Shapeless Joy Of Cold Water Bath (Mizu-Buro)
On my way to work, I commute on foot.
When I’m walking I’m always listening to podcasts. I want to write about my favorite podcasts some other time, which ones I listen to and why I like them.
But today it is about facing oneself and moments of feeling so alive.
Recently when I was listening to Guardian Books podcast I came across an interview of an English author Samantha Harvey who talked about her latest work “The Shapeless Unease: A Year of Not Sleeping”, a book about her experiences with insomnia, how it affected her thoughts, mental condition and life as a whole and how writing saved her from such unimaginable condition.
In hopes of curing, she talks about trying out wild swimming and its effect on easing her mind. That is jumping into a cold lake and swimming. When she does that her mind gets so clear surrounded by cold water all around her and all she could think about is the cold sensation of being underwater. She tells this method is helping her toward the treatment.
When I heard this method on the podcast it instantly reminded me personally somewhat a similar experiences of my own.
It is the stone cold bath, cold plunge right after a hot sauna.
Well, I have this routine (highly addictive) to regularly go to sauna spas in Tokyo. I would wash my body, go into a sauna room with temperature of 90 – 100 degrees Celsius and feel the pores of skin slowly opening up and sweating.
I would sit still in the room to literally let sweat comes out of all pores, perspiration in serious action, to a level no other activities could achieve.
After about 10 minutes I would come out of the room glittering and approach a pond of life, “Mizu-buro” as we call it in Japan, a bath tab of ice cold water. Splash water to take off the glitter, I would then immerse myself into the bath...
At the moment of serenity, I'm facing my inner self.
Nothing but the coldness of water, flow of blood pumping into my heart could I feel aside. It is this moment I feel I am most alive. Physically and almost spiritually, facing the limit of senses. It is as if you were suddenly awake and saw the world for the first time...
It may not be appropriate to draw my case in relation to Ms. Harvey's, for her it is a method of cure and mine for the purpose of rebirth but what Mizu-buro does, its effect we share I am sure.
And I also wish there would be more people out there to share this experience.
Sauna is a huge phenomenon here in Japan right now.
I would continue the discussion again some other time to promote this “shapeless joy” of this country, Cool Japan in the true sense of the word.
When I’m walking I’m always listening to podcasts. I want to write about my favorite podcasts some other time, which ones I listen to and why I like them.
But today it is about facing oneself and moments of feeling so alive.
Recently when I was listening to Guardian Books podcast I came across an interview of an English author Samantha Harvey who talked about her latest work “The Shapeless Unease: A Year of Not Sleeping”, a book about her experiences with insomnia, how it affected her thoughts, mental condition and life as a whole and how writing saved her from such unimaginable condition.
In hopes of curing, she talks about trying out wild swimming and its effect on easing her mind. That is jumping into a cold lake and swimming. When she does that her mind gets so clear surrounded by cold water all around her and all she could think about is the cold sensation of being underwater. She tells this method is helping her toward the treatment.
When I heard this method on the podcast it instantly reminded me personally somewhat a similar experiences of my own.
It is the stone cold bath, cold plunge right after a hot sauna.
Well, I have this routine (highly addictive) to regularly go to sauna spas in Tokyo. I would wash my body, go into a sauna room with temperature of 90 – 100 degrees Celsius and feel the pores of skin slowly opening up and sweating.
I would sit still in the room to literally let sweat comes out of all pores, perspiration in serious action, to a level no other activities could achieve.
After about 10 minutes I would come out of the room glittering and approach a pond of life, “Mizu-buro” as we call it in Japan, a bath tab of ice cold water. Splash water to take off the glitter, I would then immerse myself into the bath...
At the moment of serenity, I'm facing my inner self.
Nothing but the coldness of water, flow of blood pumping into my heart could I feel aside. It is this moment I feel I am most alive. Physically and almost spiritually, facing the limit of senses. It is as if you were suddenly awake and saw the world for the first time...
It may not be appropriate to draw my case in relation to Ms. Harvey's, for her it is a method of cure and mine for the purpose of rebirth but what Mizu-buro does, its effect we share I am sure.
And I also wish there would be more people out there to share this experience.
Sauna is a huge phenomenon here in Japan right now.
I would continue the discussion again some other time to promote this “shapeless joy” of this country, Cool Japan in the true sense of the word.
