Cold Exposure Techniques
A post about Cold Exposure Techniques that can help you regulate & relax by stimulating your vagus nerve & parasympathetic nervous system.
We learned about The Polyvagal Theory (including the Vagus Nerve) and the Parasympathetic Nervous System in previous posts. Cold Exposure can help with anxiety and dysregulation by stimulating your vagus nerve and parasympathetic nervous system. When cold restricts your blood vessels, it also activates the vagus nerve which slows your heart rate, lowers your blood pressure, and signals to your body that it is time to relax (rest & digest). Applying cold can help in a short timeframe and repeatedly using cold exposure techniques over time may help reduce stress and inflammation.
Cold Exposure Techniques:
Drink ice cold water (I prefer to do this with a straw to avoid the cold on my teeth.)
Splash cold water on your face (If this is too intense, press a cold washcloth to your face and neck.)
Submerge your face or dunk your head into cold water
Run your wrists underneath cold water
Use ice cubes on your wrists and neck
Cold compress on chest or back of neck
In cold climates, go outside for a burst of cold air
Cold water at the end of a shower (Please see notes below.)
While showering, if you are able to turn it colder at the end, it will help your nervous system more long-term as cold exposure activates your flight or fight response but then your parasympathetic nervous system kicks in afterwards, and regularly utilizing this will help expand your nervous system. As one study shows, “cold habituation lowers sympathetic activation and causes a shift toward increased parasympathetic activity.”
*Note: If you have Raynaud’s or other health conditions where cold exposure will trigger your symptoms, please avoid or proceed with caution. I am not a doctor or health care professional. I am just a person sharing things I have learned in hopes they might help others.
Personally, I can only do the cold shower stuff when the weather is warm because I already have trouble regulating my body temperature and cannot handle extra cold in the cold weather months. That said, I plan to try the other cold water techniques in moments of dysregulation when I need to find a way to regulate in the moment. Just like the other somatic exercises we’ve been learning about, I aim to implement them into my day-to-day existence, so I am already familiar with them in moments of crisis.
~The Overstimulated
For further reading, I encourage you to check out some of the source material I used to create this piece.
Vagus Nerve Stimulation: Why Icing It Helps with Anxiety (Psych Central)
Autonomic nervous function during whole-body cold exposure before and after cold acclimation (NIH)
How Do I Tone My Vagus Nerve? (MedicineNet)
Panic Attack Survival Kit by Anna the Anxiety Coach (Instagram)
