Cold Water Immersion in Nature: A Therapist's Experience: Full Transcript

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I don't know exactly why I started getting in cold water three years ago Carl Young said that people don't have ideas ideas have people and maybe it's more accurate to say that the idea of cold water immersion found me as it was circulating through the ethos due largely to Wim Hof's missionary work more than I found it I had been hearing personal anecdotes

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my first intentional cold plunge was right after reading the book The Wim Hof method in late 2020 now there's a fresh snowmelt running off into the lake this is probably about the hottest time of the day I'm gonna go jog a couple of kilometers get warmed up and then strip down to my shorts and try to stay

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alert and energized after a couple of minutes I decided to go in again about 30 seconds later I was shivering and ready to be done for the day feeling a sense of accomplishment thumbs up an older local Resident was on the shore watching me walk in and commended me for what I was doing and we had a nice conversation hopefully this is the start of a routine just had a nice brisk jog uh and I'm not shivering anymore and I feel really good I feel like

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no words it really does just like empty the mine about sunset and it snowed a little bit last night this actually looks like a good spot on the third day I endured even less time about 25 seconds it's interesting noticing the fear that comes up yeah it's just pure physical pain the anticipation just approaching the water

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I don't think I would have done my first cold plunge on a day that it was also wet and cold outside the water this is a pretty picturesque right here beautiful reflection and what do you know there's this little spot here without snow right at the water's edge perfect for putting clothes for everyone who wants to go swimming

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it's pretty cold ah but it's not as scary as it was before so that's progress I can feel my legs kinda aching but then above that my body feels like nice and warm and kind of a live and just like glad to not be in the water water

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43. 5 hello I think my motivation level is not that high today compared to yesterday every time I do this even if it's just for a little bit I get kind of a Zing of energy and so it's always worth it in the end and I'm not finding it as stressful doing it anymore after several days I was noticing that I was having fewer and fewer things to say

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I use different words to describe this practice mainly for variety cold water immersion seems to be the scientific term that doesn't specify duration a cold plunge seems to be a popular term that refers not just to the act of quickly getting in the water but also the large human-sized tanks that people buy to use at home

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before getting in having skin exposed to cold air feels uncomfortable afterward it feels quite warm compared to the water and it's a satisfying feeling to just stand there in shorts in freezing air for a while and not feel cold I decided to do a just kind of like an ice bath instead of swimming see what that was like

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that usually lasts me a few minutes depending on the air temperature the wind speed the amount of sunlight and humidity I've even felt it in light rain after coming out during cold and windy storms it's less noticeable but usually still there after the body gets used to the air again the warmth Fades and often this is when the Shivering starts if I've stayed

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there's that initial shock and you're still warm on the inside but kind of like burning on the skin and then the cold starts to seep in the skin kind of like stays the same or maybe even numbs up a little bit and uh can feel getting kind of winded almost like doing a Sprint and that's kind of when I start thinking about getting out and then there's that walk back to the shore which is um

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will have some of its own motivation from the anticipation of the Endorphin and dopamine cocktail that the body enjoys afterward as a payoff meanwhile the writer will stoically continue to steer the elephant's Reigns on course for an intense couple of minutes I sometimes think of this metaphor when I observe two seemingly distinct parts of myself debating before and during a

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make decisions jointly utilizing the strengths of each in the writer elephant metaphor wisdom is the two of them moving along together in harmony integrating both emotional passion and conscious Direction I think that cold water immersion improves the communication between the emotional elephant and the rational writer and it makes sense to me that the

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natural anxiety and discomfort and 90 to 90 seconds takes some effort in practice it took doing the practice for a week or so before I could do the full 90 second breath hold and it never became easy for me to do for a while I was practicing these daily on their own and I don't really have a good reason for stopping because I do believe them to be beneficial I still do them sometimes and never

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fully submerge I can attest to this as well so far no matter how many times I do this my body immediately and automatically begins breathing deeply for air for several faster and deeper breaths as my body's various adaptive mechanisms kick in to deal with the sudden environmental shock after some time maybe 30 to 60 seconds my breathing then Slows To A sustained Pace that is somewhat faster and deeper

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followed by a sense of fulfillment cold water immersion could be classified as what's sometimes called type 2 fun which is defined as not fun to do but fun to talk about later it's probably my favorite type of fun which some might not even want to call fun it's not really fun to do if fun means pleasant but it is fun in that it's adventurous

