Dousing is the practice of making something or someone wet by throwing liquid over them, e.g., by pouring water, generally cold, over oneself. A related practice is ice swimming. Some consider cold water dousing to be a form of

ascetic Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...

ism.

Cold water dousing

Cold water dousing is used to "shock" the body into a kind of fever. The body's reaction is similar to the mammalian diving reflex or possibly temperature

biofeedback Biofeedback is the process of gaining greater awareness of many physiology, physiological functions of one's own body by using Electronics, electronic or other instruments, and with a goal of being able to Manipulation (psychology), manipulate t ...

. Several meditative and awareness techniques seem to share similar effects with elevated temperature, such as

Tummo In Tibetan Buddhism, ''tummo'' (; sa, चण्डाली, caṇḍālī) is the fierce goddess of heat and passion. Tummo is found in the Mahasiddha Krishnacarya and the ''Hevajra Tantra'' texts. Tummo is also a tantric practice for inner ...

. Compare cold water dousing with ice swimming. The effects of dousing are usually more intense and longer-lasting than just a cold

shower A shower is a place in which a person bathes under a spray of typically warm or hot water. Indoors, there is a drain in the floor. Most showers have temperature, spray pressure and adjustable showerhead nozzle. The simplest showers have a ...

. Ending a shower with cold water is an old naturopathic tradition. There are those who believe that this fever is helpful in killing harmful bacteria and leaving the hardier beneficial bacteria in the body.

National traditions

Burma

Thingyan Thingyan (, ; Arakanese: ; from Sanskrit '' saṁkrānti,'' which means "transit f the Sun from Pisces to Aries) is the Burmese New Year Festival that usually occurs in middle of April. Thingyan is the first ever water festival celebrated in ...

(Water Festival) was celebrated from 13 to 17 April in 2001 and the rituals included dousing.

Japan

* Some Japanese

practices, as with Shinto misogi practices, include dousing. This is seen, for example, with some Aikido martialists. Morihei Ueshiba was known to practice cold water misogi. * Kamakura, Japan has a temple whose

Nichiren Buddhist Nichiren Buddhism ( ja, 日蓮仏教), also known as Hokkeshū ( ja, 法華宗, meaning ''Lotus Sect'') is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of ...

priests in training practice a ritual of 100 days of fasting, meditation and walking which ends with stripping to loincloths and dousing with ice cold water.

Poland

Śmigus-dyngus ''Śmigus-dyngus''; hu, Vízbevető; german: Smigus dyngus; uk, поливаний понеділок; sr, Vodeni ponedeljak () is a Roman Catholic celebration held on Easter Monday across Central Europe, and in small parts of Eastern and So ...

(or Dyngus Day) is a festival held on

Easter Monday Easter Monday refers to the day after Easter Sunday in either the Eastern or Western Christian traditions. It is a public holiday in some countries. It is the second day of Eastertide. In Western Christianity, it marks the second day of the Octa ...

, traditionally celebrated by boys throwing water over girls.

Russia

Jumping in freezing lakes, ice swimming, is an old Russian tradition that goes hand in hand with going to banya, a sauna-like bath. Some douse with a bucket of cold water. The bucket is filled with water and left out overnight. They then walk with it outside and spill it over themselves. Preferences include being barefoot outside on the earth, and performing dousing at certain times and more frequently when ill. For some, dousing accompanies fasting (absence of all food and water) as an alternate means for the body to obtain water. Some follow cold water dousing with air-drying outside or in wintertime taking a "snow bath" by rubbing handfuls of snow on the body or lying/moving in it. * Porfiry Ivanov's health system includes cold water dousing. * Cold water dousing is practiced by some

Systema Systema (russian: Система, Sistema, system) is a Russian martial art. There are multiple schools of systems that began appearing after the end of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, with teachers claiming their respective "systems" (usually ...

martialists.

Thailand

Songkran Songkran is a term derived from the Sanskrit word, ' (or, more specifically, ') and used to refer to the traditional New Year celebrated in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, parts of northeast India, parts of Vietnam and ...

is a popular festival in April which includes dousing using water. It is also celebrated by the

Dai people The Dai people ( Burmese: ရှမ်းလူမျိုး; khb, ᨴᩱ/ᨴᩱ᩠ᨿ; lo, ໄຕ; th, ไท; shn, တႆး, ; , ; ) refers to several Tai-speaking ethnic groups living in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and t ...

in Yunnan Province in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and in

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

, Cambodia and

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

during the traditional New Year.

References

{{Reflist Asceticism Bathing