ADDICTED 2 COLD

Edition 201
 CHAPTER 1
∏
INTRODUCTION

This book is for those who

wants to venture into the unknown
and experience your true potential.

And ultimately becoming the true

being you are meant to be.

The writings in this book are based

upon scientific studies, and we
only apply what we know work.
So lets get right to it!

-Jim & Svante

 SECTION 1
∏ Cold

QUICK NOTES This takes some time and should be practiced every day.
Water has twentyfive times more thermal conductivity then air, which means less
• Practice every day time is needed to get cool.
• Cool off body with water And also to get warm when needed, we do not recommend using water to heat up
• No cold showers if possible because heating should be done gradually, and preferably by internal thermo-
genesis.
• Barefoot walks
And by the way, skip those nasty cold showers, they are painful and not as cold as
• Rinse hands in cold water you might think (use a thermometer to check how cold your shower really is).
• Shivering will dissapear Over time, doing barefoot walks outside and in the snow, your feet will feel more
and more comfortable, just give it time, and do it several times a day if only for a
minute at a time.
Same with hands, rinse them in cold water, let them heat up on there own, several
times a day. If you are shivering you are adapting.
The shivering phase is a transitional one that soon will pass, the ability to control
your shivering will become stronger and stronger, and soon you will notice that
shivering doesn't occur at all.
That doesn't mean that your not adapting anymore, it just means that you have
gained a greater control of your bodies responses.

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 SECTION 2
∏ Benefits

QUICK NOTES Increased metabolism and fat burn, yes its true, ice baths could raise your
metabolism with as much as 300%.
• Increased metabolism The skill to raise you´re body temperature at will, isnt that fenomenal?
• Increased fat burn It is possible with several types of breathing exercises, some are more effective then
• Superhuman powers others, it depends on what rocks your boat and what you feel comfortable doing.

• Breathing exercises or physical The one we usually use is called g-Tummo (gTum-Mo) or Tummo, we are going to
activity increases body go into detail how to do it later in the book, but remember that it is very exhausting
temperature and could be potentially dangerous if done wrong.
• Save money Also just running or doing physical exercise raises your body temperature.
• Save the planet
You could also save money by cold adaptation, how?
Well, scientist have said that one of the biggest problems in our modern world is
that we get more and more comfortable with indoor temperatures around 20 celcius
or even higher, hence more energy is required to heat all these homes.
And with more energy comes more pollution and toxic waste.
But if you manage to adapt yourself to the cold, you could bring down the
temperature in your home and save both the enviroment and your hard earned
money.

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 ∏
SECTION 3 Harnessing the Elements

QUICK NOTES •Water: The ultimate quick way to cool down, do quick dips and increase time in
water over time, don't expect to sit in an ice bath for 1 hour the first time, get up
• Try to get a cold bath every and get warm when shivering takes over. Try to be cold for at least 1 hour every
day.
day.
• Walk bare feet, and dont wear
gloves.
• Do breathing exercises to be •Air: We breath air, air is the focus of attention when in the water, focus on your
relaxed and to stay focused. breathing and you can control how the body reacts to the cold. Special breathing
techniques are also used when doing long sittings in the snow, these techniques
• Try do use as little external
generate a lot of heat and also produces a slight fever when doing them.
heating as possible after
getting cool, Sauna is better
then bath but internal heat is
better then sauna. •Earth: This is a tricky one, earth is used to also gain control and also to feel
• Don't take swims in ice cold grounded, rooted, and unbreakable really helps when adapting to the cold, don't
water alone, always bring a push it to far because your could hurt yourself.
friend.

•Fire: The fire within is what we are talking about, its about mindset and also
about thermo-genesis, lighting your fire takes time and effort, but over time your
fire will burn a strong red flame within your stomach melting snow and ice
everywhere you walk(joke)

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 SECTION 4 You have decided to do this, you are very confident because
∏ you have came all the way out here and made that hole so
something inside you wants to try it, thats good.

