Ice Ice Baby

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I am an entirely new human from a few years ago. This transformation could not be more apparent than in a recent addition to my self-love routine.

Even just a year ago, I would not have called deliberate cold exposure self-love...I would have deemed it a torment, and years on the path of hypothyroidism defined this belief. With hypothyroidism, any temperature below 80 degrees turned into lingering pain.

My inner human was determined to hold me hostage to beliefs formed by my experiences. Until one day, it wasn't.

I stumbled upon the idea of deliberate cold exposure while working with a client with anxiety.

The immediate impact of an ice cube on the back of her neck was profound to witness. I watched as her eyes immediately changed from a dysregulated mental state to a calm and peaceful demeanor in the snap of a finger.

After that, my truth-seeking nature was lit on fire to understand the mechanism and to have the experience.

As I started my research, I could not believe the positive health momentum that was possible to gain. It ranged from muscle recovery to mental health to blood pressure regulation.

Deliberate cold exposure increases dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine levels in the brain and body. It has also been shown to activate metabolism-boosting brown fat.

Epinephrine and norepinephrine either have a neurotransmitter or hormone-like activity, are produced by the adrenal glands, and help regulate blood pressure, heart rate, and blood sugar levels. They are messengers of the body's sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight) response.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter produced in deep brain centers and the gastrointestinal tract by neurons of the enteric nervous system.

Dopamine protects brain structures from neurologic disease, and it is the chemical primarily responsible for our feelings of stress tolerance, satisfaction, motivation, or reward. It also modulates gamma waves of the brain.

Interestingly, through DNA testing (I have found this to be a highly integral piece of anyone's wellness puzzle), I found that the same mutated gene contributes to the predisposition of hypothyroidism and PTSD. Deliberate cold exposure may help regulate both of these expressions.

This mutation dysregulates the body's ability to build or break specific proteins, B vitamins, dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, and impairs detoxification pathways.

My cold exposure therapy began as a 30-second cold shower. It was a tough mental wrestling match to force myself into; the discomfort was intense, but I knew it would be short-lived.

I took baby steps into an immersion tub of cold water, built up my time each session, and lowered the temperature.

I would add ice to get the temperature around 45-50 degrees. I have increased my time per session up to 7 minutes. I incorporate this into my morning routine 3 or 4 times per week.

I feel mellow, yet motivated, for hours afterward due to the sustained dopamine release. The power of this therapy is in that it is a re-training of the nervous system to regulate under stress.

Some great advocates of deliberate cold exposure are Andrew Huberman (https://youtu.be/pq6WHJzOkno?si=1QJcp9VqhO3g5QTj) and The Iceman, Wim Hof (https://www.wimhofmethod.com/).

Photo by Osman Rana