Cold water immersion for mental health, a portable water spring, and make mistakes mandatory.

An article published in February 2023 titled, MRI scans reveal changes in the brain’s wiring after cold water shock, cites an interesting, and first of its kind study on the effects of cold water immersion on the brain. 

In the study, 33 participants were given an initial functional MRI (fMRI) scan of their brain, and then were immersed in a cold bath with only their head sticking out for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes, study participants quickly dried off and were then given another fMRI scan of their brain. 

The physiological effects and subsequent benefits of cold water immersion have been well studied, however, this was the first study of its kind that studied the effects of cold water immersion on the brain, and its effects on psychological health. 

“All tiny parts of the brain are connected to each other in a certain pattern when we carry out activities in our day-to-day lives, so the brain works as a whole.” said Dr Yankouskaya. “After our participants went in the cold water, we saw the physiological effects – such as shivering and heavy breathing. The MRI scans then showed us how the brain rewires its connectivity to help the person cope with the shock.”  

When the before and after (cold water immersion) fMRI scans were compared, they showed that changes in the connectivity between parts of the brain had occurred. Most notable were changes in the wiring of the medial prefrontal cortex and the parietal cortex.

“These are the parts of the brain that control our emotions, and help us stay attentive and make decisions,” Dr Yankouskaya said. “So when the participants told us that they felt more alert, excited and generally better after their cold bath, we expected to see changes to the connectivity between those parts. And that is exactly what we found.”

Here’s the aspect of the study I found most fascinating when you consider the seemingly profound effects of the cold water immersion after only 5 minutes…the study participants were immersed in water at a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius (the study was performed in the UK). 

I’ll save you the time, as I did the math for you. 20 degrees Celsius is equal to 68 degrees Fahrenheit. 

I’m sure you’re thinking, well, that’s not that cold at all. 

My thoughts exactly. 

Takeaways

As a consistent practitioner of cold showers and cold plunges in the lake, I do think the benefits; mental, emotional, and physiological, are more profound in frigid, nearly freezing water. 

However, that said, you can’t argue with the findings of this study, which shows that even cold water immersion in not so cold water can yield measurable changes for the better in your brain. 

Which means even a 5 minute “kinda cold” shower should elicit some positive changes in your mood and emotions. 

What a great way to take greater control to start your day!

If you consider this time of year, with shorter days, less sunlight, more clouds, and the increased incidence of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), coupled with the general mental and emotional anxiety and stress of everyday life coupled with the holidays, a somewhat cold to cold shower could be extremely beneficial in improving your mood, ability to handle and mitigate stress, and overall outlook for the day. 

I know it’s late fall, and we’re heading into winter, and a cold shower probably sounds as appealing as a sharp stick to the eye, but if the benefits it yields mean a better, happier you, that is more adept at handling stress during these short, dreary winter days, the trade off could be well worth it. 

Also, don’t underestimate the power of daily mental wins to start your day, and jumping in a cold shower when it’s 30 degrees outside requires more of a gut check than doing it when it’s sunny and 70, which then means you start your day mentally with a much bigger “win”. 

In short, EMBRACE the cold.

I am highly critical of the water I consume. It’s also a subject matter I geek out on, as we’re really just now starting to understand the true role it plays in the survival, and ideally, thrival, of the human body. 

60% of our body is water. 

It’s the second most critical molecule for survival outside of oxygen. 

Certainly more critical than food.

Yet, information on water, and the importance of drinking quality water, seems to take a backseat to content and research related to the food we eat. 

Don’t get me wrong, learning more about proper nutrition, food quality, and all matters related to it, is super important, and I’m not trying to downplay its importance, rather, I’m trying to play up the importance of being critical of the water we consume. 

We know the importance of eating organic, whole foods, versus inorganic, processed foods devoid of nutritional value.

The body recognizes real, whole foods, and knows what to do with them, and conversely, doesn’t really know what to do with ultra processed, non whole foods. 

On a side note, this is why these ultra processed foods create inflammation in the body. Your body produces inflammation as a response to a foreign invader in the body, like a virus. Since the body doesn’t recognize ultra processed foods as real foods, it literally recognizes them as foreign invaders, and produces inflammation as a result. 

