The annual ice bath

A dip in the ice bath has become my must-do whenever I’m at this festival. This year given the scorching summer we’ve had there couldn’t have been a better day for it.

Cold-water immersion has become a popular evidence-based recovery tool in sport, and I’ve been know to recover in a cold bath after a hard run when I’ve been marathon training. Research suggests it can reduce post exercise soreness and improve recovery for endurance athletes, but it may be counter-productive for those wanting to increase muscle size.

For me, the most interesting part isn’t about the cold on my skin, it’s about my breath. The instinct is to tense up and breath faster, but practising breath work through yoga allows me to very quickly slow and control my breathing, lengthening the exhale.

It brought me back to tapas, the yogic principal of discipline and working with discomfort. That doesn't always mean continuing to push through pain and discomfort, it can mean learning to stay calm when something is uncomfortable.