This is Good For Me

 A couple of years ago I bought an infrared sauna blanket after seeing ads in my Instagram feed.  I am sure that the AI bots had figured out that I was a runner and was therefore obsessed with recovery and improving performance.  Guilty as charged.  I researched the benefits of adding infrared heat to my meager recovery routine and decided that it wouldn't hurt me and might actually help.  This mindset did quaver a bit when the blanket arrived, and buyer's remorse set in.  Would I actually use this thing and how often?  The protocol called for an hour spent in the blanket set at 80 degrees Fahrenheit and to incorporate this into a daily routine.  I read the return policy thoroughly and decided to see how things went, keeping an eye on the calendar to ensure my window of opportunity to return it would not pass.  Within a few days, I realized that I not only enjoyed this time of stillness, I felt great afterward; so much for returning it.  Soon laying in the "burrito blanket" became a daily practice and even through the hottest summer months I continued with my time-outs, just set at a more moderate temperature.  

The one part of this recovery routine that I did have trouble incorporating came after my hour of sweating in the blanket was complete.  To obtain the full benefits, following the hour of heat with a cold shower was recommended.  You would think that after laying around sweating up a storm, a cold shower would be a welcome activity.  When was the last time you were in a shower and the hot water ran out, or you stepped in before the hot water was fully engaged?  Cold showers are not easy to adjust to, no matter what the scenario is.  Me being me, I wanted to ensure that I was getting the full potential from this recovery plan I had set into motion and decided that I would figure out a way to get myself to embrace cold showers.   I have many friends who cold plunge on a regular basis, and I cannot applaud them enough for their ability to walk into frigid water.  I was struggling with stepping into my shower before it was heated up and had the ability to quickly increase the temperature at any moment, unlike what they would face wading into Lake Ontario in the winter.  This knowledge was not enough to spur me into action.  It just made me feel like more of a wimp.  There had to be another way.  

I am a podcast fan and listen to various programs on a regular basis.  It was while listening to one that I had an idea come to me.  I needed a mantra.  Mantras have helped me through many other difficult times in my life, namely during run training and races.  Perhaps finding a mantra for facing cold showers was what I would need to push me into action.  Then came the activity of trying to figure out what motivational phrase would work. "It's not as cold as you think it is".  Nope.  "It's only cold water." Yawn.  "You can do this."  Ugh.  There had to be something that would strike a chord.  Then it came to me "This is good for you."  Hmmmm.  It really summed up what I was trying to get at.  Stepping into this cold shower was supposed to be good for me.  And I am no stranger to making seemingly difficult choices in my life for the greater purpose of my well-being.  So I gave it a try.

The next morning I got out of the burrito blanket, made my way to the bathroom and stripped out of my sweat-heavy clothes (you need to wear a long-sleeved cotton top, cotton pants, and socks while in the blanket).  This was it, the moment of truth.  Would my new mantra actually get me into that cold shower?  I turned on the faucet and set the temperature to low, let the water start to cascade out of the shower head, and in a quiet but steady voice said aloud "This is good for me".  Without hesitation, I took my first brave step over the side of the tub directly into that freezing stream of water.  I felt the breath rush out of me as I stepped into the bracing cascade and then I felt something else.  A sense of calm.  It actually DID feel like it was good for me.  The water slowly warmed up while I cleaned myself off and reflected on what had taken place.  Was this mantra the missing piece of my recovery plan?  Time would tell, and it did.  Since that day I have repeated those words each and every time I prepare to step into that cold shower and each time I feel the same sensations.  The breath rushes out, to be replaced by peace and stillness.

I started to wonder if this same mantra could be useful in other areas of my life where I am finding it hard to move forward.  Facing challenges on a personal, professional, emotional, or spiritual level, I wondered if this tiny phrase could be what I needed to help me remember the reason why I was facing a challenge in the first place.  This is good for me.  Change is good for me.  Discomfort is good for me.  Uncertainty is good for me.  Growth is good for me.  They are all good for me, and although it may not seem that way in the moment, allowing myself to take that faltering first step into the challenge is often what I need to be reminded of my why.