It’s been almost two years since I started my journey with cold water therapy and I am reflecting on the lessons I have learned, I shared my first year learnings last year and today I’d love to share with you what I have learned since.

I can do hard things

When you see my videos and stories and hear me talk about how much I love the cold water you might be mistaken in thinking that it’s easy for me and you’d be wrong. I don’t continue to get into the water because it’s easy. I do it because I KNOW it’s good for me and I mostly do it because it affirms the message that I can in fact do hard things. I stand by the belief that if you can convince yourself to step into that freezing cold water, to stand there and let the cold take over your body as you regulate your heart and respiratory rate - without freaking out and bolting for the what of your car then you can in fact face the challenges that life throws at you.

How to use my voice

Before I started this journey with cold water I was stuck in a people-pleasing cycle, I was convinced that I wasn’t good enough and those feelings ran so deep that I wouldn’t communicate effectively. Even simple things like giving feedback to staff or passing on crucial information - I wouldn’t do because I constantly worried that people would either leave me or get angry with me. This comes from a very deep-rooted and complex trauma but once I started to believe that I could do hard things like stand in freezing cold water up to my neck - I learned that I could in fact hold a simple conversation- even if it was difficult, even if I couldn’t guarantee how the other person would react and the result? Much more positive relationships and a way better and more effective communication style.

A deeper sense of intuition and self-connection

When you immerse yourself in cold water you have to really tune in with your body and what it’s telling you. This is so that you can recognise signs of hypothermia or any potential danger. If you’re not paying attention to those signs then you are in big trouble. Over time this practice has nurtured a deeper sense of self-awareness and connect that then translates into my every day life. My bodies signals are now way more apparent to me, I’m able to tune into them, listen and respond the way that I want to and it’s had a profound effect on my life.

Overcoming health anxiety

Before I started my journey I had really severe health anxiety, in fact it’s one of the reasons I got into cold water therapy in the first place. I had heard about the impact it could have on regulating your central nervous system and my god did I need that. In January 2020 I started having really severe panic attacks. I was convinced I was going to drop dead from some underlying illness and it got to the point where I couldn't go out and socialise anywhere because I would have these really intense attacks. In year one of my journey, the attacks didn’t go away the way I had expected them to but I did find the courage to tune into them and understand my triggers, I also became way more regulated and in year two I can now really feel the initial symptoms of an attack and have been able to overcome them with tools, techniques and the affirming believe that I am strong, fit and healthy. My journey with stepping into extreme temperatures has helped me prove this to myself but it has also taught me how to surrender and be present. When I get into that water I can’t be worrying about what’s coming next, I have to be fully present and tuned in and I’ve been able to translate this into my everyday life.

How to feel comfortable in my own company

As an adult, I stopped enjoying doing things on my own. Part of this happened after I had H and experienced really severe postpartum anxiety, in order to get out of the house I always had to meet someone else or know that I wouldn’t be on my own. Whilst it’s amazing to enjoy the company of others, this behaviour did lead me to a level of co-dependency that meant I wouldn’t do anything if I didn’t have a friend or my husband to go with. Over time of course, when people’s lives get busy this started to mean that I often didn’t do things at all. I started to feel really lonely and when folks were busy, I started to believe that it was because they didn’t want to hang out with me rather than that they weren’t able to. When I started cold water therapy I really craved the water and my schedule rarely matched with my friends who also enjoyed it and so I was faced with a choice. I could not go. Or I could go on my own. From my very first solo session- I felt like a new woman. I couldn’t believe I had been putting off all of these amazing experiences just because I couldn’t find someone to do it with. I began to spend a lot more time on my own, I got to know myself better and I started to really enjoy my own company and feel brave enough to do the things I wanted, even if I didn’t have company. Cold water taught me that I am both brave and courageous and not only that if I can survive that on my own, I can do anything but also that I really like hanging out with me <3

Accepting myself

I think this has to be my biggest lesson so far this year. I am neurodivergent - I have ADHD. The type of ADHD that I have is known as “combined” which means that I experience periods of hyperactivity (ever wondered why I seem to get SO much done, or always have a million projects on the go at once? This is my ADHD superpower) and periods of inactivity and an attention deficit. One of the biggest things that attracts me to cold water therapy is that I find it both grounding and exhilarating. When I am feeling hyper, frazzled and wired, when I can’t sit still and need to be on the go and my brain is buzzing - the cold water is one of the only things that grounds me. When I’m fully immersed in the expanse of a dark loch with the rolling hills surrounding me, I feel so still, so calm and so present- my mind is never on anything else and it’s one of the only times that I am given true peace and clarity. On the flip side when I am in a funk, my mood is low and I am in total freeze mode, a trip to the water, especially one that moves a lot. Is like an invigoration treatment. When I come out I feel energised, focused and ready to step into whatever I have been procrastinating from.

So there’s my two cents, it’s been another year of big lessons and I’m excited to see what year three brings!

Are you a cold water warrior? Are you keen to try it and apply some of these lessons to your own life? Our upcoming retreat day will be encompassing cold water immersion and reconnecting with nature, we’ll be exploring how these tools can help us come home to ourselves. The day is now sold out but if you would love to be the first to know about the next one make sure you are on our mail list (scroll down to add your email) and don’t forget to add us to your address book so we don’t get lost in spam!

The lessons I have learned in year two of my journey with cold water…