Cold water immersion

lol no worries!  Someone recommended this book to me called 'The neurodivergent friendly workbook of DBT skills' it's a type of therapy and the workbook looks at mindfulness, emotional regulation and distress tolerance.

The dive reflex is about how mammals slow down their breathing and heart rate in cold water, so it's should help calm you down.  Supposedly you can trigger the reflex with a bowl of cold water or ice packs around your face.  However, if you have blood pressure, heart problems or anything like that, you should ask a doctor before trying stuff.

Yes, I've had a little look at a couple of studies, but the science on the topic is still very much new and there are so many variables that could have an impact on each individual. So, I think there's a risk involved, particularly if you have health complications, but I'd recommend it to most people. Even just blasting your shower on a cold temperature for 10 seconds or so just before you finish up would be enough to give you a taste and you can go from there.

And yep, 6 degrees is definitely cold hahaha!

Sorry Joe, I don't understand your post, what DBT and the mammalian dive reflex, all I do when I get in water is sink!

6 degrees is COLD! I remember seeing a Dr Michael Mosley programme on TV about the benefits of cold water immersion. I don’t think there were enough people to make it a proper clinical trial with evidence, but one lady at least, had dramatic lift of her severe and enduring depression following several dips in a lake. Although I don’t do cold water immersion, I might be tempted if there was conclusive evidence with recommended temperatures. 

There is a thing I read about in my neurodivergent DBT (Dialectic Behaviour Therapy) workbook about the mammalian dive reflex and it is meant to be calming.  I think you need to be careful how you do it though and I've not tried it.

My gym has a little spa area, and in it is a 'plunge pool' - it is approximately 6 degrees Celsius. I regularly go in it.

I'm not actually sure about the health benefits, I know online you'll see a lot of claims, but I can't say for certain. However, mentally I absolutely love it. There's the actual mental challenge you overcome by getting in there, and you feel great for doing that.

Plus, the first thirty seconds or so is difficult, then I find you manage to adapt a little and it gets easier. Then, I can truly relax for a few minutes before the coldness creeps in again and it reverts back to an endurance challenge - this little window of relaxation is so, so blissful, it relaxes me like nothing else does and I really love it.

When just going in for something like that, I do about 3-5 minutes. On some days it is harder than others in which case I'll leave early, like for example if I feel a little weak or dizzy I'll get out early. My best is 11 minutes - I don't usually time myself but on that occasion I did.

Maybe she did. On the other hand, she could be talking about an electric toothbrush. My Oral B Plaque Remover doesn’t allow me to focus in the mirror when I’m brushing my teeth. I know it’s time to change the brush head when my vision comes back.

The bit on my acupressure device that you hold to an acupuncture point is only about 1.5 - 2mm, it’s a bit like sticking a pen on the spot where a needle would go. I have had it for years and I swear by it in an emergency.

There's certainly a lot of positive things said about it and I know people that love it but my sensory issues could never. I can't even cope if my shower is warm rather than hot.

Maybe the NAS website testers used her posts as the standard for modification.

 TheCatWoman  has touched it.....  that's all it takes & chaos ensues 

It’s back - methinks the website has gone peculiar.

They aren't displaying properly, in order, or in good time today.  And they were testing something new yesterday.  Looks like they've gone and made it worse. Again. 

ArchaeC said:

I know what you mean about those vibrating things that are meant to relax you

Other than being Ann Summers-ish, I thought TheCatWoman meant Tens Machines or similar.

They can certainly make you feel ill if you stick one of those pads in the wrong place & turn it up too high. 

My post has disappeared and it didn’t contain anything illegal.

Oh no, the device doesn’t visibly pulse, it’s an electric current that can sting if it’s turned up. It’s  nothing like those things that make your eyes wobble.

I know what you mean about those vibrating things that are meant to relax you. The school where I used to work got a massage chair. It made me feel ghastly when it was switched on and I nearly vomited. I came away with a headache, and I rarely get head aches. 

I swam in a Lake in late December years ago, and I have had a couple of swims in the Atlantic in springtime, but it’s not something I would do now. Yes, I felt great afterwards, but it might have been the adrenaline after doing such a thing. I would never manage to make it a daily habit and I would hate to put myself through the torture and find that the sea water hadn’t been cold enough to give the body a ‘shock’ to reset the brain. I can’t find any scientific studies that look at temperature efficacy. If there were such studies, I would reconsider.

TheCatWoman said:

I can't be doing with anything that vibrates, (yes those too, you naughtly folks), I find it painful and its like my brain misfires and my eyeballs go wobbly and my teeth hurt.

We live in strange times.  You can bet some would pay good money for a device that engineered a reaction like that...  and yet you complain !  

It can be quite common I'm told, but not quite to the extent that my body pinged them out, she'd put in about 8 or 10 and after 15 mins there'd only be one left in my skin!

I can't be doing with anything that vibrates, (yes those too, you naughtly folks), I find it painful and its like my brain misfires and my eyeballs go wobbly and my teeth hurt.

Good gracious! Are you electrified? 

My dog goes for acupuncture and laser therapy for his joints which are showing signs of osteoarthritis now that he is 11 years old. His body doesn’t fire them out and neither did mine when I used to have acupuncture.

I now have one of those electronic acupressure devices and I learned which points to target for anxiety. I’m perhaps not using it the way it was intended, but I found that if the strength of the stimulation is turned up, it is very hard to think of anything else other than the electrical current going into my body. I imagine that if nothing else, it is giving my brain a rest from intrusive anxieties. Perhaps I need more electricity through my body in order to be productive (disclaimer, not a medical treatment or condition). I am concerned that needle pinging is the norm now.

An accupuncture needle is about the size of a cats whisker  they don't hurt going in, them pinging out by themselves is a bit alarming though, it feels like one of the weirder and more comic martial arts, lol.