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The benefits of dousing. Generally accepted dousing rules. The benefits of dousing with cold water: what is the secret?

This is the body's adaptation to extreme temperatures, both high and low. Hardening increases the body's resistance to colds, increases the body's defenses, increases blood circulation in all tissues, strengthens nervous system.

There are many methods of hardening, but one of the most popular is dousing with water.

What are the benefits of dousing with cold water?

It is known that water has a higher heat capacity compared to air. In general, portability low temperature in an unhardened organism it is relatively small. Even with life-saving equipment, a person dies in cold water from hypothermia.

It is important to develop your natural ability to thermoregulate, but this must be done carefully, taking precautions.

What happens in the body

When doused, the body experiences cold shock. Adrenaline is released, the vessels of external tissues sharply narrow.

Rice. 1. As a result of exposure to cold water, spasm of peripheral vessels occurs in the body.

Through a short time Vascular relaxation occurs, blood flow increases sharply, tissues are better supplied with oxygen and nutrients. At the same time, vascular training occurs.

At times of stress, the adrenal glands also release glucocorticoid hormones, which leads to a feeling of vigor and energy.

It is no coincidence that people with a bucket of water smile more often.

The body's thermoregulation gradually trains, it learns not to become overcooled in the cold, which means that colds will recede.

How to do it?

There are several approaches to the dousing method:

  1. Every day, gradually reduce the temperature of the water for dousing;
  2. Start dousing with individual parts of the body;
  3. Pouring with contrasting water.

All methods are equally good and you can choose any one you like.

What rules must be followed when starting hardening by pouring?

  1. The rule of gradualism. Gradually reduce the water temperature, gradually increase the area of ​​the body to be doused.
  2. Rule of regularity. If you started hardening in any way, you must do these procedures daily. You can’t skip it, otherwise you’ll have to start all over again.
  3. Common sense rule. You should not delay the procedure or use too cold water, or douse yourself when you are cold, or forcefully, during periods of exacerbation of many diseases.
  4. Start pouring better in summer, And .
  5. After the procedure, dry yourself, dress in dry, warm clothes, and drink warming tea.
  6. Dousing the head is usually not recommended.
  7. It’s better to shower yourself not from the shower, but from a bucket.

Scary to start?

  1. Let all your friends and colleagues know that you're starting to wet yourself starting tomorrow! You will probably be asked about your successes, and you don’t want to lose face.
  2. Gradual hardening will help you avoid severe stress.
  3. Invite someone to join you, it’s not scary.
  4. Read other people's experiences on the forums, it will inspire you.

Is it possible for everyone? Contraindications

Hardening the body cold water Not suitable for everyone. In fact, only practically healthy people can douse themselves. There is an impressive list of contraindications:

  • epileptic seizures;
  • atrial fibrillation;
  • tachycardia;
  • thyroid diseases
  • serious kidney disease;
  • diabetes;
  • hypertension and hypotension;
  • chronic infections;
  • acute respiratory infections and flu;
  • increased intraocular pressure;
  • thrombophlebitis;
  • suffered a stroke or heart attack;
  • open form of tuberculosis.

To

It is important to start pouring cold water over children early age, because it is known how often children who go to school get sick kindergarten. It is important that your child is not initially a hothouse flower. Accustom your baby to cold water from infancy. When bathing a child every day, it is advised to gradually reduce the water temperature by 0.5-1 degrees every few days to the limit that will be comfortable for the child.

At a slightly older age, you can start wet rubbing, also slowly lowering the temperature.

Already with preschool age you can slowly start dousing, but keep an eye on emotional state the child, so as not to frighten or cause rejection. For a preschooler, it is not recommended to use water below 20 degrees.

Give in to the park! Rules for hardening in a bath

A visit to a bathhouse in the minds of a Russian citizen must certainly be accompanied by contrasting procedures; the best thing is to dive into an ice hole! Is it so? Is it possible to give such a contrast to your body?

  1. Douse yourself not after the first entry into the steam room, but after the second or third, when the body has warmed up well and sweated.
  2. Do not use too cold water unless you have sufficient training. It’s better to douse yourself with cool water than for your eyes to go dark later.
  3. The procedure should be short-term. No, namely dousing.
  4. You must douse yourself thoroughly, otherwise you will get a jump intracranial pressure. The blood vessels in the body will narrow, and all the blood will flow into the only possible place - into the head. The benefit of such a procedure is questionable.

