Cold Plunge

Have you ever planned to wake up early and get a start on the day but then when the alarm goes off the body will not cooperate? We all want our body to follow the command of our mind and to be mentally strong enough to push our body. But in these comfortable modern times, does the body or the mind get the specific stress it needs to evolve towards a healthy mind and body? The stoic philosopher Seneca believed in training the body and mind at the start of every year by jumping into extremely cold water and staying mentally strong while reaping the benefits of cold water on the body. He once said “The body should be treated more rigorously, so that it may not be disobedient to the mind.”

Now we aren't saying you should treat your body rigorously; we already do that enough with everyday life, training and then slouching on the couch when we get home. We see cold water emergence as a way to restore the body and studies have come out to back that observation. We will dive into those benefits and studies after some facts about hydrotherapy history!

Cold water immersion isn't a new trendy thing to do, but an ancient practice. The benefits of cold and ice were first realized thousands of years ago when the Egyptians treated inflammation and injuries with isolated cold application. In fact, papyrus scrolls have been found documenting the application of ice on a number of patients.

Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, also prescribed cold baths and bathing in spring water to ‘allay lassitude’ for many of his sick patients.

The Romans built bathhouses where health-conscious citizens would sit in a hot room for as long as it took to sweat then dive into a frigidarium- an ice-cold swimming pool.

A 2014 article on the physical benefits of hydrotherapy goes deep into all the scientific benefits and results of other studies and you can spend all day going into rabbit holes of reading studies and reports. A link to that specific article will be listed below.

Not only does cold water immersion aid your body but there is also proof it can aid your mind! The Department of Radiation Oncology at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine proved that exposure to cold activates the sympathetic nervous system and increases the blood level of beta-endorphin and noradrenaline and to increase synaptic release of noradrenaline in the brain. Additionally, due to the high density of cold receptors in the skin, a cold shower is expected to send an overwhelming amount of electrical impulses from peripheral nerve endings to the brain, which results in an antidepressant effect.

A quick online search will get you to the same information we can but what isn't in all those studies are the personal accounts of those who have benefited from hydrotherapy.

Personal benefits reported are almost endless..

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