'Brain Freeze' - Cold Water Swimming for Mental Health
The thought of sitting at your desk in the library, mid January is enough to make your skin crawl or perhaps stoke the nascent anxiety that comes with working in such a tense environment.
I was feeling this myself last week. Trudging through readings and worried about my deadlines. It was at this point that I overheard a conversation that lifted me from my slump.
"You were at the Dip, earlier weren’t you?” - a 4th year says to a 1st year by the lifts.
“Yes I was. Absolutely freezing… couldn’t feel my toes” the fresher replied.
This got me thinking. What on earth would a fourth year, inundated with the stresses of their final year, want to do with a fresher on Thursday morning in the library in January?
I asked what they were talking about, and as it It turns out: cold water swimming at Edinburgh’s very own Portobello beach was the cause for such a perfunctory meeting.
The pair were members of a society called Chilly Dippers, which focuses on the benefits on of cold-water swimming to one’s mental and physical well-being. Based here in Edinburgh and the brainchild of university student Liv Sharon, Chilly Dippers has become extremely popular amongst students and locals alike as an immediate solution to the stresses and strains of everyday life. And, at university there are many!
The perennial turn of phrase ‘road to recovery’, and its especial affiliation with mental health issues, can be daunting at times. Sometimes we just need a break; an off switch.
And, having spoken to Liv (4th year Sociology student) at length about the benefits of cold water swimming, her charity, Chilly Dippers, does just that!
Chilly Dippers offers an immediate release to our anxieties. Taking us out of our minds and into our bodies, where the immediate and freezing water wrests our focus from stress to survival.
She told me that the idea came to her in her kitchen a couple of years ago over a cup of tea. She said “It’s quite simple really. So many of my people struggle with mental health issues and don’t have any natural coping mechanisms. I just Love swimming and the feeling it leaves you with. I just put two and two together.” Simple but effective.
In the same way that social media campaigns such as “It’s OK not to be OK” caught the attention of so many us, Liv encouraged her friends to challenge at least three people to jump into cold water and tag her Instagram ‘@chillydippers’. It has since taken off. She now runs events up and down the country: from London to Exeter to Edinburgh.
Liv says the "cold water sends us into shock. We immediately enter 'fight or flight' mode, and Instead of worrying about life we are forced to be in the moment.The sense of adrenaline is addictive"
The release of endorphins (the happiness hormone) that one gets from diving into the sea, a river, a lake or even the bath is an undeniable fact of science. It is well known that cold water swimming helps in reducing blood pressure, improving the immune system and offering a hiatus to our anxieties.
Over the course of last summer Chilly Dippers ran a weekly swimming event at the Serpentine in London. At its peak a total of 80 people, some famous faces among them, gathered to cool off and chat mental health. Australian actor, and star of the Netflix show The Crown, Josh O'Connor, got in contact with Liv and took the plunge.
In Edinburgh, where the water is that much colder, Liv has enjoyed even bigger turnouts. In 2019, Liv attracted a century of keen swimmers for an early morning Zumba class and dip at Portobello beach. The event was sponsored, and breakfast paid for, by healthy food and drinks company Rude Health. Free food - What's not to like.
Liv's ambitions are to further spread the good word and to help those of us who need a break. To encourage people to meet, talk and swim for mental health.
I asked liv at the end of our interview if she had any advice for anyone thinking of starting similar projects. She said: "If you have an idea, just go with it. You have no idea who or how many people you might be helping."
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