The cold plunge.
People ask why I do it. You can google the health benefits so I won’t bore you with that. I will, however, share my reasons.
💙 I want to live my life. Not just survive or get by. I want to really live. After a cold bath, I feel alive!
💙 I have a complicated health & mental health history and I want to give myself every possible advantage I can. As far as I know, we only get one shot at this thing called life. I intend to do everything I can to be a better human while simultaneously becoming #hardertokill . Cold baths check both of those boxes for me.
💙 While I will take medication when necessary, I’m not interested in the easier/pop-a-pill route. If there’s a way to feel better without meds, I’d like to try that first. Side effects of cold baths are increased energy, boosted immune system, & increased brown fat (the metabolically active kind), to name a few. Side effects of meds vary…
💙 Sleep. After listening to some podcasts from @hubermanlab on sleep & mental performance, along with a couple of other shifts in my rountine, I switched to an afternoon plunge & it’s been helping my sleep duration & quality. Which in turn helps with mood, depression, anxiety, etc.
💙 I want to show up, every day, and be able to know I did everything I could to be my best self. I think cold baths help with that. I’m more alert, less reactive, more productive, and better able to #handlemyshit .
💙 No matter what else happens in a day, if I do my cold plunge, I feel like I can conquer anything.
Do I want to do it every day? No.
Do I sometimes stand outside the cold plunge, procrastinating, trying to think of *reasons* not to do it? Yes.
Do I ever regret doing it? No.
Do I skip some days? Yes.
Do I regret skipping? Usually.
Why? Because I feel better after I do it.
And I feel tough. I know I can breathe through the discomfort & feel tougher. And that translates to dealing with other uncomfortable/difficult things/people in my life.
After writing these reasons, I realized they are very similar to the reasons I train. 🤔
Wondering what you do to feel tough? What kinds of things are you doing that help you live your best life?
