Sunday scribbles #18: One month into my new morning routine, four months into cold showering.

Four weeks ago I shared my new morning routine with you. For those who want to go more in-depth to the start of this recent habit, I advise you to read Sunday scribbles #13: Kickstarting my day, and something about this thing called dopamine. I have begun starting my days differently than before. In the past I often pressed the snooze button on my alarm, and when I felt like getting up, or just had to, I turned on the wifi of my phone and started going through notifications and news messages. Scrolling through social media was also a common practice those days. Now, my mornings have changed, and they all look the same, except for Sundays. The day before, I set my alarm clock at a maximum of 8 hours and 15 minutes of sleep. I don't want to sleep more than 8 hours. Those 15 minutes are used to fall asleep. I am not the best in doing so, but I am not the worst either, so 15 minutes are mostly fine. On days where 8 hours aren't possible, too bad. I should have gone to bed earlier. When my alarm goes off, I immediately get up, no more snoozing. I go to the bathroom for a toilet stop and brush my teeth. Notice I don't do anything on my phone just yet, besides turning off the alarm which is just a short swipe on the screen. When my teeth are brushed, I put on my workout clothes and go to the gym in our garage. Still tired, I get up on our spin bike and start cyling. I don't turn on Youtube, listen to music or in general engage in pleasurable things. Again, Sunday scribbles #13 explain why I do so. I cycle for 15 minutes, where the mean RPM (rotations per minute) have to be in between 80 and 90, more is fine, less isn't. This amounts for a distance of about 7 to 8 kilometers. This is necessary to get my blood decently flowing and it helps me to actually put in a little effort. It is not meant to get a workout in, but to start my day on an active note. When those 15 minutes are done, and sometimes they tend to feel way longer than they should, I get off and walk up to the pull up bar. I do 4 wide pull ups, 4 regular pull ups and 4 chin ups. After this part, I take some pushup stands to continue with 12 deep pushups. When all this is done, I lay on a mat to do some quick stretching exercises and foamrolling for about 5 minutes. After the exercises and stretching some muscles, I head to the shower, and turn the temperature control knob all the way to its coldest position. I take off my clothes, hop in, take some dreep breaths as I feel the coldness of the shower, and get under the cold water. After my shower, I take a protein shake with added vitamins and minerals, which finishes my morning routine. It is only after this that I take my phone and turn on the wifi, mainly because I need it for work, not to check notifications or scroll through social media.

Now how am I feeling after one month of doing this morning routine? Well, for now I can confirm what I have often read in books or heard in podcasts: morning routines are empowering. Whenever I have done them, I feel energized to start my day, and one of the main reasons is probably that my days now start with me, and only me. It is not the longest routine ever, or the most intense or meditative one, but I tend to think that what you do, doesn't matter as much as we think. The most important part is that we do something that gives us a moment to calibrate for the day coming. For me, it is getting some short exercise in to literally wake and warm up my body, only then to shock it with cold water. In the past I have also tried 20 minute meditation exercises, which I did for about 3 months. These were very good to get in a healthy mindset for the day, but something felt different when I compare it with what I am doing now. It is hard to explain, but the meditations felt more obligatory than my active morning routine right now. So, I like listening to my gut, and I feel like getting some exercise in in the morning works better for me in reflecting about my days. On Sundays I don't start my day with this morning routine. I do this because I want to have one day in the week where I don't do any exercise, and I want to feel the contrast between doing and not doing a morning routine. I feel like this helps me in appreciating them even more. I am trying start my Sunday mornings with Sunday scribbles, which may be an idea for a future 'Sunday morning routine'. It fits the plan, but it won't always fit in practically. Next week I've got a weekend planned in Düsseldorf, so let's see how that works out.

Now, I have already shared this with some friends, but a really important aspect of this routine is the one that isn't in it: my phone. When I am done with my routine, I just don't feel like checking what happened on my socials or elsewhere. This is something that still surprises me. Where in the past I immediately wanted to check notifications and scroll through socials and news messages, I am now focussed on myself and don't feel like engaging in the world just yet. This feeling doesn't last too long, but for the short amount of time it does last, it is very liberating to feel. I hope that if you were to be inspired to start your own morning routine, you will also experience this feeling. Don't get me wrong, I still recite good old Boromird from Lord of the Rings when I think about phones and social media: it is a gift. Just one that is to be handled with consciously.

In the title I also mentioned cold showers. You've already read that my morning routine incorporates a cold shower, but this is just one part of my showering habits. Since the beginning of June, I have switched to cold showers only. Before, I took cold showers only after my climbing sessions at the climbing gym. At home I still showered with hot water. Yes, hot water, not just warm water. I absolutely loved the feeling of that kind of warm water which is just a little bit too hot, but not so hot that you can't stand it. At the end I always used to do a cooling off, but only to somewhere around 30 °C. Four months ago I switched completely to cold showers alone, which actually felt quite organic. Since I was already taking cold showers regularly, tried out weekly ice baths the year before, I was really into cold water. Don't get me wrong, every time I take a cold shower, I have to give myself a little mental push to do so. I love showering cold, but I don't love the feeling of cold water yet. This really is a love-hate relationship, especially on days where I take three showers a day. Wait, what? Yes, sometimes I take three showers a day, but not because I am that hygienic. The first is part of my morning routine, which has nothing to do with hygienical reasons. The second one is when I have spent time in my arena making some new paintings. If you have been following my Instagram, you understand why I have to take a shower afterwards. I need to clean off the paint on both my body and some used tools. These showers are pretty hard, because they take way longer than regular ones. Cleaning my material takes some time, after which my body has already cooled off after working in the arena. I then proceed on washing the paint off my body, and this doesn't happen with just one wipe with my hands or washcloth. Note: never use pouring medium which is perfectly water-resistant when dry. At least if you want to keep your skin. If on the same day I have scheduled to do a workout, I take a third shower. Now this is in fact one which has to be taken for hygienical reasons. I've no idea how other peoples bodies work, but if you've had a good workout, you always need to shower afterwards.

If you want to try out taking cold showers, I also strongly adivse you to try them out after working out. Your body is still warm on the inside, which makes it easier to stand the cold water. It is also said to be quite healthy, so I don't see why you shouldn't try it out. It's a nice benefit that you are also saving some money with them, especially during these times, but I personally don't think this is the best approach, or reason to shower cold. Do it for you, both your mental and your physical health. They will take you further than any amount of money ever will.