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Writer's pictureThomas P Seager, PhD

Not Just Cold Exposure - *Deliberate* Cold Exposure

Updated: Dec 2


Former Navy SEAL Justin Hoagland shakes the cold water from his face during his deliberate cold exposure (DCE), in his Morozko Forge ice bath.
Former Navy SEAL Justin Hoagland shakes the cold water from his face during his deliberate cold exposure (DCE), in his Morozko Forge ice bath.

Dedication is in your control.


Sick, tired, hurt, cold... . You make the choice.


Dedication doesn’t mean you have to crush it. It just means that you have to show up and shake hands.


Who you are (not the fake projection that you cast out through social media, but who you truly are) will show through in adversity.


Train your mind and body in the art of discomfort, so when adversity stands in front of you, you smile.

 

Putting my mind and body into ice filled water everyday is my way of training to be uncomfortable. Although my skills, mentally and physically, have diminished greatly over the last 3 years because of Multiple Sclerosis, since I started ice water therapy, everything is better. Mood, mentality, fatigue, daily mobility... .

 
Quarterback holds football while evading rushing defenders.
Justin Hoagland (#16, right) pictured in 2006, quarterback for the Catalina High School in Tuscon AZ.

I chose to live a life of discomfort at a young age. When I was a schoolkid, it was sports. In my early 20's, I shifted into Special Operations.


Sniper takes aim through rifle scope.
Ten years later, in 2016, Hoagland was deployed in Mosul, Iraq.

This lifestyle of discomfort was abruptly ripped away from me after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.


My doctor's advice was to "take it easy." So I tried it. After a year of taking it easy all the time, I was withering away.


I finally came to the realization of my life choice to walk hand in hand with discomfort.

 


Deliberate cold exposure is a choice to put your body and your mind in a state of discomfort.

The cold water gives me a daily challenge again--one that is doable even with my new limitations. It gives me the opportunity to face one of my most hated adversaries: Cold Water.


Today, the cold was beating me. I muttered to myself, “I’m not feeling it today.”


At this point I was defeated and wanted out of the cold. Instead, I went headstrong into dark cold depths--you could say into the belly of the beast.


I took my final breath and smiled at Adversity as the cold water swallowed me.


Adversity is how you find yourself because Adversity is the only one who truly knows you.

 

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