Can this cause harm to the body?

What does dousing with cold water bring us, benefit or harm? There is a downside to this process.

Everyone knows that after dousing a person experiences a surge of vigor and good mood. This condition is caused by adrenal hormones. Their constant stimulation leads, on the one hand, to addiction and dependence, and on the other, to exhaustion.

Excess hormones can increase thrombus formation in micro-vessels and capillaries.

Perhaps it is no coincidence that people involved in winter swimming often suffer from heart attacks.

Common cause The mortality rate for walruses is cancer.

Of course, dousing will help defeat colds, even in the smallest children, but it is not a panacea. As in any health treatments, in hardening it is necessary to observe certain rules and take into account medical contraindications. If you are not in excellent health, it is better to consult a doctor. In any case, the main thing is to observe moderation - without fanaticism.

Be careful when dousing yourself. This can be unsafe and in some cases traumatic. Watch a selection of not entirely successful dousing attempts in the following video.

Even chemistry may be powerless in treating a disease if the harmony (connection) of a person with nature is disrupted. Pouring cold water is both a restoration of such a connection and a philosophy. Therefore, the method is far from a panacea for those who are not ready for it, who will not first feel the depth and power of this phenomenon.

What does dousing with cold water give us?

Hardening of the whole body, during which all organs and hidden processes are awakened (the immune system and metabolic processes are strengthened). And the peak of this beneficial phenomenon occurs precisely at the moment of pouring cold water over the head.

As with another unconventional method of restoring health, dousing with cold water begins with the manifestation and aggravation of old “sores”. And that's okay. The body seems to put them on display and invites the person to “wash it off, wash it away” with water. And then they will gradually begin to “flow down” along with the streams, leaving and never returning.

Our health is the true criterion of whether we live correctly or are mistaken. To wake up your body, excite it, make it work for health - these are the main goals of dousing with cold water.

There are many bright examples of what the dousing brought back to thousands normal life, restored health, changed attitude towards life values, worldview. Even a month of such procedures gives noticeable positive results. Note that this is not a month spent in a hospital bed.

There are numerous cases where patients with ulcers on the body, for which they had been treated for a long time and unsuccessfully, got rid of the disease by starting to douse themselves with cold water.

“While in places not so remote, rotting ulcers began to appear on the body. Since there were no medicines at hand, he began to douse himself with cold water on the advice of his cellmate. It was difficult at first, but then I got into it. The skin began to clear up and soon he not only recovered, but also felt much better. He continued to pour himself after seeing the result. I said goodbye to many health problems. But many rotted like that...” Mikhail, 57 years old

Both stomach diseases and digestive system generally.

“I left professional sports with many diseases of the digestive system. Life has become hell. I even received treatment from professors, but to no avail. When I started dousing myself with cold water, I gave up on medicine. Six months later he returned to life.” Maxim, 41 years old.

Why does this work?

A simple relationship: dousing with cold water – hardening – training the body’s defenses. He begins active resistance to illnesses and negative impact on him environment:

  • infections;
  • temperature changes;
  • increased humidity or dryness;
  • aggressive effects of chemical compounds.

Children, old people, exhausted and often sick, using the pouring method, strengthen immune system, which is easier to engage in battle with these factors.

The basis of the hardening procedure is the temperature difference.

At the first moment of interaction between the body and cold water:

  • our blood vessels immediately narrow;
  • the skin turns pale.

This is a visible external reaction. But inside us:

  • blood has already rushed sharply to all organs;
  • the body experiences (in the good sense of the word) numerous complex reactions activation of organs and systems;
  • having thoroughly invigorated our “insides”, the blood, pushing off from them, goes to the subcutaneous layers, dilating the blood vessels;
  • the body turns red and we feel warm.

The process is simple and easy to understand. But this powerful push is a unique natural method. As a result, the body becomes invulnerable, which means it can independently cope not only with colds associated with drafts and cold. Seasoned people very rarely experience complications after illness, and their recovery process is easier.

