So today I did something many would consider a bit crazy… I woke up at the crack of dawn, and met a group of fellow awesome humans and at 7.15am, we all immersed ourselves in the 8.9 deg Celcius Atlantic Ocean for a full 20 minutes! (Take into account that here in almost wintery Cape Town (CT), the sun only rises at 7.25am!)… So why would we do this to ourselves and what’s the end goal you may ask?

A very dear friend of mine introduced me to this activity and it’s taken me just over half a year to prepare myself to take the plunge – literally! The experience of undressing in an already pretty cool environment to submerge yourself into an even cooler environment is definitely a mind over matter thing. Having experienced this awesome phenomenon for the first time a week ago, 27 April, which is celebrated in South Africa as Freedom Day, was a pretty massive step for me. Doing something so foreign, daring, brave and completely out of my comfort zone was a baptism of sorts to this new chapter of my life.

What definitely psyched me up was not only my friend, but the community of fellow swimmers that perform this ritual daily, and many having done it for over 5 years or more; and the bulk of them definitely a bit more mature in age than me! And so I thought, if they can do it, why can’t I? Yes it was cold! Freezing actually… it feels like a massive shock to your systems with thousands of pins and needles all over your body. But then, after 2-3 minutes, there is this amazing warmth all over your body, sans your hands and feet. But with an amazingly supportive and encouraging group supporting me, I was able to not only enjoy the experience, but stay for the full 20 minutes for both times in some of the coldest recorded temperatures since the summer months!

With life so full of challenges, the sense of community, support coupled with the right environment and mindset can make the world of difference. After last week’s dip, I was so energised and revitalised that even though I was shivering for a half hour after, I felt like I could take on the world for the rest of the day and week thereafter – hence my need to go back again this week!

Immersion is the act of immersing someone or thing in a liquid; or a deep mental state of involvement in something such as music, an experience such as travel or food or language. With the culture of busy-ness being lauded in today’s culture, how often does one – including you – immerse yourself fully into an activity, let alone do something a bit out of your comfort zone every now and then?

So today, I challenge you – choose an activity or thing to IMMERSE yourself in and set a date to do it. Do something out of you comfort zone. Do it now rather than have a life filled with what ifs and regrets, and embrace the art of living life through amazing moments! If we can do it, so can you…

Much love always, Poonam

5 May 2022