COLD WATER THERAPY – MY FIRST EXPERIENCE
Usually, you say the word cold and I’m cold, so most who know me wouldn’t associate me with cold water therapy. But the Wim Hoff series last year sparked an interest and curiosity and I wanted to know more.
I started to look into the benefits and chatted with a few people who had tried cold water swimming, and ice baths and they all totally raved about it, I still didn’t take the plunge (no pun intended!). With me suffering from Raynaud’s phenomenon I was also unsure if I’d be ok to do it. So, after seeing posts from a lady I know recently, I contacted her to ask if she could find out about me possibly doing cold water therapy with my condition…..
The response was a yes!! Ok, now the decision to commit was required!
Chatting with a couple of friends and before you know it, I’d signed up and agreed to go to a session; no turning back now!!
STEPPING OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE
So, Sunday 23rd March was my first breathwork and cold water therapy session. I’ll not lie, I could have talked myself out of it many times over in my head, but curiosity was getting the better of me. How would I know if I didn’t try; I did think, well if I go along and can’t get in, at least I tried.
I arrived at Always You Holistics not quite sure if I was looking forward to it or not!! Vicky was so lovely and welcoming with herbal tea awaiting us on arrival, she instantly put me at ease, which was just what I needed.
We began with a breathwork session, which was a great way to prepare us for the ice pods. She explained everything through thoroughly and at this point I felt I had gone totally into my zone. I was one of the first three to go into the pods, not sure I would do the 10 minutes which we were allowed to go up to, but knew that whatever I did I would have achieved something! So, in we went; we had the choice of either gradually lowering ourselves into the pods or fully immersing ourselves straight away…..
I have no idea what took over me, but I fully immersed straight away with not a moment’s hesitation. I honestly could not believe I had gone in, so to get to this point it was a huge achievement. So the timer was running, we hit the 3-minute mark in no time at all, but how long could I last……
The next thing I knew, 7 ½ minutes had gone, and at this point I knew I wasn’t going anywhere until I’d reached 10 minutes!! I was so determined to see it through now, and I did it!!
Out we got and covered ourselves up immediately, and we were guided by Vicky as to what we now needed to do, again she supported us very professionally. Dried off and all wrapped up snuggly warm, I actually could not believe what I had done, I honestly thought I’d be lucky if I got to 3 minutes.
HOW DID THIS AFFECT MY HANDS & FEET?
Obviously at the start I chatted with Vicky about my Raynauds and she explained what may happen and what I needed to do. Surprisingly however, when I got out of the pod, my fingers and toes where a much more normal colour than they usually are from exposure to the cold. I felt no pain in them, and the colour stayed pretty much the same for the rest of the day.
BENEFITS I HAVE SEEN OVER THE WEEK
Number one….
My sleep has been 100 times better! I have been sleeping through to my alarm (except one night), this is a massive change, as my sleep patterns have been shocking recently.
My focus seems to have been much clearer, and I have generally felt so much better with no fuzzy brain fog moments either!
I have continued with cold showers doing 2-3 minutes 4 days out of the last 5 and fully intend to continue. I have my next session booked with Vicky and genuinely cannot wait. I’m interested in seeing how things progress and what further changes I see in my health and general wellbeing.
If you would like to know more about what Vicky does you can find her on:
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