Part one – Cold dip anyone?
Now, I’m not talking food here, although I love a bit of hummus with a variety of foods to dip into it! I’m talking cold water therapy.
A little while ago, I watched the Wim Hof programme.
If you haven’t seen it, he got a bunch of celebrities to take cold showers, sit in a shallow bath of icy water, swim under ice and just generally do anything in the cold. He also showed them some deep breathing techniques, all of which he reportedly said had significant health benefits.
So…….I saw that as a bit of a challenge! I like weird stuff like this, so I thought I’d give it a go!
I started off slowly, having a cold shower. Initially I got in the shower when it was warm like I normally do…..I’m not that hardcore when it comes to the cold. Bearing in mind I’ve never really like the cold, this was serious dedication on my behalf.
I set myself a challenge of being able to have cold showers for a month, hopefully with them being completely cold.
So following my nice warm shower, I turned the temperature down for the last 30 seconds of the shower.
Well….I don’t recall swear words being part of the Wim Hof Method, but there were definitely a few escaping from my mouth. I managed to curb them to a not so gentle “feh feh feh” I think you can guess the rest.
The first few days were a bit of a shock to the system, particularly when I started to increase the length of time under the cold water.
On the 7th day, the swearing stopped and I had got used to it.
By day 14, I was getting straight into a cold shower.
It is worth mentioning at this point that we were going through a particularly warm spell here in the UK, to the point where there was talk of a hosepipe ban due to water shortages. Maybe it just felt easy to shower in cold water when the temperature outside was so warm.
There were a couple of chilly days following that as we entered the beginning of Autumn, but I still didn’t notice the cold water so much.
And then I did the unthinkable!
Leading up to the end of the month, I saw a Wim Hof experience day being advertised locally. I wanted to sign up to learn about the Wim Hof breathing and mindset exercises, and there an option to get in the Ice Bath!
What was I thinking?
I delayed booking, almost talking myself out of doing it. I know I need to say “YES” to more things, so the day before the event, early in the morning, I booked my space.
When I checked back on the page after booking, to check what I needed to take along with me, it big sign came up saying “Sold Out”. I’d bought the last ticket!
Oh my word, what had I signed up to? I checked what I needed to take with me, a towel, swimwear and a yoga mat.
I had bought myself a swimsuit earlier in the month as I was contemplating doing this. I say a swimsuit, it was more like a onesie but slightly less cloth.
My body shape has changed quite a lot since entering the menopause stage in my life and my confidence has dropped quite a bit as a result. I wanted to cover up, to hide how much I love eating chips (my hips don’t lie, this girl eats chips!).
I was determined I wasn’t going to let this lack of confidence stop me from doing this. Why should I hide myself away just because I don’t meet the social media/Hollywood standard of beautiful? I am able to achieve anything that I set my mind to, and I had set my mind into getting into an ice cold bath!
Find out how it went in part 2!
Karen Raistrick has been in the business of wellbeing for over 6 years and has a lot of experience in managing stress, adapting to change and dealing with life’s challenges. Mainly done with a smile on her face, usually positive, often grumpy if she hasn’t had a cup of tea!
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