Things I’m loving right now
Sea Swimming!
What a summer! And if we forget about the darker side of the hot climate and try and live in the moment it has been just amazing to be able to dip dip dip away, and it be warm. Not just in the sea, but when you get out and can stay wet in a cossie on the beach - such a treat!
I know warm weather isn’t for everyone but I really do love my bones being warm and my skin being salty.
I have dyed my hair soooo many times this summer because I don’t feel like I have been in unless I dunk my head, but it’s been worth it.
I also have a cold plunge tank now that I use after doing home workouts. Every year, I promise myself I will keep swimming through the winter and don’t manage to do it, let’s see how this year goes.
To help motivate me (and maybe you too), I looked into what the research actually says about cold water:
It seems to help you sleep and worry less. Regular sea swimmers report lower anxiety and better sleep quality the morning after a swim compared with a non-swim day. Another small study found that over four weeks, cold-water swimmers showed improved cognitive processing speed and mental flexibility, and reported fewer sleep disturbances and less worry. Psychology TodaySwimming.org
A short, sharp dip changes your mood almost instantly. In one study, people who took a five-minute cold-water bath came out feeling more active, alert, attentive and even proud, with less distress and nervousness than before. Interestingly, this shift in mood was linked to changes in how different brain regions involved in attention and emotional regulation were communicating with each other. PubMed CentralPubMed Central
Stress hormones behave differently than you'd expect. You'd think plunging into cold water would spike your stress hormones, but researchers found cortisol stays fairly stable during the cold plunge itself and actually drops significantly in the hours afterwards - which may explain the mood lift that tends to follow. Swimming.org
Community and consistency seem to matter as much as the cold. One UK project found swimmers who kept up regular group sea swims for six months or more reported a 25% rise in life satisfaction, a 20% increase in happiness, and an 18% drop in anxiety levels. Imj
There may be a genuine anti-inflammatory effect. Since inflammation has been linked to depression, some researchers think cold-water immersion could ease depressive symptoms partly by lowering inflammatory markers in the body. nih
It's not just a niche hobby, it's a whole culture in some countries. In Finland, around 720,000 people, roughly 1 in 8 of the population, swim regularly in water below 15°C, some as often as two or three times a week. Researchers there describe it as a form of "embodied learning" that builds resilience and mental clarity that lasts well beyond the swim itself. nihnih
Worth saying honestly: the evidence is still developing, and researchers don't fully agree on how much of the benefit comes from the cold itself, versus simply being outdoors, moving your body, and swimming alongside other people. Either way, it's hard to argue with how I feel walking back up the beach afterwards. ResearchGate
If you fancy trying it: ease in gently, don't go alone, and don't push straight into deep winter dips without building up to it first. But if a warm-weather dip has you even slightly curious about the cold months, I am with you!
