Ice ice baby!

Hello! Welcome to my newsletter.

In this newsletter I will be sharing with you how I handle everyday life with ADHD, but without ADHD medication. I will share tips, tools and strategies for you to introduce in to your own life so you too can manage your ADHD holistically.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes, 3 seconds

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This week I launched my FIRST EVER Ice Bath Experience Workshop.

I’ve been preparing for this day for a long time! And boy was I nervous. But, I’ve found the perfect venue (a small garden centre locally to me, that has a little cafe and a super cute little outside area which will be the perfect backdrop for the event), I have two ice baths ready to go, food is organised and I have put in an order for the sun to come out that day!

So as I start to count down the days until the event and bite my nails as I watch the ticket sales, I thought this might be a good time to talk to you about cold water exposure, because quite honestly, I can’t believe I haven’t yet!!

Cold water changed my life

I started with cold showers in December 2023. I hated them, and I still do to be quite honest! But I immediately felt the benefit and slowly I worked my way form around 10s at the end of a hot shower to the occasional 3 min (ONLY) cold shower.

Then in February 2024 I went on a retreat in the lakes that included some wild swimming. On the Saturday we swam in Ullswater and it was such an experience. Yes, it was absolutely freezing, but the clarity and focus I had once I left the water, well, it was bloody amazing.

The next day we did a bit of a hike up a (small) mountain. On the way back down we stopped off at a plunge pool in a stream than ran down the mountain. The water was much colder than that in Ullswater (running water is always colder than standing water) and it was tougher to get in…. but O M G!!!

I thought I felt clarity when we’d dipped in Ullswater, but this was something else. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so alive. And in that exact moment, my life changed. As I was taking off my wet clothes, I knew I needed to capture this moment forever. So I got one of the girls to take a photo of me. On the side of the mountain, naked, expect for my neoprene socks 🤣

I had been taking ADHD medication for two years before this retreat, but once I returned home I never took another dose. Instead I ordered a Lumi ice bath and since the 31st March 2024 I have had an ice bath most mornings instead of my meds!

Want cold water to change your life too?

If you think it might be something you want to try (and I absolutely recommend it!) an easy way to get started (if you’re not quite ready to take the ‘plunge’ into an ice bath) is with cold showers.

Just follow these steps:

Week 1: After your normal hot shower, turn the water to cold for just 10 seconds. Try and cover your whole body with the cold water, if you can.

Week 2: Repeat week 1, but for 20 seconds.

Weeks 3-6: Repeat week 1, increasing by 10s every week, until you are able to manage 1 minute.

Weeks 7-9: Start to increase, weekly, by 30 seconds.

Week 10 (ish): Once you are able to stay in the cold shower for around 2m30s - 3m, try a cold only shower.

If after this you are feeling ready to move on to an ice bath, here are my recommendations:

Ice baths

Beginner/budget option: https://urbanicetribe.com/product/pop-up-ice-bath/ Urban Ice Tribe are a great company, I have one of these for my workshops

Chiller ready: https://lumitherapy.co.uk/products/recovery-ultra-ice-bath If you want your ice bath to be chiller ready, I would go with this. We have a Lumi, they don’t sell the exact one we have anymore, but we’ve had it almost a year now and we’ve never had any problems. I’ve also heard their customer service is excellent.

Fancy pants: https://urbanicetribe.com/product/oblong-ice-bath-stock-tank/ Evetually, this is what I will be upgrading to at home and for my workshops.

Chillers

In summer, it’s going to be really hard to keep your ice bath cool, unless you have access to a lot of ice. Plus, as the weather gets warmer they do get a bit gross so they’re going to be needing to be cleaned a lot more often. We invested in a chiller that also has a filter system, and honestly, best decision we ever made. We still have to clean it out, but it’s a lot less often and we can enjoy the enjoy the chilly temps, all the way through summer.

https://myomaster.com/products/myochill

This is the one we have, and it’s been great for us. However, there are now loads on the market and it’s always worth shopping around.

The chillers are designed to be left outside, however we wanted a little more protection for it, from the elements. So Oliver bought a cheap garden storage box from Home Bargains (I think it was around £20) and drilled some holes for the pipes and even added a vent (as it does get a bit warm) and now it’s all packed neatly away.

If you have any questions about our set up, please feel free to reply to this newsletter and ask away. I’m always happy to share.

Stay chill ❄️

If my story inspires you to give it a go, whether that’s a cold shower or an ice bath, I would love to hear all about it!

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I hope you find what I write interesting, helpful and sometimes funny! And if you do, I'd love it if you shared what I am saying with others.

I have some spaces available for coaching. If you would like to apply, and get a FREE discovery call, please follow this link: https://app.youform.com/forms/ccaga68h

Carly x