SLO LIFE Magazine Feb/Mar 2019

| HEALTH
Taking the Plunge
why cold is so hot
It was noon sharp on the first day of the New Year in Avila Beach when
hundreds of revelers simultaneously sprinted toward the frigid waters of
San Luis Bay. Screams and shouts of shock and exhilaration were heard as
contact was made with the frigid 55-degree Pacific, and it left us wondering
from our perch on the pier above: Is the Polar Bear Dip good for you? Turns
out it is.
If history can serve as a guide, as it often does, then there are many accounts of people
jumping into cold bodies of water for the sake of their health. The Chinese, as it
turns out, have been doing this for years. The ancient Romans had a similar practice.
There are accounts of various Native American tribes who would dive into an icy river
following a sweat session in a superheated teepee, sometimes called a sweat lodge. And
cold-weather countries, such as Finland and Russia, have their own traditions that
continue to this day.
Today, here in the States, many big-name athletes swear by the ice bath that follows a
tough game. And, the motivational speaker Tony Robbins
has become so enamored of the benefits that follow the
freezing dunk that he has reportedly built something called
a plunge pool at each of his seven homes. In the case with
Robbins, as with so many other practitioners, he starts by
first cranking up the heat in his sauna. Then, it’s on to the
shock of the cold. And, it’s that hot-cold combination that
appears to jolt our hormones and circulatory system into
optimal performance.
We here at SLO LIFE Magazine became intrigued by the
whole concept and decided to dive (pun intended) into it
further with our decidedly non-scientific approach. Again,
we’re not doctors, and we’re not scientists, just curious
minds who like to know what is new and now in the world
of health. Here are a few things we learned… >>
68 | SLO LIFE MAGAZINE | FEB/MAR 2019