Latest news
Go back
Swim – Cold Water
We speak a lot about general wellbeing to our patients and often encourage and advise on activities that have been shown to boost health. So I thought it would be nice to share with you an experience that Nicola and I recently had at a “pop up sauna” in Saltburn. These are becoming more popular, ours was with Whitby Wellbeing And Adventure.
It’s super simple, you show up at you allotted time in your swimsuit and enjoy a woodfired sauna followed by a bracing cool down in the North sea!
The photo above really does not do justice to the height of the waves that we had that morning, we were warned not to even try a swim unless we wanted to end up in Redcar!! It’s been a while since either of us had cold water dipped so we were initially a little apprehensive, but after a roasting in the sauna we were happy to take the plunge and have a splash in the waves. It was absolutely joyous with a lot of laughter and very undignified falling over. Weirdly it didn’t actually feel that cold, although when we checked afterwards the sea temp was only 8 degrees! There is a fantastic natural high that comes from a cold plunge, and we were both left smiling for the whole day. Definitely an experience I won’t forget and would like to repeat.
Obviously it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but the benefits of saunas and cold water immersion have long been celebrated, with some cultures using them daily (apparently there are over 3 million saunas in Finland!). I recently listened to a podcast with Dr Rangan Chatterjee and Dr Susanna Soberg who has extensively researched cold water immersion and the benefits that it can have, these include pain relief, boosting immunity and building resilience physically and mentally. It’s an interesting listen as she points out that you do not have to sit in an ice bath for 20 minutes to get the benefits, actually even a little blast of cold water on your face or at the end of your shower can benefit you!
Sue x
Feel better live more: The new science of cold exposure: reduce stress, boost immunity, and increase resilience with Dr Susanna Soberg.
Link below to the podcast…
