3 Things I learned from taking an ice bath

I’ll start by saying that taking an ice bath was something I wanted to do for a while; nobody asked or forced me to do that, and it all happened without any hesitations.

Before the ice bath, I participated in an hour-long “Performance breathing” session focusing on controlling high CO2 levels.

Stepping into the ice bath without a breathing session is probably not a good idea. It helps you better understand your body’s breathing mechanism and how it affects your ability to stay calm and deal with stress.

I learned so much from this experience; here are a few things I wanted to share:

The ability to calm down is an absolute superpower.

Your breathing pattern changes under stress. Typically, an anxious person takes tiny and shallow breaths, disrupting the balance of gases in the body and creating a feeling of anxiety by worsening the physical symptoms of stress.

Having the ability to control your breathing can help you with some of these symptoms. Slow breathing triggers the natural relaxation response and strengthens the body’s stress management mechanism, which is essential knowledge for every stressful situation in your life.

Getting into an ice bath is a stressful situation, physically and mentally. I was shocked by how slow breathing helped me get through that and stay calm in the freezing water surrounded by ice cubes.

Competing yourself, and win!

Undoubtedly, stepping into an ice bath is not a walk in the park. The first time you do it pushes you to deal with stress, fear, and doubts about whether you can do it or not. We get into these situations in our day to day, can be at work, at home, or anywhere else.

It’s all about practice, training your brain, and keeping composure and focus when facing a significant challenge. It teaches you to overcome fears, anxiety, and other situations that confront you with the unknown.

Trust yourself and your body. Being able to handle much more than you think is very important. Taking an ice bath made me mentally stronger and more resistant to stress.

Our body is an incredible machine.

I stayed in the ice bath for three minutes. The first 20–30 seconds is what you need to relax and adjust to this stressful extreme cold situation (if you breathe correctly). Suddenly, you have no things to worry about, and strangely your mind is focused on survival, and all other thoughts are just gone or temporarily on hold.

After 50–60 seconds inside the ice bath, I felt a sharp pain in my limbs. Since I was focusing on my breathing, the pain is there but not bothering you as you would expect it to be.

Stepping out of the ice bath is also a challenge. At first, you want to make sure you feel your legs and can move them before making any step. Even though your body is still cold, after a few minutes, you feel that your body temperature is starting to balance, and you’re left with tons of adrenalin, making you feel great!

Stay safe and healthy

Taking an ice bath without proper preparation can be very dangerous. Think about going scuba diving without getting any training and not having a diving instructor with you underwater. You’ll need to practice slow breathing and have guidance on what you should do and, more important, what you shouldn’t do.

Have an ice day!