Want to know how to get a high without the guilt or regret? Without the side effects and only a positive impact on your health?
Well here’s how I discovered said means and a guide on how you can do it too.
Trekking in the Himalayas you’re stripped of all comforts and some essentials:
no Wi-Fi
no hot water
no electricity
sometimes no water
So a hot shower at the end of a hard day’s hiking was a pipe dream.
As you go further and further into the mountains everything becomes scarce. The accommodation goes from 1 star to not even a sniff of a star.
Some of the accommodation has showers but no hot water. So you’re faced with a decision.
To cold shower or not to shower.
My aversion to cold water was very real at the time. But needs must and when I eventually plucked up the courage to take my first cold shower something very interesting happened.
Full disclosure my first experience of cold exposure was traumatic. The searing pain of the cold water, the hyperventilation, the discombobulation from brain freeze.
I remember fighting against the pain telling myself ‘that it wasn’t cold’. Not a good idea!
But I vividly remember the feeling when I got out. I felt so good was elated to the point I was laughing, it felt like I was high.
I thought it might be shock.
As the expedition continued and we ventured further into the baroness of the Khumbu region. The cold showers became more and more frequent.
And the feeling afterwards, the elation was there every time I took one. It became addictive.
And ever since, cold exposure has been part of my day. And my avoidance to the cold has disappeared. No longer does it influence my decisions.
I researched into this strange phenomenon, and I’ve spoken to a neuroscientist. And it turns out it’s the effect cold exposure has on your brain chemistry.
The release of feel good chemicals in your brain Dopamine, neuro epinephrine and epinephrin.
Turns out that cold exposure is super powerful at eliciting these feel good states.
I’ll give you some comparison as to how powerful.
When you drink an alcoholic drink your dopamine levels will 2 X, peaking at 15 minutes.
And you’ll feel really good.
The bad news is that your dopamine will then drop below your baseline level.
So you’ll start to feel worse than you did before your first drink .
Then your brain will be looking for the next drink to raise your dopamine levels back up.
Some drugs will 2.5 X your dopamine levels which peak at 9 minutes.
This followed by a very rapid decline to below baseline levels aka a crash.
This will see you wanting them more and more, to get you out of these comedowns.
But with cold water immersion your dopamine levels 2.5 X (the same spike as drugs) and they rise for 2.5 hours.
And what’s more, your dopamine levels won’t fall below baseline.
No crash, no comedown. Just the natural high.
The feel good is just one of the many benefits of cold exposure and if you’d like to give it a go you can download my guide.
Speak soon
P.s. If you’d like some information about how I can help you conquer stress and anxiety, so you can improve your health, performance and relationships click here
