Mindfulness or Mind-full-ness

I had a novel experience in the cold plunge this morning.

My usual approach is to clear my mind, focus on my breath, and continue to focus on my breath until the time passes. Today I tried something different. The result: my usual 3 minutes in the cold became 5 minutes.

Here’s what I did:

As the resistance in my mind started to come up with reasons why I shouldn’t do the plunge this morning (Yes, after 5 months or so of doing this every day, that voice still pops up), I adopted Joe Rogan’s playful yet sincere self-talk of: “Shut the F*** Up”.

The voice rebutted once more. Again, I responded in a soft, playful, and sincere manner: “Shut the F*** Up.” I threw my coat to the ground and got in the water.

And rather than experience an absence of thought through the breathe, I constructed a flurry of thought through purpose.

You’re increasing your resolve.
You’re increasing your testosterone.
You’re decreasing your inflammation.
You’re increasing your dopamine, your gas tank for the day.

Then I continued with a reframe:

You are healing your body. This “cold” is the sensation of healing. This is what healing feels like. Do you want to heal your body? Yes, this is what healing feels like.

I envisioned that scene from the movie Wanted in which all the assassins heal themselves in that icy-white bath. If you haven’t seen the movie, just think of an ice bath with Epsom salt and magic.

I’m in such a bath. That’s what the cold does. It’s healing me. This sensation is what healing feels like. I am healing myself.

The discomfort became excitement. The only thing that changed was my language, but my experience became something entirely different. I was no longer weathering the storm. There was no storm. It was all just powerful sensations healing my body.

5 minutes passed and I emerged - better, stronger, and with increased appreciation for my mind.

The lesson:

You can practice mindfulness by emptying your thoughts. The breath serves as the channel for this. Through mindfulness, we achieve top-down control by learning to attend to something other than the voice in our head screaming for comfort.

Or

You can practice mind-full-ness by creating the thoughts that serve you. We achieve top-down control by constructing a powerful inner dialogue that becomes the focal point of our attention.

These are very different skills, and I think the difficulties of life require both. All skills must be trained.

For me, I use the cold plunge as the vehicle through which I train the skills of voluntary struggle that make the difficulties of life more palatable.

Next time you do something difficult. Try this reframe. Focus on the benefits. Enumerate the benefits. And like a lawyer on behalf of your soul, allow yourself to see the gift in the struggle.

Should you try this, I would love to hear about your experience.

Wishing you a great week,
Chris