Cold water Swimming for mental health
The lake is 12 degrees Celsius today. Why was I enjoying a swim in it this morning? Especially as a pregnant woman? Well, because it really does make a considerable impact on my mental health.
It was briefly mentioned in a book I read earlier this year Dopamine Nation, in which psychiatrist Anna Lembke explores the interconnection of pleasure and pain in the brain and helps explain addictive behaviors. I would really recommend the book. I have some friends in the town I live in who are avid all-year-round lake swimmers and I decided to join the hype after doing some research into it. I am so glad I did. Here are the reasons:
Physical outlet
I am currently pregnant and, although I exercise regularly, I can’t push myself physically the way I would like to. Listening to your body is a good thing and I learned a lot about it from my previous pregnancy and postpartum journey. But exercise has always been a way of releasing pent-up stress or emotion that I tend to carry physically. Cold water triggers the same stress response that intense exercise does without the physical risks that come with it in pregnancy. It is stimulating and makes me feel connected to my body and aware of my aliveness.
Calm follows the initial intensity
Initially your body reacts to cold water with a shock response. Adrenaline, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, glucose and fats are being released into your bloodstream, providing an energy source should you need to make a quick escape. This is the ‘fight-or-flight’ response. Cortisol, a stress hormone, is released from your adrenal glands but to counter this beta-endorphin hormones are released in the brain to provide pain relief and produce a sense of calm, contentment or in some cases, euphoria. Cold water also activates the mammalian diving reflex quicker than warm water but you have to make sure your face gets wet too. When you put your face in cold water and hold your breath, the trigeminal nerve in your face sends a signal to your vagus nerve to slow down your heartbeat. The vagus nerve system acts to counterbalance the fight or flight system and can trigger a relaxation response in our body. Relaxation is good.
Challenging the body results in good adaptive responses
The more frequently you swim the better your body reacts to the cold shock response.In other words, your body learns to adapt: your heart and breathing rates only rise half as much, you panic less and you can control your breathing better. This adaptation makes you less reactive to the shock of cold water, but it could also make you less reactive to everyday stress.This is what researchers call ‘cross-adaptation’: adapt to one stressor, and you can partially adapt to others. Although there have not been concrete studies proving or disproving this, many researchers believe that this cross-adaptation could lessen your response to psychological stress, too. Yay for less stress!
As birth preparation practice
This is definitely my own opinion and has not been studied, but I think its a great way of practicing the breathing techniques that are helpful during birth. During birth, breathing helps to keep you calm and centered even though your body is going through a challenging experience. Cold is registered as pain by our brains. Learning to breathe in a cold water environment counts as practice, in my opinion, of breathing through a bit of pain. Focused breathing might work by interrupting the transmission of pain signals to your brain by giving you something positive to keep your mind on. Breathing may also work by stimulating the release of endorphins, which are natural pain relieving hormones. So practicing these techniques is a win. A big element that can be used in both cold water swimming and birth is re-framing your thinking to view it as positive, productive, manageable and beneficial/good. Mindset is a game-changer! Of course, please check with your gynecologist, don´t do it completely alone and don´t stay in long enough to drop your core temperature - no more than 1 minute per degree Celsius.
Being present in this season
Do you also battle with the subtle anxiety that appears as summer draws to a close? As someone who loves sunlight and warmth, I struggle when summer ends. This has been an amazing way to enjoy Autumn, to be outside and appreciate nature. To really watch the leaves change into beautiful colours and carpet the grass. To still feel like the lake is an option. To watch sunrises and sunsets in a beautiful setting when I might otherwise have been inside. It helps me notice and be present in the season I am in instead of secretly longer for another.
Community
I find that summer lends itself to spontaneous meet-ups, to gathering. Winter can be isolating and spending time with others or with groups of people has to be planned in advance (in Switzerland especially). We have an informal Whatsapp group that people from my town post in when they are going for a dip and want company. This often leads to a bunch of us meeting at the lake for a swim. Looking after each other´s children, encouraging the faint-hearted, sharing tea and making jokes. Community is good for the soul. It is also good for mental health.
Solitude
As much as I really enjoy the community aspect of swimming in the lake, I also enjoy the solitude it can offer. My little family often go in the morning before my husband starts work. There is absolutely no one around, we have a flask of tea and we each take a turn in the lake while the other plays with our son. I love the stillness of the morning water, mist rising off of it. I know my son is frolicking happily with his Papa and I can just release the responsibility I often carry in the back of my mind about his well-being. I can focus on the view or on my breath or on the sensations my body is feeling. No talking, just hearing the sounds of the lake and the morning. Solitude. Sometimes that alone is enough to refresh me.
Conclusion
I am writing this as a complete beginner. 12 degrees is not a big deal in the seasoned cold-water-swimming communities but I hope that I can continue with this. I also want people to just start doing things, start sharing about them, start being proud of their attempts and their beginnings. Perhaps its cold water swimming for you, perhaps its something completely different. I would love to hear about it! Perhaps you are looking for something that will benefit your mental health this season, give the water a go and see what happens. Hold on to the things that remind you of the wonder of being alive.
