Cold Hush

One of the main things we deal with in cold water exposure is our will power. It takes (for most) a large amount of will power to go into uncomfortable circumstances like the cold, and this is part of what we are training - allowing us to tolerate and overcome greater obstacles and stressors. One of the things that Stanford professor and science podcaster Andrew Huberman posits in his episode on cold water exposure, is that it likely takes a greater force of will to expose ourselves to cold at times when our body temps are higher. This means that it may feel easier to get into the cold in the morning, since our core temps are closer to the water temp, having dipped cyclically during sleepy. Therefore later in the day, when our body temps are higher, you might need to exert more force of will to overcome the mental aspects of getting in.

I've been noticing how even though the WI air temps are nice and toasty right now (often 80+F) and the water temps are nearly at their yearly high (currently 67F) I still feel mentally challenged at the onset - even if this comes as somewhat of a surprise. Compared to what I've done earlier in the year - including getting in regularly at anywhere from 5 degrees - 30 degrees air temp, in water temps from 32-40 degrees F, how is it that this obstacle still remains?

In a lot of ways, this is one of the great things about cold water exposure, especially when you follow it cyclically throughout the year. Nature provides different forms of challenges, and with our 4 seasons, gives us an opportunity to work on our willpower consciously (through our commitment to the practice) as well as unconsciously, as we adapt to the physiological changes that our bodies routinely produce in response to the cold. Wherever you start, be it a cold shower or something much more intense, we are still working with that same force of will, making gains. This might vary on any given day, and if we are training for mental strength, we might consider what Huberman suggests... thinking about our time spent in immersion as a series of "gates". On any given day, we make the choice how many "gates" we pass, i.e. how many times has our mind implored us to retreat, and how many of these gates do we have the spoons to overcome that day? Like I always mention, we are not here to torture ourselves, we are here for healing. How many gates might we pass on any given day depends on many overall factors, like life stress, overall health, and environmental circumstances... and we can consciously choose our limits based on our own personal compass and trajectory over time.

One of the things that I find most important, and yet have had to school myself in the hard way time and time again, has been that “more is not always more” with cold water therapy (insert most things in life, tbh).

There is both physical and psychological stress we take on when we choose to enter the cold. What we can tolerate has the potential to fluctuate day-to-day, which affects how difficult it is to practice (as do all other variables of your immersion environment). In cold water therapy, we never want to force ourselves in a way that feels harmful to us, either psychologically or physically. Psychologically, this may mean that if we are going through a lot of intense stress, especially if that stress manifests physically, we want to take that into account. In my experience, there are days that anger and stress might actually fuel me to go even harder - or the opposite might be true, I may need to go softer if I’m feeling over-stretched, and that’s what would benefit me most in the moment. Making this a positive choice, rather than an obligation or punishment, translates into a different chemical stress response with much more positive impact. (The Huberman Lab episode I posted recently covers this)

For those of us managing complicated health issues, it’s especially important to pay attention to these nuances. We don’t need to re-traumatize ourselves, being harsh on ourselves if we miss a practice, or if we don’t feel up to a longer session. Each health condition, practitioner, and practice is going to be unique. For CFS, a general rule of thumb seems to be limiting time to 1 min 30 sec - 2 min 30 sec to gain the most benefit without causing backlash (at least if we are talking full-on submersion in low low temps, in the 32-50 F range). Pushing beyond can have the opposite effect on our energy, said from my experience, and from observing how other people practice with CFS.

It’s tough because the mental health benefits might be calling us to go deeper, and we have to go with our guts and make mistakes, finding out what our individual bodies can handle. This is one of the reasons I’ve started this page, so that people can feel supported to try, and to get feedback on how to continue.