Last weekend I was in Oslo. I was looking forward to seeing my family, celebrating my mum’s birthday and… having a cold dip. It is strange how excited I am about colder water. I know I am not the only one. My Danish friend in London goes cold water swimming every time she is in Copenhagen. I cold dip with my children whenever we see each other and have water access. I see people swimming all year round here in the South of France – yes the water temperature can get down to around 12 degrees Celsius – and now I have met several people who are joining me in this cold adventure.
So what’s the attraction? First thing I can think of is excitement and joy. It is exciting to feel brave. I used to be scared of being cold, not anymore. There has not been a single time that I have come out of cold water feeling down. On the contrary it makes me feel so alive! You go into cold water, blood vessels in your body tighten to secure heat to the most vital organs, and then you come out of the water and your whole body gets flooded with new energy. It is a really special feeling and you can’t help but feel joy. It actually puts a smile on my face just writing this. Secondly, I love that cold water immersion makes my skin softer and the fact that I am activating the brown fat in my body (brown fat is good and helps regulate body temperature with the external environment). I also like knowing that I am activating all these tiny muscles and nerves that would be completely dormant hadn’t I stepped into the cold. Finally, I love the winning feeling – of course I feel like I am winning every time I do a cold dip! And do you know what? That feeling stays with me for several hours afterwards.
Back to Oslo last weekend. It is more effort to go for a cold dip there than just crossing the road to get into the sea as I am doing here. I put on warm clothes, hat and gloves, took the tram up to the closest lake, found my spot and went in. It was cold in the air (5 degrees) and cold in the water! I did not stay long. In fact that is the coolest thing with cold dipping. It is not about how long you stay. It is about you going in.
As I went out of the water 30 seconds later two teenagers came by to have their turn. One of them told me she comes every Sunday for a dip. I mean, how cool is this? I can’t stop thinking how it amazed me hearing that. This is someone super-young taking care of her wellbeing in her own way. Oops, did I forget to mention that cold dipping is great for mental strength? Question: Are you cold dipping this weekend?
Warm hug – Annette
