Skinny-dipping in Seaside Heights, NJ in mid-December.
It's easy to reach peace-filled meditative states of mind for brief periods during any random point of your day. However, reaching and staying in that state of mental peace and clarity throughout the entire day is another trip to take. And, yet, another practice, maybe equally as difficult, is to maintain a clear and focused ming as you plunge into a freezing body of water. There is a war your mind and body enter against the exasperatingly cold, and your job is to stop your mind from thinking or feeling anything. Do you think you can make yourself do that?
I came across an interesting article depicting some of the ancient spiritual practices of the Shinto a couple of years back. The article explained how Samurai warriors ritualistically took part in Misogi, an ancient Shinto spiritual practice that involves bathing in cold river water every morning. Forget your morning cup of coffee, that's an early morning practice that will surely wake you up.
I came across an interesting article depicting some of the ancient spiritual practices of the Shinto a couple of years back. The article explained how Samurai warriors ritualistically took part in Misogi, an ancient Shinto spiritual practice that involves bathing in cold river water every morning. Forget your morning cup of coffee, that's an early morning practice that will surely wake you up.
Ancient samurai warriors would start their day by pouring buckets of cold river water on their heads every morning as part of the Shinto spiritual practice called "Misogi". The samurai warriors believed the cold, clean water cleansed their spirit, helping them start their day fresh and spiritually cleansed from the day before.
After reading about Misogi, I came across John Man's book, Ninja: 1,000 years of the Shadow Warrior. Man explained that ninjas would stand under waterfalls for hours at a time, not in the summer months when standing under a waterfall may be considered pleasurable, but, rather, in the winter months when temperatures often drop below freezing in Japan. That was a required practice for becoming a ninja, so it should come as no surprise that many aspiring ninjas died doing this.
Then I discovered there were several other articles basically praising the beneficial effects of cold water showers. Some of the benefits include strengthening immunity, deepening breathing, improving blood circulation, improving hormone production, increasing energy and well-being, and healthier skin and hair. I even began looking into the human anomaly that is Wim Hof, the Dutch "Iceman," that has swam in the Arctic, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in shorts and sandals, ran a half-marathon barefoot across Finnish snow in subzero conditions, and has spent almost two hours in a tank of ice water by applying his meditative techniques, resulting in his ability to regulate his internal thermostat.
After reading about the health and spiritual benefits of cold water, I decided to start my own personal practice by beginning to take cold showers after my post-yoga, peppermint-and-eucalyptus-infused sauna sessions. I got into the habit of doing this and made an effort of implementing cold water showers into my daily routine. The effects it began having on me were immediate, and are definitely worth feeling for yourself if you aren't already doing cold showers.
The initial shock the cold water gives your nervous system wakes your mind and body up. And after a prolonged period of time of being under the water your system adapts to the cold and you actually begin to warm up from the inside out. This process is known as thermogenesis. Your body begins to produce internal heat, and in turn gives you a surge of energy, and even increases your metabolism. (Cold-water showers as the next diet fad?) I began to realize that cold showers were indeed living up to the hype in multiple areas of health and well-being. The practice even expands itself philosophically, and instills in you the notion of simply knowing what you need to do when you need to do it: turn the water dial all the way to cold and just deal with it. "Just do it."
Then I discovered there were several other articles basically praising the beneficial effects of cold water showers. Some of the benefits include strengthening immunity, deepening breathing, improving blood circulation, improving hormone production, increasing energy and well-being, and healthier skin and hair. I even began looking into the human anomaly that is Wim Hof, the Dutch "Iceman," that has swam in the Arctic, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in shorts and sandals, ran a half-marathon barefoot across Finnish snow in subzero conditions, and has spent almost two hours in a tank of ice water by applying his meditative techniques, resulting in his ability to regulate his internal thermostat.
After reading about the health and spiritual benefits of cold water, I decided to start my own personal practice by beginning to take cold showers after my post-yoga, peppermint-and-eucalyptus-infused sauna sessions. I got into the habit of doing this and made an effort of implementing cold water showers into my daily routine. The effects it began having on me were immediate, and are definitely worth feeling for yourself if you aren't already doing cold showers.
The initial shock the cold water gives your nervous system wakes your mind and body up. And after a prolonged period of time of being under the water your system adapts to the cold and you actually begin to warm up from the inside out. This process is known as thermogenesis. Your body begins to produce internal heat, and in turn gives you a surge of energy, and even increases your metabolism. (Cold-water showers as the next diet fad?) I began to realize that cold showers were indeed living up to the hype in multiple areas of health and well-being. The practice even expands itself philosophically, and instills in you the notion of simply knowing what you need to do when you need to do it: turn the water dial all the way to cold and just deal with it. "Just do it."
Late Autumn waterscape in the Adirondacks, NY.
After doing this for about a year, I decided to turn the dial to more extreme temperatures and scenarios. This takes me to this past November when I was on a road trip tracing back the Hudson River to its Source. I came across a still and desolate lake up in the Adirondacks. It was a crispy November day and there was nobody around for many, many miles so I did what I came to do. I took off my clothes and entered the mouth of the Hudson River. Henderson Lake looked perfectly calm and harmless, but it wasn't until I stepped into its water that I realized the nature of the lake was filled with a freezing ferocity. The breath-taking shock that the lake delivered straight up my spinal chord to my cerebellum at light-speed was far beyond anything I've ever felt in a "cold shower." I struggled to find my breath as Lake Henderson swallowed my soul.
