Full disclosure. To some, a wee bit crazy, and to others, meh.
A little more than 2 years ago my humans decided to engage in cold exposure. I heard them talking about a Stoic challenge they’d signed up for and thought their attempts at a 5-second cold shower would be an interesting diversion from the monotony of a cold day so I followed them. It was the fastest 5 seconds I’ve ever seen. I maybe blinked once. To be fair, it was January in Northern BC and -35 C (-31 F) so the water was cold, but hey, I spent more than 10 minutes in the backyard that very morning, reading the neighbourhood, tending to business, taking my morning snow bath, so I was unimpressed when they said a 5-second cold shower wasn’t for them.
So What happened?
The she-human wouldn’t let the idea go and kept staring at this little rectangular object in her hand. I hate that thing. Anyway, something inspired her and she kept talking to the he-human about the benefits of cold exposure. I’m no scientist, but I don’t get sick, and I am very ‘chill’, so maybe there’s something to cold exposure since I’ve been practicing it my whole life.
From what I gathered, her main motivation to acclimate to cold water is so she can go scuba diving off the coast of BC wearing neoprene rather than a dry suit. Apparently, BC boasts some of the best scuba diving off its coast, but the water is cold and she didn’t have good experiences with dry suits. I quit listening when she started to talk about floaty feet.
Cold Exposure Take Two
All that scuba talk convinced the he-human. What is scuba diving anyway? They didn’t explain. But they tried the cold shower again and I watched through the glass. Within 2 showers, they were up to 2.5 minutes daily. That was impressive given their first attempt.
The only difference I can tell is the she-human now has a routine. Routines make the world go round. Sometimes literally. Like when I’m getting comfortable on my bed. Maybe she learned the power of routine from me. I digress. This is what her routine looks like. She puts her forearms under the cold water and then her legs, and then she blows up like a balloon and deflates before stepping under the rain shower head. Then like me when I take a snow bath, she keeps moving under the water. I wish I could characterize it as a dance, but nope. Definitely not a dance.
On the days when she’s less than inspired, she tells me it’s going to be a quick shower, but I think she’s grown to love it because more often than not, once she’s in, it gets long, which is really annoying when you’re waiting to go for a walk. I’m patient though and lay down and watch to make sure she doesn’t go down the drain or something.
What’s Next? A Cold Plunge!
When we were at Gwillim Lake one November day the first year of their cold exposure, she really wanted to take the plunge, but it was a 2.5 km walk back to the truck and didn’t have a blanket or towel so she didn’t do it. She’s passed up other opportunities since then, so I’m thinking it’s avoidance behaviour. If she ever works up the courage, I’ll post about it!
In the meantime, I’ve tried to convince her to take snow baths and continually demonstrate how it’s done. In all fairness, she’s not as furry as me so I kind of get it, but I know that some people do take snow baths so maybe one day she will join me.
Can I share my secret fear in this whole endeavour? I fear she’ll decide to shovel our driveway in her bathing suit. Our neighbours are all good people and that would worry them. I think she’s joking when she brings it up. For now, along with the cold showers, she sometimes sits on the edge of the deck in boots, shorts, and a t-shirt. Listening to the birds I think. I love the feeling of the cold wind ruffling my fur. She shivers a lot. Supposedly shivering helps speed up the metabolism. Maybe that’s why wolves are lean.
As I sit beside her, I try to figure out what she’s staring at. I look at her hopefully. Willing her to understand my question. “Whatcha lookin’ at? Squirrel?” I really love squirrels.
Science aside, I feel very alive during cold exposure. It’s exhilarating and when it’s over and I’m lying by a nice fire, I feel very calm. Like now. The only time I catch a squirrel is when I’m dreaming, so I’m signing off so I can catch one. Live life large, Teddy.
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