Uff, now imagine if the majority of your food is processed, and thus, your body is responding to your food not as a food, but as a foreign invader. You can see why this could lead to sickness and disease over time. 

Now, think about that, and consider the fact that most to all of the water we typically drink has been treated, processed multiple times over, and is far…far from its natural, organic state. 

This is where I get highly critical of the water I drink. At all costs, I’m either drinking water I’ve personally collected from a local spring, or my two “go-to’s” for high quality, third party tested for purity, natural spring water, are Liquid Death and San Pellegrino. 

Real spring water comes straight from the Earth, from a natural spring, untouched, unprocessed, in its natural, organic state, the way it was meant to be consumed. 

Drinking water Ike this is the equivalent of eating whole, organic foods. 

The fact is, our tap water, and even pretty much all of the expensive bottled water we drink, has been treated and processed in some way, meaning it’s no longer in its natural, organic state. 

This is actually something they can photograph, as they can take images of the individual water crystals of both natural, organic spring water, and those of treated, processed water. 

I also carry a Flaska with me everywhere I go for those times when I don’t have my own natural spring water with me. Basically, if I’m in a position where I’m drinking water from the tap, a water cooler, or can’t find real spring water. 

A Flaska is a glass water bottle that is programmed using TPS Technology, which is a method of imprinting the glass in a way that changes its vibrational frequency. 

I know, this may sound a bit “woo woo”, however, bear with me, as there’s real science here. (Remember, this can all be photographed.)

When you fill a Flaska water bottle (that has been programmed with this TPS Technology), with treated, processed, inorganic (essentially dead) water, the vibrational frequency of the bottle will literally restructure each individual crystal of water back into its natural, organic state, as if this water was collected by hand, directly from a natural spring. 

Think about how AMAZING this is!

Imagine if we could take processed, inorganic foods, and turn them back into natural, whole foods. 

Now, this may all sound like magic, and a bit unbelievable, however, they’ve known for some time now, that water has the ability to be “restructured” back into its natural state. 

Here are a couple ways to accomplish this:

• Place your drinking water in a glass container, add trace minerals or natural sea salt, and let it sit in the sun for 24 hours. 
• You can also buy expensive infrared lights and shine them on your drinking water for at least 24 hours. Also in glass. 

The magic of the Flaska is its ability to restructure your water back into its natural state in as little as 5 minutes; truly making it a “portable natural spring”. 

And as I’ve mentioned, this has been photographed, and by a third party. See below the image on the top is of a water “crystal” from Tokyo tap water. On the bottom, is an image taken of a water crystal from the same Tokyo tap water, after sitting in a Flaska. 

Just like when eating real, organic, whole foods, versus inorganic, processed foods, when your water is back to its natural, crystalline state, your body knows how to use it more efficiently to more effectively hydrate your body, just like how organic, whole foods will more effectively nourish your body. 

And the glass bottles are sturdy, come with a protective sleep, so they last, and are very inexpensive with respect to the overall benefit they provide. To check Flaska out, CLICK HERE. 

If you’d like to read more on the true role water plays in the body, and why water is even more important than we originally thought, check out my blog titled the human body is a battery: how the human body uses water to generate cellular energy.

On the topic of the benefits of cold exposure, here’s a simple, effective natural beauty tip that both men and women can get behind while taking a cold shower. 

A little bit of cold exposure directly to the face can go a long way in triggering an anti-aging process that can give your skin more youthful vibrancy over time. 

And it’s super simple. 

All you need to do is get your shower as cold as possible and stick your face directly into the stream for as long as you can tolerate. 

Depending on the temperature of the shower, and your tolerance, this may start with as little as 20-30 seconds, but over time, as with any kind of training, will improve. 

You want it to get to the point where it hurts. No pain, no gain baby!

This kind of direct cold exposure to your face will improve circulation, create an anti-inflammatory effect, help stimulate collagen production, and yield an anti-aging response as a defense mechanism from your mitochondria that will breathe new life (literally) into your face at the cellular level.