Pouring cold water is a powerful healing factor!

  1. It will gradually strengthen both the nervous and cardiovascular systems.
  2. Will have a beneficial effect on the gastrointestinal tract.
  3. Each time it will “invigorate” the metabolic process.
  4. Will help remove waste and toxins;
  5. It will help you endure stress more easily, having the principle of stress in your method itself.

Please note that random procedures will not allow the body to fully adapt and this will only lead to a worsening of your condition. Come to this method consciously.

How to douse yourself correctly?

Like anyone unconventional method strengthening and healing of the body, it must move to the stage of everyday life, i.e. become a way of life. Then only it will be desired result. Therefore, we enter into it gradually and thoroughly.


To make it easier to get involved in the process of pouring cold water

  1. Don’t rush into battle right away, but do it slowly.
  2. You need to douse yourself with water prepared in the evening.
  3. Start dousing in the bathroom if it is not possible to do this procedure outside in the first days.
  4. Start pouring from the hands, then higher to the shoulders, onto the neck and then to the legs.
  5. More water low temperatures pour on your face.
  6. You need to complete the procedure by wiping your body dry.
  7. The next day, start dousing your back.
  8. The next day - head.

This scheme is for the first week. The body will have enough time to get acquainted with new sensations.

In the second week, you can gradually pour a bucket of water over your head. Try to keep the water temperature down by a degree every day.

And for those who are seriously thinking about taking care of their health and dousing themselves with cold water, here are our tips.

  1. Be sure to take an interest in P. Ivanov’s system.
  2. As soon as the jets of water “burn” your body, the body’s self-healing mechanism (psychological attitude) will turn on.
  3. When you go out into the yard and step on the ground with your bare feet, do not think about getting sick, but think about being healthy.
  4. When doused, old diseases will seek a way out and manifest themselves in various exacerbations and skin rashes. But this is not necessary for everyone.
  5. By dousing yourself with cold water, you give your body a chance.
  6. When you start dousing yourself with cold water, listen to your body. He himself will tell you how many times he needs it.
  7. Do not pour yourself all over at once, but pour over parts of your body first. Use a ladle.
  8. It's good if your family, friend or girlfriend supports you. In a group it is easier to do the first procedures of dousing with cold water.

Contraindications

Do not be thoughtless about dousing yourself with cold water. If you have diseases such as tachycardia, ischemia, heart failure, first consult your doctor. If your body is in the acute stage of any disease, wait. If there are problems with eye pressure, consult a specialist. Colds also cannot be cured by dousing; wrapping is more suitable here, but this is another topic.

Most importantly, you must clearly understand that dousing with cold water will make your body young and healthy, and therefore happy. Expose your body to a life-giving avalanche of cold water. Flowing around, it will both burn you and be able to lift you to the pinnacle of bliss.

Strength of spirit and life in health!

If you want to significantly improve your health, increase your body’s resistance to infections, and constantly feel energetic and energized vitality, then practice hardening. It is important to gradually accustom the body to the effects of cold, and over time it will endure sharp changes temperature. Is pouring cold water only beneficial or can it cause harm? There are many benefits to using this method of physiotherapy. Exposure to cold:

  • improves metabolism in tissues;
  • lifts your mood and eliminates chronic fatigue;
  • allows you to reveal the functional reserves of the body;
  • renews cells, gives the skin a tightened, beautiful and healthy appearance;
  • helps to quickly recover from stressful situations.

Hardening with cold water should be avoided by people who have malignant tumors, active tuberculosis or internal bleeding V abdominal cavity.

After reading the article you will learn:

Description and history of the technique

IN Ancient Greece The great philosopher Hippocrates established that swimming in cold water helps prevent various diseases and keeps the human body in good shape. The “Father of Medicine” spoke negatively about constantly keeping the body warm. He warned about possible consequences this approach. Here they are:

  • nervous system disorders;
  • dystrophy muscle mass;
  • increased likelihood of bleeding.

Hardening helped ancient people adapt to climate change, maintain health in harsh natural conditions and endure various inconveniences. Residents Ancient Egypt discovered the benefits of dousing with cold water and applying wet bandages to sore spots. This happened 2.5 thousand years BC. The Egyptians used cold compresses to eliminate pain syndrome, which occurs with bone fractures, injuries and bruises.

