Take the plunge!

I’ve written about my love of cold plunges from time to time, but I’ve never told the story of the first time I did it.

I started doing this in March of 2019, a few months after my breakdown.

At this point, the water in Copenhagen was between 4-7 degrees Celsius (around 40 degrees Fahrenheit) - pretty damn cold!

When people try a cold plunge - especially for the first time - they typically go with a partner.

But I decided to do it on my own.

I got up early - probably 5 or 5:30 am. I drove to the beach wearing a tracksuit, warm hat, and Birkenstocks.

At the beach, there's a long bridge up into the wooden structure that's permanently there. This is a low-tide area, so you must go out to submerge in the water since it’s not usually higher than your waist at the dock.

By the way, even though people call it a cold “plunge,” you don’t dive in like someone doing a cannonball off a diving board. You walk out slowly until you’re deep enough - otherwise, the shock to your system is too much, and it could cause damage to your heart.

You also don't put your head underwater when it's so cold because of how close the blood vessels and veins in your skin are to your skull.

Back to my first plunge. It’s dark in addition to being cold. Oh yeah, it’s windy too.

I took off all of my clothes - yes, all of them - and went down the steps and started walking into the water.

I didn’t stay in long, but I was there long enough to get a sense of velvære - a Danish word that roughly translates to “wellbeing.”

It's so cold when you go in, but the second you get out, your body's warm - for a little bit.

Here’s an interesting thing. When you’re sitting in the freezing cold water, there’s a layer of water around your skin that’s actually heated up a little bit from your body.

It’s because of this that people can sit in cold water for long periods… if you don’t move around.

Getting into the water is the hardest part.

When you get out, your heart is pumping so hard that you’re not that cold - except when the wind blows the last of your body's heat.

I began drying myself off and felt born anew.

I’ll continue writing about cold plunges next week and the health benefits you get from them.

Thanks for reading,

Peter

If you want to see how your whole system, not just the cold tolerance, is holding up, the Whole Human Life Score is a good place to start.