How Cold Water Swimming Can improve Your Wellbeing

While people have been cold water swimming for centuries, its popularity has soared in recent years owing to its incredible health benefits. The effect of the cold water not only improves our physical health, but it also has a powerful impact on our mental wellbeing.

How does cold water swimming effect our body?

When we submerge ourselves in cold water, our body goes into fight or flight mode due to the sudden shock. This then triggers the stress hormone, noradrenaline, to kick into action, making us feel more alert.

How can this boost our physical health?

Ongoing research has found that there are many physical benefits of immersing yourself in cold water.

1. Because your body has to work harder to keep warm when you’re in cold water, it speeds up your metabolism, which in turn aids weight loss and promotes better sleep.
2. Your heart pumps more blood to your organs, improving circulation, reducing inflammation of muscles and flushing toxins from the blood.
3. When your body goes into flight or fight mode, it produces more white blood cells and antioxidants which help boost your immune system and make you more resilient to various illnesses.

Effects of cold water swimming on our mental health

As well as athletes wanting to improve their physical health and reduce muscle pain, many other people participate in cold water swimming to boost their mental health. In a study published by the National Library of Medicine, it was found that cold water swimming “led to an immediate improvement in mood following each swim and a sustained and gradual reduction in symptoms of depression.”

Not only does the physical activity help reduce anxiety and depression but it also prompts your body to release endorphins and regulate your dopamine levels which can help fight against stress. The cold temperature of the water increases the flow of adrenaline, creating feel-good hormones in the process. As well as improving your mood, this can also boost your self-confidence.

Stay safe

Although cold water swimming can have positive effects on our physical and mental wellbeing, it doesn’t come without risks. So, it’s advised to follow safety precautions before jumping straight in.

1. Don’t attempt cold water swimming if you’re pregnant or have medical illnesses such as heart disease and asthma. Always check with your GP first.
2. Never swim outdoors on your own. Always go with a friend or family member in case of emergencies. Better still, join a local group that has experience and can teach you the ropes.
3. Always make sure you have your exit route from the water planned before you enter.
4. If you’re new to cold water swimming, try wearing a wetsuit to begin with until you’ve become more accustomed to the cold. You can also wear neoprene gloves and socks.
5. Never jump straight in. Make sure you ease your way into the water slowly to acclimatise to the temperature.
6. Don’t be tempted to stay in the water too long, even if you’re enjoying it. Depending on the temperature, 15-20 minutes should be plenty of time to begin feeling the benefits.
7. Once you’ve exited the water, your body will continue to cool down so make sure you have towels, warm clothing and a hot drink waiting for you.

And if you don't fancy the cold water!

We're not all keen to get into cold water, but research published in 2021 found that there were many beneficial effects of swimming generally. These include improvements to long and short-term memory. This is in addition to other research findings regarding exercise generally which has been found to improve cognitive function, guard against stress, and improve mood and physical wellbeing. So why not give it a try! 

Avoiding Social Media Pitfalls that Negatively Affect Mental Health

The use of social media has grown exponentially over the last couple of decades, with a staggering 5.03 billion people worldwide now connecting online. In July 2022, the Datareportal overview reported that:

• 59% of the world uses social media (4.7 billion people)
• there were 227 million new social media users in the last year alone
• the average time spent on social media is almost 2.5 hours a day

While this might not surprise you, the negative impact social media has on our mental wellbeing might.

Of course, social media has many positives but when you begin to feel it is having more negative effects on your mental health, it’s time to make some changes.

How social media can negatively impact our mental health

Constant use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and many others can affect us both mentally and physically. From feelings of anxiety and symptoms of depression to disruptive sleep patterns, these can take their toll on our overall wellbeing if we don’t make some changes. These are just a few ways we might be affected by social media.

• Anxiety and depression
• Cyberbullying
• Fear of missing out (FOMO)
• Unrealistic expectations
• Negative body image
• Poor sleep

How to avoid the pitfalls

You may have experienced some, if not all, of the above but there are ways to avoid the negative side of social media with a few small adjustments to your habits.

1. Limited usage

There’s no doubt that social media can be addictive. Have you ever found yourself checking your phone every five minutes to see if your recently uploaded photo has more likes, or what your favourite influencer had for their breakfast? If so, it’s a good idea to limit your usage. You could start by disabling notifications as they can be a huge distraction and also encourage you to log on when you should be focusing on something else. Alternatively, if you don’t need your phone/device to be switched on at work, turn it off altogether and allow yourself a set amount of time once you're home to spend on social media. According to the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, you should limit your usage to just 30 minutes a day.

2. Unfollow people

Not everyone that we follow or have as a connection on social is our friend. So, you might find yourself feeling aggravated, angry or resentful about their posts. If certain people do trigger these negative emotions in you, consider removing them from your account.

3. Be careful with what you share

Once you post something to a social domain, it becomes open to the public. Although your settings might be set to private, there’s nothing stopping a connection sharing your post or even downloading an image. Make sure that you either have full privacy control over what you post or don’t mind it being in the public domain.

4. Be authentic

It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of enhancing your 'selfies' but this can have a negative impact on your self-esteem and self-confidence. Remember that many of the images you see on social media are also edited, filtered and airbrushed and do not represent reality. Avoid heavily editing images of yourself and instead portray your authentic self; you’ll be surprised at how much other people will respect and appreciate you for it. When you advocate authenticity, you’ll be helping others, and this will make you feel good about yourself too.

5. Put your phone away in social situations

When you spend time with your friends, make a pact to keep phones out of sight. This has several benefits:

• You’ll enjoy more quality time without distraction 
• You won’t have that fear of missing out as you’ll be having such a good time
• You’ll be spending time with people who make you feel good about yourself

Further information

For more about healthy social media use, read our FREE booklet 'Healthy social media use – getting the most out of social media for your psychological wellbeing'

Or why not watch the recording of our webinar 'Getting the Most Out Of Social Media For Your Wellbeing' and access the resources provided during this webinar.