Existing methods

If you want to benefit from cold water hardening, then first familiarize yourself with the options for carrying out such a procedure, and then choose for yourself optimal method. The best decision for a beginner - wipe yourself with a wet towel to improve thermoregulation and prepare yourself for dousing.

For drying, it is better to use a hard terry towel. You need to wet it with water, the temperature of which does not exceed 32 degrees, and then thoroughly rub your body with it. Another option is to wash your face with cold water early in the morning and at daytime. It is imperative to pour the ladle onto your back, chest, arms and legs. Helps improve thermoregulation cold and hot shower. More advanced level - swimming in ponds open type, safe immersion in the ice hole.

How to start dousing with cold water

First, take contrast skin baths for 12 minutes for 14 days. You will need 2 comfortable and roomy basins. The temperature of the liquid in the first container is approximately 38 to 40 °C, in the second it is 5 degrees lower. Immerse your feet (up to mid-calf) in warm water for 8 or 10 minutes, cold - 5 minutes.

Pour water at a lower temperature into the second container every day - reduce it by 2 °C every day. This way you will gradually adapt to the sudden change in temperature and will not catch a cold during the procedures. In 2 weeks you will be ready to fully harden your body with cold water.

Perform partial dousing regularly. Water needs to be prepared in advance. If you pour cold water into a bucket in the evening, by morning it will be at room temperature. This the best option to begin hardening the body. After 1 month, douse yourself with cold water and take it immediately before use. Also, douse yourself completely with water. You will not get sick because your body will easily tolerate the effects of cold.

Contraindications and precautions

You should not risk your health and douse yourself with cold water if you have been diagnosed with:

  • coronary heart disease;
  • detachment and degeneration of fiber;
  • high blood pressure;
  • respiratory infection;
  • tachycardia, heart failure.

Doctors do not recommend that girls douse themselves with cold water or practice winter swimming during menstruation. This will have a negative impact on reproductive health. Any infection is a contraindication to exposure to cold water. Follow the advice of experts, douse yourself under the condition wellness, do not force yourself to perform procedures. Let hardening bring you pleasure.

The effects of pouring cold water on the brain: benefits and harms

The procedure stimulates brain activity, promotes a noticeable strengthening of memory, helps to activate the thought process and solve complex problems that require a non-standard approach. After a cold douse, a person becomes more focused, mental performance and concentration increase. The likelihood of errors is minimized, since the activity of each part of the brain is significantly improved.

The benefits of cold douches have been scientifically proven. Research has been conducted on this issue in Russia and foreign countries. What did scientists find out? If a person bathes himself 2 or 3 times a week, he will most likely be able to:

  • recover from vegetative-vascular dystonia;
  • get rid of depressive disorder.

The procedure helps to significantly increase the body’s compensatory capabilities and has a positive effect on the cerebral cortex. The blood supply to this organ improves, the number of connections between neurons increases, and their activity increases.

What does pouring cold water on your feet do?

If you are constantly freezing even in the warm season, often catch colds and “catch” infections, then perhaps you need to restore impaired thermoregulation. To improve heat transfer processes and improve health, pour cool and then cold water over your feet. This way you will achieve several goals:

  • strengthen the heart muscle;
  • increase reflex and humoral reactions;
  • get rid of the feeling of cold in the distal parts of the hands.

Avoid hardening using cold water if you have uterine bleeding unknown origin, enlargement and swelling of joints or varicose veins veins

Beneficial features

Regular dousing with cold water is beneficial and does not cause harm. This is due to their growing popularity. More and more parents are introducing their children to hardening from an early age. The child's first experience is Baptism - a Christian rite that involves the complete immersion of the baby in water. From the age of two, experts allow children to be introduced to contrast showers, which improves the defense mechanisms of the immune system.

Pouring cold water brings great benefits:

  • teenagers;
  • adults;
  • children of preschool and school age.

Hardening strengthens the nervous system, increases resistance to stress, and helps improve work internal organs. Pouring is simple and effective method, which allows you to maintain health for many years, protect the body from the effects of viruses, and maintain a positive attitude.