"Try and meditate now," a portion of my psyche communicated to myself as I shivered uncontrollably. So after about thirty seconds of desperately trying to adapt to this irrational environment, I began to flush out my mind of its erratic thoughts and uncomfortable sensations—striving for only one eternal second of Samadhi, would be enough to last me a lifetime. About 90 seconds in my mind climaxed in a moment of total surrender and oneness with the Source of the Hudson River. I drowned myself beyond the rational.
"Try and meditate now," a portion of my psyche communicated to myself as I shivered uncontrollably. So after about thirty seconds of desperately trying to adapt to this irrational environment, I began to flush out my mind of its erratic thoughts and uncomfortable sensations—striving for only one eternal second of Samadhi, would be enough to last me a lifetime. About 90 seconds in my mind climaxed in a moment of total surrender and oneness with the Source of the Hudson River. I drowned myself beyond the rational.
Henderson Lake, NY. (The official Source of the Hudson River.)
That to me is the definition of a baptism. Not a couple of room-temperature trickles of water on an unconscious baby's head, but a full on conscious immersion in a dramatically cold, living body of water. The fierce coldness of the water feels extremely clean and pure to your being. This freezing fierceness of the water has the power to pierce through your body and reach the enigmatic depths of your dancing soul. That's a baptism.
As soon as my mind came back into play I snapped out of this six-second samadhi and my body began to shiver and shudder again. I decided I had enough fun for a week and walked back out of the lake feeling reborn. The windless, sub-freezing air felt like it was hugging me as I came back on to shore. I stood there in my re-birthday suit feeling my mind as clear and clean as the water in the lake. (I'm sure if somebody were to pass by this isolated spot they would confusedly scratch their head wondering why there was a naked man overlooking the lake in the middle of November.)
As soon as my mind came back into play I snapped out of this six-second samadhi and my body began to shiver and shudder again. I decided I had enough fun for a week and walked back out of the lake feeling reborn. The windless, sub-freezing air felt like it was hugging me as I came back on to shore. I stood there in my re-birthday suit feeling my mind as clear and clean as the water in the lake. (I'm sure if somebody were to pass by this isolated spot they would confusedly scratch their head wondering why there was a naked man overlooking the lake in the middle of November.)
The official starting point of the Hudson River is this outlet from Henderson Lake, NY.
Despite the absurd cold of the outside air I wasn't able to feel a thing—not a centimeter of discomfort was present in my being. After several minutes of standing and pacing along the coast of the lake I eventually put my clothes back on and started taking a couple of pictures of the lake before I left the forest.
This brings me to a perfect video clip example of what I'm writing about. Below is a clip from the Vale Tudo documentary, Choked, in which the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend, Rickson Gracie (widely recognized as the greatest Jiu-Jitsu practitioner of all time), submerges himself in cold, mountainous river water three days before a big Vale Tudo fight tournament in Japan. You'll notice the effects the cold river water has on this modern day Ninja-Samurai. He illustrates the pleasurable feeling of surrender and near-death he felt in the water, along with the feeling of being "reborn."
This brings me to a perfect video clip example of what I'm writing about. Below is a clip from the Vale Tudo documentary, Choked, in which the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend, Rickson Gracie (widely recognized as the greatest Jiu-Jitsu practitioner of all time), submerges himself in cold, mountainous river water three days before a big Vale Tudo fight tournament in Japan. You'll notice the effects the cold river water has on this modern day Ninja-Samurai. He illustrates the pleasurable feeling of surrender and near-death he felt in the water, along with the feeling of being "reborn."
Lastly, I'm featuring a video of David Wolfe, talking about ways of developing nerve force, by including hot and cold showers in your day along with infrared saunas and cold water plunges. The new piece of information I found especially interesting is the fact that infrared saunas have the ability to inhibit reverse transcriptase, a viral coding protein. He connects this with the fact that viruses are responsible for effecting the DNA of cells, which may cause cellular mutations, eventually leading to diseases such as cancer. He also throws in the fact that genetically modified foods are being modified with viruses, which can potentially saturate our bodies with unnecessary viruses. However, there are super foods, such as sweet potatoes and yams, that resist this genetic modification. These foods are anti-viral down to the level of their own DNA. Yet another reason to throw in raw sweet potatoes into your next super shake.
Enjoy the video. And maybe you'll decide to get into a cold shower and sauna marathon this weekend? Develop your nerve force. Peace.
Enjoy the video. And maybe you'll decide to get into a cold shower and sauna marathon this weekend? Develop your nerve force. Peace.
The cold is clean, it's purifying, it's a great energy, and it builds your nerve force—vital power. And over time as you get more and more into it, you realize that the best high isn't drugs, that best high isn't alcohol, the best high isn't super foods, the best high isn't super herbs... The best high is jumping into ice cold water. When you get out you can't even believe what's going on in your body.
...That's how you build up that nerve force. Then you start to actually have strength in your skin, your tissue, your nerves. You have the ability to withstand it.
There are certain foods like sweet potato that won't allow itself to be genetically modified. It's anti-viral down to the DNA level.
Briliant pink dusk December skies after another polar plunge in Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
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