In this post I explain how I came to name my Canadian and Ireland adventure The Cold Plunge, and the similarities I drew between submerging in cold water and immersing myself in a new life in a cold climate.
For my birthday last year, my workmates at my retail job gave me a voucher for a massage at a bathhouse. Before my massage, I tacked on a session in the therapeutic pools. The first thing I did was jump in the cold plunge bath. The ice water was like needles pricking my skin. My breathing became erratic, and my thoughts flew into a panic about the unfamiliar sensation. I could see why it took mindfulness to do these plunges every day and how it cultivated mental strength.
Cold plunges are beneficial for improved resilience and stress management. It is a huge stressor that the body is not familiar with, and as a result the body is shocked and needs time to adapt.
I managed to stay in for the recommended four minutes, breathing rapidly with my arms and legs dangling over the edge of the tub.
This experience made me think of my trip to Canada and Ireland like a cold plunge. Not into water, but into a cold climate. Having lived my entire life in sunny Queensland, Australia, I had been apprehensive about how I would adjust to the colder climates of Canada and Ireland. Now I was thinking of it like a cold plunge, and considering the potential physical and mental benefits undertaking this adventure and living in this colder climate could have for me.
A cold plunge challenges the body to work beyond its comfort zone and boost the immune system. It restores your mental state and conditions you to the stressors of life. It conditions the brain and strengthens its ability to cope with life’s daily stressors.
I was already experiencing this conditioning in the seemingly endless preparation process for the trip, and would continue to experience it once in Canada and Ireland. It challenges the body to work beyond its comfort zone.
And this is how I officially dubbed my adventure The Cold Plunge.
Kate Kelsen 