For men

Daily douches increase the production of testosterone, a sex hormone. It participates in the formation of muscle mass, gives the necessary strength to bones, and protects them from destruction. If a man plans to become a father, wants to raise his future child healthy and smart, then he definitely needs to wet himself in the morning. This hardening improves the quality of sperm, increases the number and activity of sperm.

Contrast shower increases physical and mental performance both men of any age and women. Seasoned people rarely get sick viral diseases, quickly adapt to changing environmental conditions. If a man douses himself with cold water in the morning, his chances of experiencing a deterioration in potency are sharply reduced.

For weight loss

If you douse yourself with cold water, you can quickly get rid of extra pounds, normalize metabolism, improve the condition of the skin of the face and body. Quick Warming The body is achieved by burning subcutaneous fat. You can perform water procedures on the street or in the bathroom; you need to reduce the water temperature gradually so that the body does not experience stress. Exposure to cold activates the immune system and has a positive effect on functional state internal organs, promotes skin rejuvenation.

Dousing forces the body to expend energy, which it extracts from fat deposits. Metabolism improves, excess fluid is removed, which helps get rid of swelling. “Empty” calories are actively consumed. The body uses fat reserves to provide itself with energy, which provides it with normal functioning, covers (balances) his energy costs during the day.

How to properly temper children

Have you decided to harden your child to improve his health? That's the right decision. Adhere to the principle of systematicity, gradually reduce the water temperature. It is allowed to harden a child from the age of two or three months. The children's room must be ventilated daily. Air baths, washing with cool water, and dousing are also useful for the child. Pediatricians advise vacationing with your child at sea once a year.

It is useful for a baby to walk barefoot:

  • on seashells;
  • By clean grass, wet with dew;
  • on smooth and rounded stones.

The water temperature for washing is no more than 28 degrees. It must be reduced every day by 1 degree until it reaches 20 degrees.

Hardening the body with cold water for beginners

If you are just going to introduce water procedures into your life, then make sure there are no contraindications. Avoid hardening if you have chronic diseases, you are experiencing severe stress or feel low energy. Cure colds and bacterial diseases, festering wounds.

The best option for beginners is partial dousing of various parts of the body, vigorous rubbing with a wet towel or a contrast shower. In case of douches, experts recommend lowering the water temperature by 3 °C every 7 days. This way you will avoid hypothermia and increase the effectiveness of the procedures.

Basic rules for beginners

Start by washing your face with cool water at a temperature of 20 degrees. For 3-5 days, wash only your hands and face in the morning, and then pour over other parts of the body:

  • shoulders;
  • breast;
  • feet;
  • shins.

After about 20 days, you will get used to the douches, you will enjoy water procedures, you will feel a surge of strength and incredible vigor. Now you can go further - pour cold water from a bucket over your entire body, which will improve thermoregulation and allow you to increase heat production by 30–40% of baseline. After 2 or 3 months of regular dousing, you can take up winter swimming - plunge into an ice hole in winter.

Pouring cool water

This is a great way to improve your health, resist viruses, gain a positive attitude and get rid of the signs of melancholy and seasonal blues. Doctors advise people who get sick often to douse themselves with cool water. colds, get tired quickly or constantly feel cold even in warm weather.

What temperature should the water be? Its optimal values ​​are from 24 to 32 degrees. Many people find it psychologically easier to douse themselves with cool water. They get goosebumps and feel great discomfort when using cold or ice water to perform procedures.

Drying with a damp towel

This is a gentle option for hardening the body. It is recommended for novice adherents of the concept to dry themselves with a towel soaked in cold water. healthy image life. You can introduce children to wet wiping, who treat this process as an exciting and unusual game. If you're not ready to toughen up radical methods If you are afraid of catching a cold and are worried about it, then try wiping yourself with a damp towel.

What does a cool bath do?

You should take a bath with cool water if you are susceptible to mood swings, react to changing weather conditions, or want to improve your tone. The duration of stay in such a bath is from 15 to 18 minutes. You can add decoction to it medicinal herbs, large sea ​​salt, blue clay powder or baking soda. Cool water promotes conclusion excess liquid, activation of natural immune processes, stimulation of cellular metabolism.

