The Cold shocks you. The Cold reminds you. The cold cleanses you. The cold resets you. As I have grown increasingly intentional with my breath and cold water practice, I’ve come to realize that the primal breath and cold sensations are more than just holotropic breathing and “cold plunging”.
The water’s sensation is an instant reminder that pain is necessary and suffering can become optional. As you sit in the water, you have a choice, you can resist it and wish the suffering to cease, or you can acclimate to the sensation and go into observation mode; allowing present awareness, and the breath to be your anchor and guide. When one can adjust and become one with the water and self, this state becomes the launchpad for the life you want to live.
Yes, it has hundreds of physical benefits and I’m always grateful for the physical results that it brings, but most importantly, it is spiritual.
When I started cold plunging it wasn’t spiritual at first; it was fun, it was different, I wanted to switch things up in life and “wow!”, life sure got stirred up after I committed to incorporating the cold into my daily practice.
The changes that followed were extremely necessary for my self-love journey. I began training the subconscious with a mantra that I’ve continuously gone back to and have taught my own children, “I can do hard things”. Through this process, I realized how weak-minded I was conditioned and how addicted to comfort I was. The cold came first and then came the breath-work, then came incorporating this into real-life, day to day application to expand and connect deeply to my spiritual self.
Cold Plunging As a Form of Spiritual Practice
The breath, meditation, and the cold are all intricate parts of my daily spiritual practice. Through my programming and conditioning from an early age, I was exposed to Christian spiritual disciplines, but it never fully resonated with me. I thought I believed it with my heart and soul, but I played along and it kept me safe. Safety is needed for a time, but there came a time for me where I was ready to expand, grow, play and work in a variety of unknowns with the intention to connect deeply to my higher self and the world around me.
The principles that have come and continue to download in my body and soul because of the “cold medicine”, seem to be endless and so powerful for me and now many others that are partaking. The more the cold practice is incorporated into life, the more it transpires into other areas of life. It is a reconditioning process that takes time, effort, and patience. I spent thirty years thinking and believing that comfort is the destination. Through this process I know now that comfort is too closely tied to a framework of living that holds me back from fulfilling my potential and that purposeful discomfort leads to bliss, joy, contentment, meaning, and deep purpose of life.
I learn so much as I go back in time and explore what did and didn’t work for me. The dogma and unbalanced authoritative power really did a number on me. In many instances, it created a container of safety, of some order but there was something great missing… ME! I was not becoming of me. I was becoming someone else and living life out of the eyes of my family, my church leaders, and my peers. I didn’t have much of a choice. I didn’t have freedom. I was becoming more and more trapped in the idea of me, or in other words, my ego and I needed to be set free.
All of the do’s; from reading Christian scripture to praying to a white, male god, to church and temple attendance; none of these things allowed for a space of real surrender to self, humanity, and the Universe. My spiritual practice was lacking grace, compassion, and love for myself and those around me. An applicable beautiful scripture that comes to mind was ever-present for me and my environment; “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Matthew 15:8. This was my definitely my mind being in charging, thinking, and living the life I thought I wanted when really I was very empty and lost. The cold helped begin my journey to be found.
With a foundation of meditation and mindful living, the cold is the gateway to embrace, understand, and flow with the reality of the masculine and feminine energies in me and all around us. Cold plunging is the catalyst to better understanding my spirituality.
Overcoming Fear Through Cold Plunging Experiences
When the fear of entering the cold presents itself in the mind, one get’s to face that fear and understand that fear is as real as it is not real. Our fears develop in life due to scarcity, trauma, any type of harm from others, or to self that holds us back from flowing with our inner truth, knowing, power, and our sovereignty.
The practice of being in the cold and what it provides and brings out in us gives us the challenge to step more into faith, our light, and our endless possibilities. We call this process shadow work, which is to truly love and connect to self, others, and the Earth.
Practice of Being Present with the Cold through Cold Plunging Experiences
The cold opens a portal to be extremely present to the process of emotional and physical sensations that comes up through the practice of breath and intentional primal sensation in the water. The more I’ve worked with this process, the more I have been able to connect to my heart, before, during, and after the cold experiences.
Viewing this as a practice in all of its varieties, connecting the mind, body, and spirit, it allows for continual self-love and growth.
Why Conscious Transitioning Exists Today?
When something has been important to me in the past, I’ve always had a pure desire to share it with others. My cold journey began on my own with cold showers and soon after led into embracing this practice with others that saw its value.
Connecting with other humans, especially in the wild nature, adds an element of cold, conscious connecting and there’s almost nothing else like it for me and the group. Sharing this Cold Medicine (if you will) allows for a collective healing experience that helps me and others step more and more into our power and purpose in the physical and spiritual realms.
So for conscious transitioning, we see the cold as more than the cold, it is the space to discover, heal, and embrace who we truly are. If you are interested in learning more about what we do, Join Us for Our Next Cold Plunge, or Schedule a Conversation with Colby Here
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