Sensations, and the Motivation is important, dont let friends or peer pressure
throw you in to a potential dangerous situation such as

important 60 seconds icebathing, doing that will hinder your chances of ever
wanting to try this out by your own free will.
Use the breathing technique of you´re choice on land, and try
to keep breathing calm and at the same pace when
submerging yourself, the body has a fight or flight system
So you have decided to embrace the cold, to plunge into a that will activate, and you have to supress the will to flee or
fight. You´re own free will is strong.
frozen lake or submerge yourself in a cold river, excellent!
The body will throw panic at you, and you respond to that
Then you need to know about the different sensations that
panic by breathing calmly, control the breathing thru the
arises from both body and mind from near zero degree water.
nose.
Being prepared is one of the keys to success or failure, it
If you drop the focus, the body will pull the arms and
really depends what kind of person you are. Some people are
shoulders up towards the head and you will begin to
true thrillseekers and daredevils and they will take on every
hyperventilate, breathing fast and uncontrollable and high up
task no matter what the body tells them. This is ofcourse not
in the neck. You´re own thoughts will also try to decieve you,
true for every Joe out there wanting to take a cold swim.
and the fear of death will be there with anxiety. If you have
Every mind and body in different persons are a unique set of ever seen a person with panic, they will have big wide open
tools, none are alike. But let us try to explain our sensations eyes and rapid movements, looking around themselfs all the
from our perspective when we once were fresh time bacause they have chosen either the fight or the flight
coldenthusiasts ready to take a swim! response, that we want to avoid by all cost.
So you have prepared a hole in the frozen lake and you are
looking down on the dark cold water below you´re feet.

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Just let go and be calm, focus you´re eyes on a fixed spot on will also feel a raw and unaltered power from nature,
the ground infront of you, a tree or a bush. And breath. some call it a feeling of wild, like an animal roaring and
being completely free, some call it the feeling of victory,
The first minute is the moment with the most sensations, and
you have beaten both nature and yourself.
if you get thru that minute, it is a free ride with alot of
reward at the end, you have to silence the mind and take You are larger than nature. You are equals that has fought
control, you will feel some or all of these feelings when in the an invigorating battle and you have won.
cold water, both physical and psychological feelings.

Numbing, tingeling, pain, panic, anxiety, remorse and

dread.
Panic and fear portraited
in the painting
”The Scream” by Edvard
After the initial minute and after you have managed to take Munch
control of the situation and you´re body and mind, you find
yourself in complete bliss, almost what some would call a
religious experience, you are one with nature. You know that
you are sitting in a hole with freezing water with the whole
body submerged, but the mind is calm, you feel waves of
endorphins and adrenaline fire at every cell in you. You are
truly awake and scout the surroundings, looking at trees and
plants and listening to the complete silence of nature. The
feelings you will experience now is a bit different from the
initial horrible sensations. You will feel
Bliss, awakeness, power, control, calm, relaxation,
confidence and you will be thankful that you did this. You 0.5 C in the Water.
Calm, one with nature.

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 ∏
SECTION 6 Chemistry

QUICK NOTES Noradrenaline is a neurotransmitter and a catecholamine-type hormone that is

manufactured as a drug and produced naturally in the human body. Also called
• Noradrenaline treats norepinephrine, this hormone acts on the parts of the brain involved with
depression responsiveness and fear. This neurotransmitter is released into the blood from the
adrenal medulla and from nerves called adrenergic nerves. As a drug, control of the
• Noradrenaline increases blood
pressure and heart rate noradrenaline catecholamine is commonly used to treat low blood pressure and
chronic depression.
• Both Noradrenaline and
Endorphins are released when Like other neurotransmitters, the noradrenaline chemical triggers a chain of
taking cold baths neurons when the body needs to spring into action. When the body needs to react
quickly to a stressor, this neurotransmitter increases blood pressure and heart rate,
• Endorphins help us deal with
and gets the muscles ready to escape or fight. Too little of this chemical in the body
stress and pain better.
can cause a person to become lethargic and sleepy. Those with low levels of
• Endorphins is the bodys own noradrenaline generally have difficulty staying awake, concentrating, and paying
morphine or opium. attention to tasks.
Taking an ice cold bath will release this chemical in to your body, and also for some
time after, making cold baths a great moodbooster, i would call it the best
moodbooster there is, no drug comes even close to the sensation you feel when in
cold water and afterwards.
For patients diagnosed with chronic depression caused by an adrenergic deficiency,
doctors sometimes prescribe noradrenaline or drugs that control neurotransmitter
levels and affect the body's reaction to the chemical.

