If you ever thought you might like to try a Cold-Water Plunge- today is the day. The air temp is going to be 50 and the sun is out. I tell you the benefits are enormous. It’s 10 cups of coffee, strengthens your immune system, a huge calorie burner, releases endorphins and hormones into your body, it’s a mood enhancer that reduces stress and helps with your mindset. It recalibrates your fight-flight mechanism. It releases dopamine. In short, it changes you for the better. “What is the role of dopamine? Dopamine acts on areas of the brain to give you feelings of pleasure, satisfaction and motivation. Dopamine also has a role to play in controlling memory, mood, sleep, learning, concentration, movement and other body functions.”
All you have to do is redefine how you think of cold and think of it as a feeling instead of how you hold the definition in this moment. It’s a psychological adjustment. In truth, most of us live our lives in our head with gears of “this and that” spinning all the time. But in this activity- you will sense your presence drop right down into your body like a meditation and you will be amazed how your own body acclimates to the change…
The photo is a friend and myself during this week, and you can do it too, it’s worth it! Acclimate slowly, be kind to yourself even it it means only going into the water up to your waist for the first few days. This is not a storm into the water activity. It’s getting to know yourself in a new surprising way, an exercise in watching who you are… change.
Good Morning Gloucester 