Lifestyle / Society

Why the ice bath trend is heating up, and rightfully so

By Olivia Ekelund

Photo: @harrystyles

Most recently adopted by Harry Styles, an ice bath is more than just a trend, boasting considerable mental health benefits. This is how to practice the new Styles-approved craze at home

Long, slow breaths. Your mind is focused but quiet, heart beating in a steady rhythm. Calm, in a world of constant stimulation, is becoming increasingly more difficult to achieve. When ceaselessly plugged in, flitting between thoughts – what we've been doing, are about to do, or maybe even the dreaded “should be” doing – can make true rest hard to come by.

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Racing thoughts are a symptom of an overactive sympathetic nervous system; your surroundings are telling your body and mind that you need to be ready. It's an integrated mechanism that is designed to protect you, keeping you primed for fight and flight. When triggered outside of states of immediate danger, however, the result is a compromised parasympathetic nervous system. Translation: you can’t relax.

Reassuringly, the trick to returning to balance is not as complex as it might seem. A slowing heart rate tells the body that it is safe to rest, and this is exactly what happens when we are exposed to cold water. The short-term effects of an ice bath are felt in seconds. You are snapped back to presence, mind and body considerably calmer.

The key to this immediate release is the effect on the vagus nerve, which comprises 75 percent of the parasympathetic nervous system and is responsible for physiological responses during the body's resting state. When stimulated, hormone levels are rebalanced and heart rate lowered, the body returning to a thriving equilibrium.

With the instant meditative state it elicits, it’s no wonder the treatment is being adopted by touring musicians, like Harry Styles in his delightful, now-viral backstage bathtub shot. 'Bathrry' is not the first. Madonna, Chris Hemsworth, and Lady Gaga are all avid practitioners, not to mention Wim Hof, who mainstreamed the practice of cryotherapy when he appeared on The Goop Lab.

If you don’t have a tub at your disposal, do not fret. Achieving tranquillity does not require full body immersion and resetting can be as simple as dipping your face in a bowl of ice-water. Also dubbed an ‘ice facial,’ the practice has been circulating on TikTok for some time. And, unlike some of the more dubious trends the platform has seen (one of the most dramatic ones involving vitamin D uptake through suppository delivery), this one won’t get you laughed out of the room by your physician.

Besides the short-term benefits of achieving instant calm, cold therapy has several positive long-term effects. Through elevating the body's natural healing faculties, cold water therapy improves circulation, blood pressure and lowers heart rate variability, the last being related to mental health. Boosting physical recovery and metabolic rate, not to mention the long lasting positive impact on sleep, anxiety and depression, the practice is both physically and psychologically healing.

In an era when chronic stress has been collectively normalised, a natural treatment that can provide instant and long-term benefits feels almost too good to be true. It is also recommended for subduing panic attacks and research suggests it can help prevent dementia and even promote longevity. Moreover, the swift remedy is a great safety-net for combatting anxiety at work or social gatherings.

Let us be the first to normalise excusing oneself with the following: “Be right back, just going to dunk my face in a bowl of ice.”

Bathe with care and keep immersions brief, prolonged cold-exposure can be unsafe and its important to warm up quickly once out of the water. Check with your physician regarding any underlying health issues that could conflict with cold-therapy.