There is a common belief that Common Cold is caused by the cold, hence the name. There were several studies, like this, where subjects had to endure various chilling methods, that didn’t show a strong correlation.

My observation is that the key component here is the attention of the subject. When you are a subject of a study and intentionally dipping your feet into the cold water, the temperature sensations have your undivided attention. But when you accidentally stepped into a puddle and continued walking, busy with your thoughts, your body has to regulate temperature without your attention. Is there any difference? In my personal experience, huge.

I’m a complete amateur in biology, and my hypothesizing may be a mere speculation. But when something has such a practical impact, a rational mind has to look for any correlations to find practical ways to use it.

So, my naive hypothesis here is that thermal regulation and immune system are somehow compete for the same resource, perhaps related to humoral regulation, and attention somehow helps to resolve this conflict.

This subject may be extremely speculative due to the misconception of attention. People tend to see attention as a property of the mind, and if the mind can control material things, it gives them ideas of supernatural powers. But the phenomenon of attention can have much deeper roots in biology. It can also be a part of regulatory mechanisms, maybe somewhat related to the vagus nerve.

Well, not being a biologist, I was interested only in practical implications. And once I took a habit of paying attention to temperature sensations, especially in the moments of changes, I significantly reduced my getting sick.

The same goes for any kind of bodily sensations, especially pain. One can assume that fixation on the source of pain is natural for an animal at rest. People have learned to divert their attention, or worse, to use painkillers. Meditating on a tooth pain may be unpleasant, but it’s worth the effort if you can’t afford a visit to the dentist. Pain meditation can’t give you supernatural powers, but at least can make you almost as healthy as a regular animal.

There is a peer-reviewed study “Effects of Mind-Body Training on Cytokines and Their Interactions with Catecholamines“, which, how I understand it, shows that attention shifts balance from pro-inflammatory to anti-inflammatory cytokines.