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when the first big storm came after I started I wondered what it would be like to get in the lake during a storm and after a huge snowfall and during a huge snowfall the days that stand out most to me and my memory were these days which felt kind of sacred not many people ventured out during snowstorms so there was Solitude and falling snow creates a

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cold water one day I swam out to a big rock and climbed on top and then jumped off and that became my new challenge since it took an uncomfortable amount of time I saw the rock again in a snowstorm could I do it in a snowstorm why not what if I did a cold Plunge in the dark underneath the Stars what would that be like what would it be like swimming

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I'm not gonna lie I'm a little scared the ice cover here or the slush cover throwing me off a bit it's almost like the first time reminds me of the same fear I felt like the first time when it was perfectly sunny out it's just different not sure the ground is slushy or rocky uh yeah it's slushy okay yeah there's like several inches of this foreign sunny days it wasn't too much of a

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to cold a bit more gradual when I walk or run to the water I generally have a warm core temperature which makes it easier to get out of winter clothes I would usually overdress on purpose to work up a nice sweat and build up internal heat to get myself from the shoreline to a deep enough spot the decisive moment was always removing my clothes I can't think of a single time that I didn't get in the water

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somewhere between a foot and three feet and it's like hard work I've been at this I feel like for an hour and it feels like I'm barely getting anywhere and I really want to be at the water already and I could have gotten there a lot faster I came out here two days ago and I was Blazing a trail like this and now other

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it's hot I've got my jackets on but none of them are zipped up just one or two minutes in nearly freezing water can create an increase in alertness energy presence and embodiment that is comparable to an hour or more of running resistance training or other exercise for me this is hard thank you I disproportionately large amount of life is packed into those two minutes

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in warm showers for 10 minutes before my body actually stopped shivering it must take a lot of chemical processes to convert our cellular energy stores into heat to maintain our homeostatic temperature and then replenish the stored energy from food we eat for the next time I definitely notice an increase in appetite fairly soon after the practice too I'm not sure but it does seem to me that

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I find it remarkable that this can happen with just a couple of minutes of exposure I'm not an expert on the physiology behind the better sleep but I would guess that the body has important restorative work to do replenishing energy and adaptively strengthening tissue I think it's very possible that cold water immersion can improve sleep also

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Abraham Maslow described Peak experiences as moments of self-actualization and personal growth characterized by joy and Transcendence a sense of connection to something greater than ourselves Peak experiences may be rare but I think the level of joy and Transcendence we can have lies on a continuum more frequently I had what I might call a Crest experience not quite at the peak

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our ancestors so strong end quote in this video I'm going to mostly focus on the psychological and spiritual benefits of cold water immersion because that's my area of interest and expertise but no cold water article would be complete without some mention of the anecdotal and empirically proven physical benefits hormesis is when exposure to low levels

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improved cardiovascular health and stronger immunity I started the practice in late 2020 when covid-19 fears were still high and keeping a strong immune system was a popular topic Wim Hof mentions that a byproduct of regular cold water practice is not getting sick one chapter of his book is called a cold shower a day keeps the doctor away

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disease is the number one cause of death in developed countries and cold water immersion can do wonders for healing and damaged and out-of - shape cardiovascular system I think of our cardiovascular system as one way that energy flows around the body through the blood if the flow is constricted and our hearts have to work overtime we'll feel more tired and unhealthy our brains

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Swiss army knife of Health in his book why we sleep which covers the Myriad reasons that we need good sleep sleep in order to be healthy did that list motivate you it motivates me when I hear it these facts are something that the elephant rider can say to convince the elephant to get in the uncomfortable water it doesn't make the experience itself easy but it can be a catalyst for taking the

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with the help of his audience I found it interesting to ask why people Express admiration and interest when they see someone getting in cold water we don't feel inspired when we see people doing painful things that have no benefit nor do we feel admiration when we see do people doing Pleasant things that are beneficial but don't require effort but somehow it seems that many people

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saw me get into icy and snowy water and bad weather and think I'm going to finally do blank referring to something important but hard whether they consciously connected that to seeing me doing something hard or not I've questioned whether or not my cold plunges are worth seeing by others I know there are many people who routinely do far more uncomfortable and challenging practices than this and

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a steady burn of energy and access to Primal functionality of the incredible machine that is the body and when all of that is paired with a peaceful beautiful and sacred natural environment like a trail in the forest there's little need for the past or the future for personal narratives or worries at least for a Time the practice of continuing to stay present through a physical challenge is