Extreme Bathing Protocol

RINSE

Activate your skin sensors and prepare yourself for extreme bathing both physically and psychologically by wetting and cleansing your entire body and washing off any dirt, pollution, personal care products, fragrances and sweat. Protect and preserve your natural body oils and skin microbes by using unchlorinated water and natural cleansers.

HOT

Use a sauna, hot bath or steam-room to raise your body temperature until you sweat freely and reach the point of ‘forced mindfulness’, which is when your body becomes stressed and demands your mind’s attention. Practice relaxing under thermal stress and expand your stress tolerance by taking slow controlled breaths.

COLD

Use a cold plunge, shower or cool air to chill your body and resist cold-induced hyperventilation by keeping your breath calm and steady. Use comfort as a guide to timing and allow your body temperature to drop until you feel shivery while avoiding uncontrolled shivering that indicates excessive cold exposure.

REST

Aim to spend as much time in a comfortable, thermo-neutral environment as you do in extreme environments and enjoy cooling down when hot and warming up when cold. Explore the blissful state of thermal balance and homeostasis and enjoy the enhanced relaxation and sleep that follows exposure to extreme temperatures.

REPEAT

Doing two or three rounds helps you go deeper with every round. Enjoy alternating between hot and cold, vasodilation and vasoconstriction, sympathetic stress and parasympathetic relaxation. The greatest benefit is achieved when the process is repeated at least three times a week and contrast bathing becomes part of your lifestyle.