Improve Your Wellbeing with Cold Therapy

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Cold Therapy is One Way to Get Stronger

Embrace the cold – it’s good for you

I don’t like cold. I spent too many winters, in the mountains of Bulgaria, ski racing and freezing. We have four seasons, and although winters are short, they can be bitter cold. I moved to California, and my body slowly adjusted to the milder climate. Since I live in Lake Tahoe, we still experience severe winters, with some years getting as much as 65 feet of snow. It’s not unusual to have eight months of winter. Although it’s not as freezing as I have experienced back in Europe, winters are brutal.

As we age, our bodies become even more sensitive to the cold. I got to the point that I layered so many clothes that I can barely move. I called myself the Michelin Woman. Since my hands and feet were always freezing, I stopped skiing. It wasn’t fun for me anymore. I wanted to spend more time indoors, doing yoga, and hitting the gym. I became a homebody.

Not going outside affected my mood. My hair thinned out, and my nails became brittle. I put on weight. I didn’t like what was happening and decided to do something about it.

Cold therapy with Wim Hof the “Iceman”

During my Human Potential Coaching training program, I was introduced to the Wim Hof Method. It piqued my interest. Wim is superhuman. By controlling his breathing and being able to withstand cold, he’s created an entire movement. Known as “the iceman,” he’s known to climb Mt Kilimanjaro in shorts, run a half marathon above the Arctic Circle in bare feet, and stand in a container while covered in ice cubes for more than 112 minutes. Wim defeats science. But is Wim extraordinary, or can any human do what he does? Wim’s motto is: “What I’m capable of, anyone can do.” I took him up on his challenge.

My Wim Hof Training

I started training using his method of breathing, exposure to cold, and concentration. Each day, I will do the breathing, followed by a cold shower or a dip in Lake Tahoe. You can watch my Facebook Live from Oct 31st on getting in the lake. I mentioned I don’t like the cold, right?

Does cold therapy work?

Studies have shown that doing the Wim Hod Method can help you:

• Boost Immune System
• Improve Mental Health
• Reduce Stress
• Increase Energy
• Improve Sleep
• Workout Recovery
• Increase Willpower
• Boost Concentration
• Deal with Depression
• Burnout Recovery
• Natural Anti-Inflammatory
• Fibromyalgia and arthritis relief
• Overcoming MS
• Post-treatment Lyme disease treatment
• Asthma management
• COPD management
• Migraine relief
• Improved creativity
• Improved cold tolerance
• Autoimmune disease relief
• Improve your mind-body connection

My cold therapy transformation:

I can only speak about my own experience from doing the Wim Hof Method. I noticed that my cold tolerance improved dramatically. My hands and feet were no longer cold all the time. I started spending more time outside, even doing yoga outside every morning. My mood improved.

As you can see in my video, I’m giggling after that cold dip. My willpower increased. There’s something about standing in the shower and turning the knob to cold water that you can apply in everyday life. When I say: “We do it, we do it.” There’s no negotiation. It helps me focus better and get more done in less time. My sleep is solid. I have a constant flow of energy throughout the day. My inflammation has gone down drastically. My pain in my shoulder has almost disappeared.

Exposure to cold is not new to me. Growing up as a kid, camping at the Black Sea, we only had cold showers. I remember getting so used to having a cold shower every day that going back to a hot one seemed not normal. When I was a teen, I used to go to a dry sauna after my morning run and do a series of cold rinses. One day, a Bulgarian in his 70s looked at me and said: ” It’s the best thing since sex.” I laughed awkwardly. It stuck with me. Now I understand what he meant.

What other people say about Cold Therapy

I explained the Wim Hof method to my father-in-law’s girlfriend. A year later, I asked her to share her experience from having a cold shower every day:

“Last November, I learned about the benefits of cold showering. I suffer from rheumatoid arthritis in the arms and hands but have had great benefits from a cold shower, alleviating pain, and discomfort. Since November 2018, my shower always ends with 30 seconds of cold water. I now look forward to showering this way, it stimulates both body and mind and eases my arthritis pain. Occasionally I increase the 30 seconds. I live in Melbourne, where we are experiencing cold weather, but this has not deterred me. You have to try cold showering to understand the benefits.” – Sue Pasinati

Don’t believe me? Try it for a month and see for yourself how you feel. Start with a 5-sec cold shower and increase to 30 even 1 minute if you can. Incorporate the breathing exercises for maximum results.

I’d love to see your transformation. Let me know in the comments what you think of using cold to your benefit.

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