Gargling

If you gargle with cold water, you can harden it and increase the body’s resistance to various factors that are present during external environment. It is important to accustom the mucous membrane of the larynx to the effects of low temperatures so that hypothermia of the body does not immediately cause inflammatory processes.

To harden the larynx, you need to gargle 2 or 3 times a day. Use water with a temperature no higher than 24 degrees. Reduce it by 1°C every day. You should not gargle with water whose temperature is less than 9 degrees. It is necessary to harden in this way for 3–4 months.

Extreme techniques

It is recommended to use radical methods for hardening completely healthy people. They must be in good physical fitness and be prepared for significant workloads. Wide known method hardening - winter swimming. It involves dipping into an ice hole, swimming in open water in winter, and rubbing the body with snow.

When a person plunges into icy water, he first experiences enormous stress, which is why adrenaline is released. Then defense mechanisms are triggered, and a feeling of “internal heat” arises. The body intensively fights for survival, which leads to the activation of internal resources.

Hardening according to Grebenkin

Vladimir Grebenkin lived a long and happy life, was the chairman of the Russian Hardening Federation. Grebenkin believed that the body must be immediately subjected to significant and extreme stress. It should not be prepared for hardening; the temperature should be gradually reduced. Intensive hardening according to Grebenkin involves several aspects:

  • Even a beginner should be in cold water for at least 15 seconds.
  • After leaving the pond, you should remain in the open air for about 4-5 minutes.
  • You need to wait until your body has worked off the cold, then get dressed and get ready to go home.

How to determine what you can finish water procedure? The main symptom is an intense “heat wave”, which is felt after about 4-5 minutes. after being in a pond.

Hardening after sauna and steam bath

Establishing thermoregulation and restoring disrupted heat exchange processes will not be a problem if you resort to bath hardening. The procedure is based on 3 stages:

  1. Heating the body in the steam room.
  2. Cool for 8–12 minutes.
  3. Quiet rest for no more than 20 minutes.

You can cool down after the steam room by rubbing your body with snow outside, taking a cold shower, swimming in a pool, or dousing yourself from head to toe with ice-cold water.

Snow hardening

This interesting method. You need to walk on the snow cover with bare feet, the duration of the walk is from 3 to 5 minutes. This activates blood circulation. You can wipe yourself with snow in an open place. It is advisable to join snow hardening outside the city, away from chemical industry enterprises. Breathe fresh and clean air, enjoy hardening away from the noisy and hectic city.

Winter swimming

Swimming in open water in winter is the most effective method hardening “Walruses” admit that swimming gives them an incredible charge of positivity and vigor. They note an improvement in the condition of their hair and facial skin, and an increase in energy levels. Many people traditionally gather in January to swim in the ice hole for Epiphany. It is forbidden to drink alcoholic beverages before plunging into ice water.

Conclusion

When choosing the optimal hardening method, you must consider several factors. Focus on your age, level of physical fitness, and thermoregulation features. If you feel uncomfortable immediately practicing extreme hardening methods, then stop at more conservative methods. You can dry yourself with a wet towel, take a contrast shower, or walk barefoot on the grass after rain.

Each of us dreams of being strong spirit and body, to remain healthy and resilient, not to be afraid of illnesses and not to be depressed. Everyone has their own methods of achieving their goals. Many diseases can be avoided if you strengthen your immune system and maintain protective functions body. Some people play sports, others prefer healthy eating. It’s even better to combine all this into an amazing triad: sports, nutrition, dousing. Because hardening is the foundation on which everything else is based - preserving youth, beauty and health.

Many experts consider hardening the body to be one of the most common ways to preserve youth, beauty and health for many years, which has been confirmed by many studies. Pouring cold or ice water is one of the accessible and popular methods of hardening. When choosing a method, it is important to consider that only if certain norms and rules are observed, positive results can be achieved.

We can confidently believe that a hardened organism will overcome not all diseases, but many diseases without the help of medical intervention. Modern medicine is extremely important for preserving and strengthening human health and vitality, but active hardening will significantly strengthen the sinusoidal energy increase in the body’s resistance.

