Do you know that as crazy as it sounds, taking ice baths can be excellent for your health and wellbeing — physical, mental and emotional?
Here are some of the reasons why you should do it.
For me personally, the most important benefits have been improved sleep, improved mood, and higher energy and productivity.
But there are so many physical benefits too to get from ice baths: Increased metabolism, reduced inflammation, clearing blood sugar, higher brown fat (which is different from white fat which is the adipose tissue that most of us want to have less of — brown fat actually produces heat and therefore increases energy burn) and therefore weight loss.
Ice baths can also help you to recover from workouts faster and boost your immunity naturally — yes, without taking anything. Isn't this amazing?
It All Started With Depression…
Here's a little bit about my story and how I got into cold exposure.
At the end of 2020, I went through a quite stressful period in my life. We were preparing for a move, we were driving long hours between three different states, and I had just signed a lot of new macro nutrition clients which was obviously great!
But I was also getting stressed. My sleep got worse, I woke up every morning at 4 and couldn't go back to sleep. I didn't have the energy that I used to have. I was constantly worrying if I'm good enough as a coach and what can I do to be better.
I fell into a pretty deep anxiety…
I even asked my doctor to prescribe me sleeping pills, but then left them at the counter at my pharmacy after learning that they cost me close to $400!
I figured that there needs to be a better way and there was.
It actually started with breath work class.
Somewhere during that stressful period, a good friend invited me to a breath work class with her. Long story short, it was life changing. I felt like something had really shifted in my body during that class, after just one session. I went home and started googling information about breath work. I found Wim Hof, who was also known as The Ice Man — a guy who swore by cold showers and ice baths. I had to give it a try.
From Breath Work To Cold Showers
I started practicing breath work daily and soon added cold showers. I became very interested in all possible ways to get better naturally, to beat my anxiety without having to take pills for my mood or sleep, and I did it (note — I am not a medical doctor and not telling you to not get on or stay on meds — please listen to your doctor). I also learned about light exposure, cold exposure, somatic tracking and more and I started to experiment with them regularly.
I started sleeping better, I was calmer, I felt my intuition getting stronger, and I realized how strong I really can be! I realized that the power to change my state is within me.
Combined with a nutrient rich diet (while absolutely having some room for treats and drinks that I love!) and right movement, I was able to find my way out of this dark period in my life.
The more I calmed my nervous system with breath, cold, self soothing and more, the safer my body felt, the better I felt mentally and emotionally, and the easier it also became to improve and maintain my body composition.
I'm here to assure you that you can take complete ownership of your health by becoming aware of your thoughts and behaviors, incorporating right movement, eating a nutrient rich diet, and — this is critical — learning to regulate your nervous system.
And ice baths and cold showers are excellent for that.
How To Crush Your First Ice Bath
If you have never taken a cold shower, let alone ice bath, or if it's been a while, you can sign up for my 5-day Cold Water Challenge. Once you're ready to take your full ice bath, the video below will be helpful.`
Taking an ice bath, the way I guide it, is different from getting extremely energized, using aggressive music to get hyped up, jumping in and then fighting your way through it.
No!
The way I teach it is the opposite: You want to get in being calm, relaxed and present. When we start this practice by being calm, the chances that we have a good experience and we get the benefits, will be a lot higher.
How Can I Build Up To a 2-Minute Ice Bath?
2 minutes is the time that we recommend you to stay in the ice bath, in order to maximize the health benefits. But if you are completely new to cold water exposure, you may want to ease in to it. My 5-day Cold Water Challenge is designed so that we expose ourselves to cold water little by little, adding a little bit of challenge every day. That way, by day 5, you've had some preparation time and you're ready to dive in to an actual ice bath.
Join the 5-Day Cold Water Challenge
If you want to get the benefits of ice baths, join the 5-day Cold Water Challenge. You will also be added to our Facebook group where we share our experiences and updates. Don't worry, you won't be told to get in a full ice bath right away — we're taking small steps daily and building up to it.
Once you're ready for your ice bath, do it the way I guide in the video above, and you will succeed!
Have fun with it!
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