Why im addicted to cold plunge

Why would anyone ever submerge themselves in cold water?  I’ve heard many people tell me that they can’t tolerate the cold water for more than a few seconds.  In fact even I used to tell myself the story that I couldn’t handle the cold, but I flipped the script.  Our minds are powerful.  If you tell yourself you can’t, you’re right.  If you tell yourself you can, or even if that it’s possible, you’re right.  Don’t stifle your potential, believe that you can do anything you set your mind to.  Our bodies get good at what you ask them to do on a regular basis.  And if you ask the body to be efficient at regulating temperature it does that too.

When you first enter the cold water the brain is going to tell you to run away!  That’s our primal instincts protecting us.  Immediately fight or flight nervous system activates; tension in our face and shoulders, fast breath pace (hyperventilating), stress.  We can mange this stressful state by relaxing the shoulders and face and controlling the BREATH. The breath is intimately connected to the central nervous system.  If you breathe in a calm and tranquil way, you will crate tranquility in the body.  It will still be challenging (most things worth doing are) but manageable. 

I recommend submerging up to the shoulders, but okay to have feet and hands out of the water.  Most import technique to mange this and any stressful situation is to control your breath.  Breathing in and out of the nose if possible; inhaling for a count of 4 or more and exhaling for a count of 4 our more.  Our lungs are made of muscle and the more you practice and the more your lung capacity will grow.  The long exhale slows your heart and calms the body.  How slowly can you breathe? Can you stay in the cold water for 10 breaths? 20? more?  You can.

This practice of deliberate cold exposure has SO MANY health benefits! Cold exposure to the neck tones the vagal nerve and makes us more resilient to stress.  Cold plunging removes inflammation from the body, increases norepinephrine (focus and alertness), increases brown fat and thus metabolism and glucose sensitivity, creates cold shock proteins which support the immune system, improve resilience to stress and protect your brain.  And finally why I’m addicted to cold plunge? It can increase your baseline dopamine (feel good, motivation chemical) levels 250% that’s 2.5x, the same increase people get from ingesting cocaine.  But this dopamine fix is slow release so it peaks at about 2 hrs after exposure and can last 4-6 hours.  Earn your dopamine, it’s worth it, big pay off.  Feel better and be happier. It only takes a few mins of discomfort that you will start to look forward to, I promise. 

Future Blog topics….. How to earn your Dopamine, Sauna Exposure Benefits, Optimize with a morning routine, Why stress can be good for us if we know how to mange it 

Which interests you?  Send me a message and let me know what you would like to learn more about.