Ice Bath
I was surrounded by 15 other women and had a moment of body shame, then thought to myself, "No, it’s my body; it’s beautiful. It’s amazing. It has grown two amazing children, has been through so much over 40 years, and is still beautiful the way it is." I was so excited, I wanted to go first. Nothing worried me, and I was so proud of myself and my journey. I thought, "The ice bath will be what it will be, and I’ll take it as it comes."
When the ice bath was ready and all the bags of ice were in, the facilitator asked who wanted to go first. I was there straight up with a very quick, amazing, and powerful yes! I went in. It was FREEZING. I sat down straight away, and it was so cold I couldn’t regulate my breathing. So, I listened to the facilitator about coming back to my breath, and before I knew it, my body had regulated itself to the freezing water. I actually felt comfortable.
Before I knew it, the facilitator was counting down, “5, 4, 3, 2, 1,” and the two minutes were up. It was my time to get out. I popped up out of the icy water, and my body felt so weird—it was like it was numb. I couldn’t feel my legs and needed help to get out, but once out, I walked around and gained the feeling back really quickly. Then, my body started feeling warm again. It was very weird but amazing. I wasn’t cold at all.
Would I do this again? ABSOLUTELY! My advice to anyone, without a medical condition: speak to your facilitator to make sure it’s safe to do so, and definitely give it a go. It’s so funny because I don’t like getting into my pool or shower cold, but I will definitely get into an ice bath. In fact, I actually went and bought an ice bath to do it more regularly.
Do yourself a massive favor and give it a try. Push through your comfort zone—there are amazing things ahead!
What’s stopping you from taking the plunge and discovering
the amazing benefits of an ice bath?
