Cold showers, contrasting showers, cold baths, one time immersion in a cold pond in late autumn, pouring buckets with cold water on myself -- those were all hallmark events of my adolescence and young adult years in Moscow. I enjoyed them greatly.

Now, I cannot force myself to take a cold shower or even a cool shower. I can immersed myself in a cold plunge (all the way with the head), but only by way of contrast, after a sauna or steam room. I very rarely do that, because our local Korean spa is expensive and I usually do not have enough time, either. I cannot even splash my face with cold water these days. But I have started filling a plastic bucket with water in the bathtub at bedtime and pouring the water, by then cold, on my legs in the morning. It is exciting and maybe, just maybe, I will pluck up courage to pour cold water on my torso and not legs.

I know that my breathwork is doing something good because each session shows a positive change in the skin temperature of the finger. This is supposed to signify relaxation. I need to try doing breathwork with and without the BiPAP and compare the temperature change curves.