do the same, very few showers, maximum 2 every week and my skin is great. Unfortunately summer here is too hot and I need to take more showers, but in winter it's not a problem.

 

 

 

On 14/10/2024 at 11:20 AM, Taomeow said:

Take a bath.  The Japanese do it every night.  And they currently hold the record in longevity.  

 

They make it hot.  So hot in fact that a European or an American would in all likelihood cook in that water.

 

I wonder what concentrations of chlorine they use in their water though, compared to ours.  I don't like hot showers because the steam releases too much chlorine and breathing it in makes me very aware -- physically -- of being somewhat poisoned.  I don't like cold showers because...  well, self-explanatory.   And I don't like warm showers because there's always an option of taking a bath.  Very versatile -- it can be a quick bath (yes, it can be quicker than a shower if you like), a long relaxing bath, a bath with medicinal herbal concoctions added to it, a hot-as-can-be bath after physical exertion (nullifies lactic acid buildup and prevents sore muscles), and at the end, a splash of cold(ish) water if you still have things to do, or not if you want to go straight to bed the way the Japanese do it.   

 

Yea I heard about this chlorine thing but I think you should be fine, I grew up takin 20-30min hot(very hot) showers locked in the bathroom, a lot of steam inside and I never had a problem (not that I know haha), so I think you should be fine with this, maybe it's not that much of a problem.

I say this because I used to do this all the time and never had a problem but maybe that's just me, maybe it can be really dangerous, I'm just sharing my thoughts.

 I don't want to encourage anyone to take a 40min hot shower and get poisoned lol

Also, it can differ chlorine amount in water in different countries so yea maybe they use less chlorine here I don't know, just food for tought.

 

 

On 14/10/2024 at 11:35 AM, Thrice Daily said:

For years I used Japanese water method, how and when to drink it though.

 

Hot or warm water all the way haha

I only drink cold water when it's summer and I really feel the need to drink something cold, besides that I will drink warm water even in summer.

 

 

 

7 hours ago, Thrice Daily said:

I drink coffee in the morning, a lot of it… I don’t eat for ages in the morning.

 

(I went for years without drinking it, I know it’s not a great bum practice but alas it is my vice)

 

IMO stimulants are bad so I avoid all of them, I think I read this somewhere in a meditation book but I can't remember the name, but it said that all stimulants are bad, I think it's something related to TCM.(Please someone correct me if I'm wrong)

 

BUT I OFTEN see people taking their coffee and practicing qigong, coffee is the only legalized drug haha (at least where I live it is) so I really don't  know.