Have you ever stepped into a cold shower? Have you ever been splashed with cold water?
Did you know that initial shock you experienced back then triggered the fight-or-flight reaction that is no different from your reaction to any threat, internal or external? I mean, any.You see, the way we react to anything is the way we react to everything.
Over several billion years ago we came out from Earth’s primordial slime to become evolutionary winners. How did we do that?
We lived for days with no food; we walked for miles barefoot; we survived with no heat, we swam long distances…
It’s only in the last few hundred years, we have lost touch with our evolutionary roots. We have become so comfortable in our air-conditioned homes, with our instant heating sources, cars, computers, WIFI, and all that comfort and convenience.
And yet, the uncomfortable truth is we are crippled with anxiety, we have more autoimmune diseases now than ever before.
No, we are no longer running away from dangerous animals. We are now running away from our own emotions and thoughts and we don’t feel safe at all.
If the parasympathetic system controls rest/sleep and digestion, and sympathetic controls fight or flight response than I want to know how I can have more control of the switch between the two.
There are many ways to train your brain to switch back to parasympathetic. I use cold showers as my training tool to get control over the switch.
It took me a month of morning showers to flip the switch; to step into a cold shower and feel relaxed and comfortable.
I have created a new reaction. I have bonded an old sensation to a positive emotion.
I have discovered that I don’t need to try and control my emotions. I can take control of HOW I WANT to experience them.
I have found my own Wedge, the flip between fight or flight and the flow state. Now I know that I am not my feelings and I am not my thoughts. I am not even my mind. Because I can change it.
Coldwater is just a symbol of any stress trigger. How I react to cold water is very much how I react to life.
I have now changed it. And it feels great.
My hope is that you will get inspired to find your own Wedge too.
Can stress lead to success?
