Dear Kosterina Family,
So, my husband, Kosta (who put the “Kos" in Kosterina), likes to say that with wellness knowledge, he’s often a year ahead of me. He certainly is an early adopter and I’ll often dismiss his wellness practices as ridiculous, unnecessary or extreme, only to come around to the idea months later after learning more.
One of these such practices is cold therapy. I am a person who takes long steamy showers at the absolute hottest temperature I can handle. At the beach, it’s very baby steps into the ocean so I can get used to cold water very slowly. I don’t ski because I don’t like to pay money to be cold. I drink my water at room temperature (not from the fridge) and I drink hot coffee even in the summer. So last year when we were designing our new home, and my husband wanted to install a mini cold plunge pool, I wanted nothing to do with it. But I’ve now learned that cold temperatures are actually really important for our longevity and overall health.
I've recently started following the work of Wim Hof, and after seeing him on the Goop Lab Nextflix series this week, I was reminded of the power of two of his practices: cold therapy + breathwork. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Wim Hof is otherwise known as The Iceman - he's a Dutch World Record Breaker who has developed a breathing and mindset technique to withstand freezing temperatures. And, it's been proven that his methods have long-term health effects for us regular people, too.
So, whether you're interested in becoming an extreme athlete or simply want to lessen your anxiety, I'd recommend checking out his work- or simply taking a 5-minute cold shower each morning. (Do as I say, not as I do!) Simply by exposing our bodies to cold temperatures, we could increase focus, improve sleep and reduce stress. Stay tuned for some cold plunge photos on our Instagram.
Learn
The Case for Cold Showers
