Try This Before Your Next Cold Plunge

Prime your nervous system and get ready for your next cold plunge with this focused and refreshing breathwork session. We'll get activated in our breath with steady breaths that allow the body to feel primed and energized. Save this for future you to reference!

Transcript

All right, It's time to cold plunge. I'm Casey Michelle. I'll be leading you through a quick and simple exercise to help you before your next cold plunge. Find yourself in a seated position, And we're going to just prime the nervous system for this controlled stress environment that it's about to be in, This natural, Beautiful dopamine hit that it's about to experience. So find your comfortable seated posture. Close down your eyes. And meet me in the breath, Maybe exhale. Check in with your posture. Your head is over your heart, Heart is over your hips. And again, Give yourself permission to arrive in this moment, In this time, In this breath. And I want you to inhale your shoulders up to your ears. Take a big exhale, Side these shoulders down. Again, Inhale, Shoulders up to the ears. And side the shoulders down. You're way stronger than you think you are. One more time, Inhale the shoulders up to the ears. I want you to breathe in your intention for this plunge. Exhale, Release any blockages, Any imposter syndrome, Any doubts. Let it all go, Maybe shake it out for a second. We're going to try some circular breathing. You're going to take this at your pace. We'll be here for a minute or so. And this is just a steady, Constant breath to, Again, Prime the nervous system. You're going to use this breath when that shock hits your body. When you burst up into that tank or wherever you're to in this cold plunge, Your mind's going to scream no, But your breath is going to be your superpower. It's going to be your anchor. And once you get on the other side of those first 10 seconds to 30 seconds, Bliss awaits. So, I want you to put your hand on your belly, Feel into your body. And we're gonna go nose to mouth breaths, Continuous, Steady, No pauses, No holds, Again, A minute or so here. So when you're ready, Join me in this constant breath. Keep going and your pace does not have to match mine. Again, This is just to warm up the system, Get the blood flowing, Waken the nervous system. You can almost think about this like a pre-workout. We're kind of getting that runner's high before we even touch the tank. Can you go for 30 more seconds with the same pace? I know it feels like a little bit of a workout. You might even feel your body warming up, But that's a good sign. You're really inflating and deflating, Inhaling and exhaling again. And knocking away every single voice in your head that's saying, No, We can't, We're not strong enough, Maybe this isn't for us. We'll let go of all of it in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 Five, Four, Keep going, Three. Two, Tuck your chin on one and exhale and hold at the bottom of that breath. Be in that empty space, Bottom of the ocean, Just floating, Not needing. Fresh blood to the brain. When it feels like it's time, Not a moment sooner, I want you to inhale in fully, Feel every corner and layer of your body revitalized. With fresh new energy more than just air, Holding it at the top, Brimming with this fresh new energy. Pause in it, Soak in it, Feel your ribs go east to west. And as if you're blowing through a straw release. Back into your neutral breath. Before we get into one last exercise here that you might use once you get past that first initial shock. We're gonna do some simple box breaths. We're going to do five-second box breathing. So essentially, Five-second inhale, Five-second hold, Five-second exhale, Five-second hold. We're making a square in our minds. We'll do three rounds. So when you're ready. Just through your nose, Inhaling in for a count of one. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Hold 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Exhale 54321 hold 12345 again 12345 hold 12345 Release it 5 4 3 2 1 hold. Inhale 12345 hold it. Release it 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Last hold. And return to that neutral, Natural breath. Maybe a little more aware of your inhales and your exhales, Maybe a little more in your body than in your mind. When you're ready to close out this practice and move forward into that plunge, You're going to feel so much better afterwards, I promise. It's like hitting refresh on your nervous system. I want you to inhale the arms up overhead, Reach tall, Give some thanks for this opportunity, For challenging yourself, For bettering yourself. Exhale the arms all the way back down. You can flutter your eyes open, Come back into the space, Welcome yourself back in. I'm wishing you all the best on your cold plunge. Whether you do 10 seconds or five minutes, You can do hard things, And I'm proud of you. Save this video for future you, And I'll see you next time. Thanks for breathing with me. Peace.