ICE BATHS FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND ANXIETY
Ever since the marathon ended caring for mum and then dealing with the mountain of grief ahead of me, I have been more deeply exploring all things mood and stress modulation. I have found ice baths to be a real game-changer.
Generally, I am quite a cold person and feel the cold massively so the thought of a 10-minute ice bath made me feel like I may die in the process. So I started gently, with a 30-second cold blast at the end of my shower every day (or every second day) and I slowly built my resilience.
Hubby bought this garden bin (isn't in glam? 😂 and every weekend we buy 7 bags of ice and fill it half ice / half water, it gets to about 9 degrees and we sit, the whole family has a go with varying lengths, my 10-year-old now holds the record for the longest time 😱 Check out the video on Instagram here
The benefits are phenomenal, what I have noticed is:
~ increased mental clarity
~ increased sense of calm
~ increased energy
Right now I'm seeing so many people struggling after the come-down of Covid, job loss and enormous stressors of just being human last year.
A study released by the University of Osaka showed that ice baths and cold showers can benefit the body by reducing the levels of cortisol, our stress hormone.
"According to Dr. Nikolai Shevchuk, we need to be exposed to more thermal stress. He states that we need to be exposed to cold water shock treatment because that activates beta-endorphin and noradrenaline in the brain. The latter is used in many anti-depressant medications. Here we have a natural process doing the same job without any side effects".
"Another bonus mentioned by Dr. Neil Schultz, a dermatologist, is that our skin will benefit enormously from taking cold showers. By first washing in warm water followed by cold water, you will get rid of redness and puffiness around the eyes. This will definitely put you in a great mood!"
Scandinavian researchers found that exposure to cold temperatures increased the metabolic rate of brown fat by fifteen fold, which could help a person drop nine pounds in a year if sustained.
It has also been proven to boost white cells, which increases immunity against viruses, colds and flu.
The benefits are quite compelling, the only people I would caution against trying it is migraine sufferers, just check with naturopath or GP first before giving it a try, or listen to your body, even better!
Who's going to join me in an ice bath this weekend?