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Endorphins are also released when taking cold baths, this is immune response. With high endorphin levels, we feel less
a quick, effective, and long-lasting way to increase your pain and fewer negative effects of stress.
production of endorphins. All types of exercise cause
endorphins to be released into your bloodstream,
considerably improving your mood. You might have heard of
the famous "runner's high" that marathoners feel during and
after a long run, this high can be achieved by taking cold
baths as well, it feels almost like cheating, because you dont
have to run 30 kilometers and wear out your fancy shoes,
you just have to be able to endure in icecold water for some
time. Endorphins are among the brain chemicals known as
neurotransmitters, which function to transmit electrical
signals within the nervous system. At least 20 types of
endorphins have been demonstrated in humans. Endorphins
can be found in the pituitary gland, in other parts of the
brain, or distributed throughout the nervous system.
Stress and pain are the two most common factors leading to
the release of endorphins. Endorphins interact with the
opiate receptors in the brain to reduce our perception of pain
and act similarly to drugs such as morphine and codeine. In
contrast to the opiate drugs, however, activation of the opiate
receptors by the body's endorphins does not lead to addiction
or dependence.
In addition to decreased feelings of pain, secretion of
endorphins leads to feelings of euphoria, modulation of
appetite, release of sex hormones, and enhancement of the

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 SECTION 7 So if you take a dip in the cold water or drink a glass of cold
∏ water, the body is going be put to work.

Cold for Weight loss Producing that glorious heat we all love.

Cold for weight loss, no its not a get rich quick scheme scam,
this is true and here is the science behind it!

The temperature of ice cold water is about 0-1C

Weight loss is damn simple and just follows 2 rules, Lets call
them the 2 cardinal rules of weight loss, kcal in/kcal out.
That means, as long as you run more then you eat you are
going to stay slim'pickins.
But we all love sweets and bacon right.
It takes 1 kcal to raise 1L of water 1 degree Celsius.
You don't have to skip these, and since we are on the subject
of cold we are going to stick with cold. So in the case of a 0.5 liters glass of ice water, your body
must raise from zero to 37 degrees C. In doing so, your body
The body is about 37C
burns 18,5 kcal. So if you eat 2000 kcal's a day 18,5 isn't a
And the body tries to stay at that temperature at all costs. whole lot.

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But lets rethink that, if we instead drink 2 liters of water Now lets step it up a notch.
every day,(recommended dose of water)
Cold swims, dips and baths are incredible fat burners, and
That translates to 74 kcal every day, which quickly becomes BAT is the key.
740 kcal's in 10 days. The numbers start to add up, if you
Brown Adipose Tissue aka BAT
drink directly from the tap on the coldest setting the water is
going to be between 7-10 degrees C. This is your internal combustion engine, your own heat
producing power-plant. This little baby warms you up before
Which isn't bad either, but if you add ice you get that extra
you start shivering, and the more BAT you have the more
boost. Now drinking cold water has more benefits then being
you can endure without shivering.
a calorie burner, its also improves your tolerance to cold, and
decreases the time to get acclimatized to the cold. The body produces this wonderful tissue on its own when it
feels the need, and you have to create this need, by cold
Kilo-Calories burned
exposure.
Liters of ICE-Water Digested 0,5 - 1.0 C The marvelous thing about it is that it uses white fat as fuel
to heat you up.

150

120

90

60

30

0
1L 2L 3L 4L
10
 ∏
SECTION 8 G-Tummo

QUICK NOTES The practice of heating yourself with inner fire. (We are going through the part of
Tummo that generates heat by breathcontrol, Tummo is an ancient yoga tradition
• Tibetan which contains alot more than just breathing, and we are by far no experts on the
isoteric aspect of tummo, we leave that to the true practitioners of Tummo yoga)
• Means brave female
Inner fire is Tummo in Tibetan, and the literal meaning of tummo is brave female.
• Potentially dangerous
• Skip the spiritual part of it
• Trial and Error ” Tum means courage or bravery; mo, used in Tibetan grammar
• Practice makes perfect as a female modifier, represents the wisdom of non duality.
Tummo is courageous because it destroys all delusions and
• Heat yourself from within
superstitions and female because it enables our subtlest level of
consciousness to realize simultaneously born great blissful
wisdom. This is the essential purpose of tantric practice, and
inner fire can help us to achieve it.”

