Why I Jump in the Cold Pool Every Day
For a year, I’ve been ending each shower with a cold water finish. I tried to guess what a minute was—I counted to 60, only I counted, really, really fast. I’ve gotten even more sloppy about it and have somehow slid down to about twenty seconds. Somehow. Ha! I mean I’ve stopped counting to 60 and now count to 20. I let the water hit my face, the top of my head, my chest, and my back and then I am OUT OF THERE.
The whole thing happened after I read about the benefits of cold water, of how immersing your face in cold water can help activate the vagus nerve (the vagal branch—not the dorsal, which, when activated, makes you play dead—only your body doesn’t always know you are playing! If any of this interests you, read about the polyvagal theory that Stephen Porges developed) and get you into rest and digest mode (parasympathetic nervous system) instead of fight or flight (hello, life). Rest and digest is heaven. It’s the sigh that you take when you realize that everything’s okay and don’t have to sprint out the door at a moment’s notice.
I knew cold water was interesting, but I also knew it was cold! When I came to Spirit Hill Farm a few weeks ago, I started going into the pool every day. It’s really cold. The first time I went under, the shock made me breathe in and so now I hold my nose. I last about a minute, gasping, saying oh my god, and then I run back to the house and into the hot shower (which, yes, I end on cold so my brain doesn’t think it can change the rules and be the boss of me). The result is a tingly body and euphoria.
Yesterday I watched episode two of the Netflix show the goop lab. It featured Wim Hof, the Dutch Ice Man. His wife had committed suicide years and years ago, and he’d become deeply (desperately) interested in how to help the body manage stress. He discovered the powerful benefits of combining breathwork with cold exposure. He has the Goop tribe out in the snow doing yoga in their bathing suits. Oh! The joy on their faces! They LOVED it! Cold does amazing things for your mood! (Why I was cranky in my freezing house as a child is beyond me now! Why was I not happier the ice was on the inside of the windows??)
We got to watch what happens when a group of people, one after another, jump into Lake Tahoe in the winter.
What happened was that one woman who’d been struggling with panic attacks has yet to have one since.
What happened was there was a bunch of shivering, euphoric people talking about how great they felt. How proud that they had done this wild thing. The idea behind the whole experience is to expose the body to healthy stress—to a kind that is natural and that the body can experience and process instead of the kind of stress where you wake up, for example, start worrying about everything and nothing, and just keep moving forward even though your heart is pounding and your stomach is anxious for no reason you can name.
Wim Hof made me rethink my pool habit. I thought maybe I should stay in a little longer, maybe throw in a few laps. I’m going in when I’m done writing this. I’m both excited and scared.
If I don’t write tomorrow, call 911.
