Wim Hoff Swimming. BRRRRRRRRRRR ITS COLD !!!!

(Thats the Idea)

So, my brother got me into this. He was like, “hey want to do an ocean swim?”

and Im like, “sure but hey, its November?!”

And so down we went, wading out in the ocean in freezing water. He instructed me to slow my breathing, and we made the goal of 10 minutes. My brother made 10 minutes, I in did not, I just stood there, knee deep shivering and freezing.

Part of the reason I was interested in joining, asides from feeling Extra Canadian were the health benefits. However it took further research to find out what exactly those benefits were. There are a few key different things to consider, Mitochondria are front and center. If you will we have our normal fat, then we have our brown fat, which is closer to our bones, and contains Mitochondria which are an organelle or cell organ which produce energy. Without Mitochondria, we would have nothing. Mitochondria as it happens though can be affected by various things in our environment and there is reason to have them function in optimal efficiency. There are complex pathologies and bad reactions to medications and biologics which can damage Mitochondria as well as the use of several common cooking oils containing linoleic acid which take extended amounts of time to clear from the body.

After learning many of the benefits of the cold therapy and how on a cellular level we are stimulating powerful healing processes I became a bit warmer to the idea of 10 minutes in the ocean during Winter months.

My brother is brave, he jumps right in. The shock of that doesnt work for me. I found that I could do best if I tantrically work my way into the water, first in my ankles, then to my knees, then waist, then chest then swimming. First the water hurts, my ankles etc. hurt, then feel numb, then somewhat thaw… And then I am able to go further. It is a process, the pace of breathing works much better slowed down and somehow distracts from the cold.

There are a few benefits that are surprising, and yet are not.

Improved body temperature (Warmer) overall and better resistance to the cold.

Improved energy level..

Improved circulation.

Sense perhaps, of being a Badass Canadian (?)

Should you be so brave to jump into the Ocean in January, listen to your body. It took me a couple tries to get up to 10 minutes, that feels about right for me in that window (10 – 15 minutes) Past that I am cold for the entire day.