At first I wasn't sure if i wanted to write this part because of the dangers of doing
tummo in the wrong way, but I figured it was better to give you the correct details
on how to do it, rather then you going on the same long error filled road I had to go
trough getting tummo right.

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 determines how much heat you can build up before you
plateau (See next chapter for details about visualization)
First I want to say that there are 100's of sites online stating
how to do tummo, everyone is an expert in this subject, and IV. Breath through your nose, slow full breath, for a couple
about 99,99% of them are WRONG! of minutes. This is important because the nose warms
the air before entering your lungs, and during this you
have time to get comfortable and to stop wandering
Ancient yoga traditions contain a lot of spiritual stuff and thoughts.
strange ways of describing things but we are going to skip
V. Finding your tummy squeeze. Exhale fully, put your
the non essentials.
hand on your mouth and nose to seal em shut! Inhale,
hard(without being able to) feel the muscles in your
Tummo has little to nothing in common with todays yoga tummy tensing? This is your tummy squeeze
practices, tummo is hard, tummo is tough, and tummo is also VI. Find youre pelvic squeeze. This is the muscles women
scientifically proven to raise your body's temperature. We use to do kegels, its also the muscles used to stop the
put tummo to the test trough trial and error, until we got urine in the middle of a stream. Find it. Squeeze it. Pull
everything right. Here is how to do it. it upwards hard. GOOD!
VII. Exhale fully, inhale fully, hold your breath and squeeze.
I. Sit or stand, whatever suits you, No need for lotus Pulling both pelvic and tummy muscles.
position or some strange yoga snake twisting. VIII. Hold this as long as you can without passing out.
II. Keep your eyes closed, or open, it doesn't really matter IX. Exhale
as long as you stay focused.
X. Repeat, inhale, HOLD and SQUEEZE, and then
III. Try to visualize a flame or the sun or something that you exhale.
can relate to, not to abstract, just make it vivid and clear,
DO NOT SKIP THIS, studies has been done, and this
is important to maintaining your heat, and also The warmth comes when the body starts to build up a lot of
CO2 and O2 starvation sets in. At the first reflex to breath

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during the hold, just hold it a little longer, this is when the
warmth comes, usually it comes somewhere between 30-60
seconds of the hold, depending on your CO2 tolerance.

Common errors are pressure in the head or neck, try tilting

your head forward touching your chest with your chin and
swallow. If this doesn't work try easing of on the stomach
pressure a bit until the pressure drops. Sometimes it takes a
bit of practice to get it right, but with practice comes perfect
right?

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 VISUALIZATION

Yeah, you cant really skip this step. Some feel skeptical about This just doesn't work for everyone, because of television
visualization, but the thing is, it works. and movies the association to fire might just not be the same
as the people who used fire as their only heat source. I just
Think about it, you use visualization every day, just before
cant stop thinking about the fires of Mordor from Lord of
you do something you visualize.
the Rings when visualizing a fire, and that doesn't keep me
When thinking about something you visualize. Think about warm.
that delicious yellow fruit called a lemon, think about holding
it in your hand, slowly moving it to your mouth, open your
mouth wide and just stick your teeth into it and taking a big You have to find your own association to heat, it could be a
juicy, sour bite. Feel the saliva start to gather in your mouth? fire, it could be the sun, it could be your mothers warm hug,
find your own visual heat and focus on that.

Well even if you didn't there is scientific proof that

visualization work. The more you practice your visualization the greater it
becomes, see it, feel it, enjoy it.

And how do we use it to keep warm?

Every time you feel cold start to visualize that heat, feel what
it does to you, transport the heat into your hands, your feet,
This is kind of tricky, in Tummo you are supposed to think all around the body.
about the fire within, visualizing a fire in your stomach.

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When doing Tummo breathing in the cold, you have a lot of
time to focus on your inner heat, it also minimizes the cooling
down effect from the cold between the breathing exercises.

Keep focus, keep warm. Keep visualizing.

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 SECTION 9
BREATH CONTROL & CO2
TOLERANCE

The air we breath contains about 21% O2, but we only

breathe about 5% O2, the rest is expelled, O2 deficiency
is rarely a problem.

