Every day Carin Teresa swims in the frigid rivers of western Massachusetts to manage her chronic pain. Ice swimming is touted as an alternative wellness practice for its myriad of benefits: boosting the immune system, weight loss, improving circulation and increased parasympathetic activity, which can result in improvement with anxiety, depression, stress management and gut issues. Through her business, Swim Away the Pain, she leads groups of locals looking for a change or like her, wanting to take control of their health in a positive way. Last week I went for an ice swim with Teresa’s group and I felt more clear-headed and energized than I had in a long time. I talked to Terasa about the daring practice.
NP: When did you get into ice swimming and how often do you go?
CT: I was at the end of my rope. I have fibromyalgia which is stress-based autoimmune disorder and I also have hEDS, a connective tissue disorder, so all of the connective tissue in my body, my joints, ligaments, which includes the connective tissue in my brain, heart and lungs is all loose. It’s very painful––it’s so debilitating. It was two years ago when it really started to onset. Every day I could feel more pain and every day it was getting worse.
I found a chiropractor who mentioned Wim Hoff to me. From that October day (2020) I just started going every day and thought if I followed the temperature dip with the first frost and first snow, I would be fine. It was very mentally and emotionally stimulating for me and it was this release of everything that my brain was having trouble with, which was the pain. The path for people with chronic illnesses is never a good one, so I found this and became obsessed with it for all the good reasons.
I try to go every day, especially in the months of October to May. Then my body can do it longer if I engage with it more frequently.
NP: Have you seen any benefits from swimming in the cold water? If so, what are they?
CT: First and foremost instant pain relief. I’m sitting here with a five pain level, but the pain relief is instantaneous. If I can get every cell in my body; my head, ears, shoulders, hips, back under water, it goes away. Part of that is there’s a severe inflammation decrease with cold water. Just like putting an ice pack on a wound it’s just your whole body. So for two illnesses that create inflammation, to have that every day, it cuts it down. Then there’s the emotional trauma side of chronic pain. This brings you into such focus and clarity that you can release the pain and be here and that is priceless. Also, my skin gets really clear and I’ve noticed I don’t catch colds from others anymore.
NP: On your website you invite people to join you for “breathwork, meditation, intention setting and cold water exposure in the wild outdoors.” Can you explain a little about this experience you bring people through?
CT: I do a weekly group swim that’s between two to five people and the thing I’m trying to offer that is different from others who do this kind of work is a very calming and relaxing experience. The way I’ve been able to access this for myself has been this very beautiful, slow accumulating journey. And so I’ve been trying to show that to people and they have been really responding to it. They keep coming back.
NP: Why should someone go ice-swimming?
CT: People who are dealing with family stress, chronic pain, job stress, exhaustion or whatever kind of unease in life—it’s all applicable. I think people who benefit in the long term from this though, it’s because they need something that is out of the ordinary. There is something about this that is super-human even though it’s explicitly human. It’s within our experience and yet beyond our modern understanding of what we can do as humans that is attractive to people right now.
NP: What advice would you give for someone who hates the cold? Should they still do it?
CT: Yes, more than anything! The breathwork really helps you bolster that base line of what’s going on inside your body to keep that heat going and keep your energy going through the experience. But especially for people who don’t like the cold, that is coming from a fear or a distaste for the discomfort that the cold brings on. In teaching yourself to walk into this discomfort and breathe, ground yourself, focus and do all the good things you need to do, the stresses in the rest of your life become miles easier to deal with because you’re practicing that mechanism which is discomfort management.
NP: What is the longest you have swam for?
CT: I have done a 31 or 21 degree swim and I stayed in for 35 minutes. The record out there is something over two hours, but I’m not trying to push myself. I’m not doing it for time or the boasting aspect. I don’t go to the point where I’m shivering or actually cold and suffering.
NP: Any tips for someone who is interested, yet hesitant to start cold water therapy?
CT: It is 100 times easier with a buddy! Find someone who is crazy enough to do it with you and be patient and be courageous! Push yourself and embrace it, walking towards the practice as everything it can be and anything it can be, because it can be anything. Ditch the fear and tell yourself whatever you need to.