Everyone makes a choice for himself: either he remains sick and dependent on pills and doctors, while emptying his wallet, or he begins to improve his health, beginning to harden himself, increasing his vital potency and self-confidence.

The benefits or harms of dousing with cold water for men and women: let’s try to figure it out.

Pouring procedure- an integral component of such a well-known procedure as the “morning wash”. But washing under a hot stream of water and taking hardening procedures are not identical concepts.

It is believed that regular doses of cold are necessary to strengthen the immune system. Walk barefoot, if not in the snow, but at least on the floor in your own city apartment. Not in hot bath lie down and take a cool shower in the morning. Contrast washing and rubbing the face with ice cubes supposedly tightens and regenerates sagging skin. But dousing with cold water should be considered as complex therapy for the benefit of health.

Regular procedures:

  • relieve depression, improve mood and performance;
  • strengthen immunity;
  • the number of acute respiratory infections and acute respiratory viral infections is reduced, the duration of illness is almost halved;
  • rejuvenate the body;
  • adjust all its internal systems to work harmoniously;
  • launch weight loss processes, etc.

On paper everything is fine, but for dousing to be useful, you need to follow some rules...

What is dousing with cold water according to the Ivanov system

First of all, it’s worth saying a few words about the “spiritual guru of the entire USSR” - Porfiry Ivanov. The comrade lived a long, difficult life: 85 years. Of which, more than 12 spent time in various mental hospitals with diagnoses ranging from schizophrenia to suspicions of espionage (during the KGB).

Ivanov's system was born by chance. At the age of 35, Porfiry was diagnosed with cancer. Out of grief, he wanted to commit suicide and began to walk around half naked in the cold. Yes, that’s how I was cured!

I don’t want to upset you, this is a legend... In the 30s. last century was not so strong early diagnosis oncology. Maybe the doctors were mistaken; Ivanov did not have any tumor. Perhaps he came up with this story himself. Because there were a lot of myths and magical and miraculous flair around the “folk healer”. What kind of system is this, “according to Ivanov”? Is it difficult to stick to?

In the photo, the adherent and main ideologist of dousing with cold water in the CIS is Porfiry Ivanov

How to properly douse yourself with cold water

In my opinion, it's a bit complicated. Because this is not just dousing, but a special way of life. “In harmony with nature,” which its creator himself expressed in wearing only family panties on his body all year round. Porfiry did not recognize any clothes, shoes, much less umbrellas or a car. He often fasted and went hungry. Could sleep in the snow.

  1. Twice a day I did breathing exercises, similar (in the layman’s understanding) to meditation, and then doused myself with two buckets ice water(not higher than +5º C).
  2. Definitely - on the street, with your bare feet touching the ground, watering your head, with the thought that all the negativity leaves the body and goes back to “nature.”

Doctors' opinion

Modern doctors are partial followers of Ivanov’s system and do not recommend fanatically following the example of the “teacher.” It is recommended to start with lukewarm water, gradually, 1 degree at a time, reducing the temperature and bringing it to +12-15 º C.

Many believe that you shouldn’t water your head (although from the point of view of “rebooting the body” this is exactly what is necessary, because people traditionally immerse themselves in religious baths). And, of course, no one suggests walking around the city streets in just thongs.

Church pouring is traditionally carried out in the font

For whom dousing with cold water is contraindicated?

On the Internet, I came across studies whose results and conclusions are directly opposite to the views of the “walruses”. There is evidence that such a strong temperature shock disables small skin vessels, and their regularly repeated “constriction-expansion” when poured over the head with ice water leads to a deterioration in the blood supply to the brain. To strokes, from which big cities Every 5th person already dies. TO hormonal imbalances everyone. These arguments seemed convincing to me. I will refrain from blindly following the “system”.

In addition, such douches are contraindicated:

  1. for preschool children (and up to 10-12 years old - only cool, not icy);
  2. pregnant women;
  3. cores;
  4. having a history of epileptic seizures;
  5. hypo- and hypertensive patients.

It seems to me that an individually developed system does not necessarily have to become a public one. Before rushing headlong into the race for recovery, let us remember that Ivanov himself died, presumably from gangrene in his leg, which, again, presumably arose in him due to hypothermia and these same dousing with cold water...