Ice bath immersion health benefits; 'like going to the gym for our minds'
MILWAUKEE - They came to the beach knowing what they were in for, and they were all very nervous. They would leave feeling they had conquered the world.
A strong wind from the north is whipping up the waves on Lake Michigan as they crash into Milwaukee's Bradford Beach. The water, which had been warmed by a hot streak, is cooling down again. But it is still not cool enough for the group of 30 people gathered at the pavilion. They came to be part of a Breathe Social event which is designed to help reduced stress and anxiety using a three-pronged approach: yoga, breath work and ice bath immersion.
You've likely heard of the first two. The third part, cold water immersion, is centuries old but is having a renaissance among those looking for stress relief.
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Theresa Cummings and her husband are among those who've signed up for the two-hour session. She is not looking forward to the cold-water segment of the morning.
"I don't like the cold, I don't go in cold water, and I'm always in a blanket," Cummings explained moments before doing the very thing that scared her.
As Cummings sat in a three-and-a-half-foot tub filled with water and ice, she looked nervous and uncomfortable for about 45 seconds. Then something remarkable happened. Cummings went back to the deep slow breaths she had been taught a short time earlier. She controlled her breathing, taking in long slow breaths with long slow exhales. She repeated this for the rest of the plunge and in doing so became relaxed and euphoric by the time she was ready to get out almost three minutes after going in. After getting in a towel, she explained her sudden good mood.
"The biggest thing I get from this is that I know I can do hard things. When things get tough – and they always do get tough – I can pull back these memories that I’m resilient, I am capable," Cummings said.
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Paul Janis
"It's like going to the gym, for our minds. If we can find peace in the water, we can find peace anywhere" explained Josh Janis, who runs the session along with yoga instructor Alan Titone. "Anxiety and depression are so prevalent today that we need to learn to deal with it, and proper breathing is just one way to do that."
Indeed, for the dozens of people who dipped into the portable ice baths on this recent Saturday morning, many had the same reaction as Cummings. It is almost like a group conquering of trepidation and doubt.
Elite athletes have used ice baths for recovery for a very long time; ice is an excellent way to reduce inflammation. However, why it provides psychological benefit is more of a mystery.
"The literature on it is so scant," said University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Professor Kyle Ebersole.
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Ebersole and his colleague, Professor Barbara Meyer, study the physiological and psychological training of elite athletes. They acknowledge the research into the positive effects of ice baths is lagging consumer use but say studies are largely the result of self-reporting by participants. In other words, people who are trying the ice bath routine report feeling less anxiety and more energy, but the science can not yet be fully explained.
Ebersol said some studies show the "sweet spot" for feeling benefits is to take an ice bath a few times a week for a short duration.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Professors Kyle Ebersole, Barbara Meyer
"There’s a really good suggestion about trying to target 11-12 total minutes of deliberate exposure divided by four or five days," Ebersol said.
Both experts strongly suggest you speak with your medical professional before beginning such a routine.
"As long as you’re taking care of those things, and you’re not being harmed by it, and you feel better, do it," Meyer said.