The other component of air is CO2, CO2 is an

antioxidant, the increase in CO2 is the ”need to breath
signal” when holding your breath, even though there is
still plenty of O2 left in your lungs, the physiological
need for oxygen doesnt appear until oxygen saturation is
under 65%.

Oxidative stress, the more oxygen your body uses, the

faster the cells are broken down, therefor we need O2.
O2 is not a waste product, as many of us has been led to
believe, it is infact one of our most important
parahormone to perform many tasks on its way from the
mitochondria, where it is produced through the
bloodstream from the lungs, since we can raise and lower
CO2 with simple breathing, we can reach a whole new

xvi
level of understanding. Just like excersicing your muscles Metabolic Regulation: 2-3 breaths/min.
using weights or excercising your cardiovascular system
Recovery Breathing makes an efficient entrance to this with
when running you should excercise your lungs and
pause after exhalation). Increasing CO2 (mild hypercapnia)
circulatory system using breathcontrol/breathing excercises.
to access all the protective effects of CO2: vasodilation,
lactate removal, pH-buffering, oxygen uptake, antioxidant,
lower inflammation gene expression, to name a few. (For
The Spectrum of Breathing Frequencies:
references, see all the previous chapters)
Normal Breathing: 15-25 breaths/min – no special benefits
Meditation / Deep Relaxation: 10-15 breaths/min
Cold Control Breathing: 1 breaths/min
Calming, nice, good feelings. Meditation has benefits beyond
45 seconds breath hold with full lungs followed by 10
just slower breathing. I encourage everybody to meditate and
seconds exhalation followed by 5 seconds of breath holding
especially Mindfulness of Breathing meditation, even while
on empty lungs.
doing the RecoveryBreathing exercise. (Martarelli et.al 2011,
Zeldan et. al. 2011, Kerr et.al. 2013, Goyal et.al. 2014) Soothing and relaxing, calming and feeling of control.
Reduced blood acidosis, oxidative stress and basal metabolic
Autonomic Regulation: 5-6 breaths/min (no pause).
rate, and increased hematocrit, erythropoietin concentration,
Increases vagal tone (social engagement) which includes hemoglobin mass and lung volumes.”
physiological, psychological and emotional results. The
Vagus Nerve is called the Compassion Nerve because when
it is strong we are happy, compassionate and socially Advanced Breath-hold: 0 breaths/min (breath-hold).
engaged human beings. It also stabilize heart rate, lower
Intermediate hypoxia (controlled apnea): “Breath-hold
blood pressure, better digestion, lower inflammation, reduce
divers have shown reduced blood acidosis, oxidative stress
oxidative stress, just to name a few effects of a strong vagus
and basal metabolic rate, and increased hematocrit,
nerve. Using breathing to strengthen the vagus nerve is also
erythropoietin concentration, hemoglobin mass and lung
called Resonant, Coherent or HRV Breathing. (Porges 2006,
volumes.” (Lemaitre et.al. 2003)
Eckberg et.al. 1980, Mason et.al. 2013, Bernadi et.al.
2001,Couck et.al. 2012)

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 SECTION 10
THE VAGUS
Stimulating the vagus.
You know the feeling of splashing your face with cold
water in the morning, the instant rush of energy.
The sensation of being instantly awake!
The vagus nerve is one of 12 cranial nerves. It extends
from the brain stem to the abdomen, via various organs
including the heart, esophagus and lungs. Also known as
cranial nerve X, the vagus forms part of the involuntary
nervous system and commands unconscious body
procedures, such as keeping the heart rate constant and
controlling food digestion.
An excellent way of adapting and triggering your cold
adaptation reflexes is by sticking your face down a
bucket full of ice and water every morning, if you wake
up feeling cold and shivering just put your face in the
bucket for as long as you can hold your breath or stand
the cold and you will feel the sensation of your body
heating up. This is an excellent way to start your
mornings leaving you awake, refreshed and warm.
We

xviii
 THE END

You have reached the end of our book, but the cold
doesnt need to end here.

You can visit our website http://addicted2cold.com

Or come to our Facebook addicted2cold!
We also have a Youtube channel where we publish all of
our cold swims, funny stuff and science.
http://www.youtube.com/c/addicted2cold/

With cold hands and a warm heart, we hope you have

enjoyed reading our work. As we have enjoyed putting
this work together as a book.

/Svante & Jim from Addicted2Cold

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