#T pain epiphany zip sharebeast full#

Six months later, 30 people joined Ashe for a swim meet and the group has grown exponentially ever since, even during the pandemic. “It was very painful and I did not enjoy it”, Ashe told CNN Sport, “but such a strange feeling of connection to my body after living unhappily in my poor mind for so long was a true epiphany moment for me.”A New Year’s swim meet with Mental Health Swims at Caswell Bay in Swansea, Wales. Ashe returned to the beach shivering, but changed. Ashe accepted the challenge of the “Loony Dook”, an annual event in which intrepid participants launch themselves into the icy waters near Edinburgh, Scotland.

By the end of the year, she was feeling “really bad” and “everything was challenging,” but on New Year’s Day, Ashe literally launched herself into a new future. After receiving a mental health diagnosis in 2018, Ashe initially took up running, but lost confidence after some terrifying slips on the ice over the winter. Mental Health Swims is a volunteer-run peer support community that organizes open water meets across the UK. “But as I continued to flow through the water, my initial concern about weight gain was replaced by a feeling of catharsis, as if the water was cleansing me of the stress accumulated during the coronavirus pandemic.” “Stroke after stroke, I could feel my mood lift, my mind clear and my body loosen up.” An “epiphany moment” Rachel Ashe, founder of Mental Health Swims, is a living testimony to the positive mental impact of open water swimming.

“My first thought as I dove into the water was that I felt a bit more buoyant than usual, probably due to the extra pounds of quarantine,” Lieber said. Mark Lieber reflected on the transformative impact of brief dips in the pool in helping to lift the weight of the previous year, literally and figuratively. In an article published on CNN last summer, Dr. Merely being in a “blue environment,” near the ocean or a body of water, is known to reduce stress responses. Research into the anti-inflammatory properties of cold water carried out by the University of Portsmouth, UK has provided a growing body of anecdotal evidence that it can dampen inflammatory responses that cause anxiety and depression. The feel-good hormone dopamine is released when stepping into the cold water, ensuring an endorphin rush that can last for hours after drying off. A woman swims to cool off in Lake Xhemas, a small natural lake in Valbona National Park, near Dragobi, on August 4, 2021. Open water swimming in particular, with its naturally cooler temperatures, is increasingly understood as having a mental health benefit.

In 2019, almost half a million Britons living with mental health diagnoses said swimming had reduced the number of visits to a medical health professional, according to Swim England. The physical benefits of swimming are well documented, the mental health benefits of getting in the water are less well known, but just as impressive. Regular swimmers have a 28% lower risk of premature death and a 41% lower risk of death from heart disease and stroke, according to a 2017 Swim England Swimming and Health Commission report. And it’s not just short-term benefits, swimming has lasting benefits too. The low impact of water activities, in contrast to running, makes them the perfect choice for those with minor injuries, as well as the elderly. Even a leisurely swim session can burn more than 400 calories per hour, more than double that of walking.

#T pain epiphany zip sharebeast full#

By using all your muscles, swimming ensures a full body workout and as such, 30 minutes of exercise in the water is equivalent to 45 minutes on land, according to Swim England. How can you stop your recurring thoughts? 1:58 (CNN) - As we head into the boreal summer and temperatures rise, more and more of us are taking to the water in search of a host of benefits for body and mind.ĭon’t you like to run? Swimming can be not only a good alternative, but a more effective one.