Cold Plunge for Cancer, Make it a Habit
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Let’s say you’ve read my blog on cold water plunging and cancer related benefits or that you’ve familiarized yourself with the benefits of exercising with cancer. Perhaps shortly there after you committed to one or two cold immersion sessions, and tried to make exercise a habit. But why is it that forming habits are so hard? Why is that despite knowing what you should do, consistency is so challenging. Research shows that despite being aware of what we need to do, we often make choices that consistently undermine our well-being. (Duckworth and Milkman).
We often think that we just need to kick ourselves into high gear, set those January resolutions and be more disciplined. Unfortunately, in all actuality, habits are hard. The act of implementing a new behaviour even on a small scale, is actually very difficult. The month of march often reveals this to us, as most of our resolutions fall to the way side. We forget to understand that habit formation is environmentally dependent and even trickier when there are barriers.
Cold Plunging Consistently is HARD.
How Can You Make it Easier for Yourself?
Take a cancer diagnosis as an example, it has innumerable barriers: the many appointments, symptoms of pain, fatigue and anxiety etc. Exercising and cold plunging are hard commitments for a regular person, so we can imagine that it’s even harder when cancer has many associated barriers. Fatigue, dizziness, neuropathies, pain or lack of motivation are a few common barriers cancer patients report. Additional barriers may be present, such as a lack of understanding of what might be considered safe cold plunging or safe exercise.
The well-respected psychologist Dr. Daniel Kahneman is a researcher in the area of decision making. Many public policies are founded on the concept that if you just educate on the recommended behaviour, then the correct behaviour will follow. Dr. Kahneman’s research has shown, If behaviour was merely a rational response; we would see people exercising daily and following the health advice they know would help them. Unfortunately, this just isn’t so, cold plunging and exercise is tough to show up for.
Habit Formation Works Best by Making Behaviours Easier!
Let’s use Daniel Kahneman’s concept of behaviour. Imagine it as an equilibrium: balancing 2 forces: restraining and driving.
Fortunately threats, negative self-talk and in other words, ‘pushing the driving forces’ is rarely effective. Getting frustrated at yourself for not cold plunging enough or carrying shame around inconsistent practice doesn’t help. Instead, try focusing on the restraining forces and how they could decrease.
In other words, behaviours and habits can best be made easier by making them easier! Here are some examples of valuable questions you could ask yourself in hopes to make change easier and lessen the barriers of cold plunging:
1) Why haven’t I been able to cold plunge consistently?
2) How can I change the cold plunge environment to better support the habit?
3) How can I make it easier to plunge more consistently? Can I shorten the timeframe, adjust my expectations or change the location? Can I have my bathing suit and towel out and ready ahead of time each day?
4) How can I add meaning to how this habit may better my well-being? Can I think bigger than myself, and understand how the benefits of this habit may impact others?
Here at the cancer physio, we try to meet patients where they are at, offering personalized medicine. Personalized rehab doesn’t just mean planning specific to a diagnosis and stage, it also means that we take the time to understand what habits can be made easy and which may be hard. By integrating a personalized approach, small habits can become consistent, and turn into permanent behaviours, changing lives for the better.
Personalized rehab goes beyond a pamphlet, we help you form habits big and small.
Charles Duhhig in “The Power of Habit” speaks to habits as ‘habit loops’. A habit loop is a breakdown including a cue, a behaviour, and a reward. To create long term change, these daily habit loops need to simply add up. One plunge is good but it’s the regular act of cold immersion that has clear benefits. A side from the above strategies on making habits easier, below are strategies to help build habit loops over time.
Here are some habit forming tips to keep showing up to those plunges:
Cues matter
Clothes/towels can be laid out ahead of time and/or family members are informed on the plunging timeline taking place that day.
Set up your environment and/or schedule to trigger an action that can become a habit. Routines work.Rewards matter
Always finish with a reward, the brain remembers the last part of experiences therefor causing us to crave the habit loop again.
i.e. always finish a plunge with a very ‘feel good’ experience such as a hot tea, your favourite cozy sweater or favourite music
Beliefs matter
You have to believe that the habit is valuable and understand it intrinsically.
i.e. stay informed on how to cold plunge safely and follow the science; in this way you have no confusion about its value.
Small habits matter
Small change can lead to behaviours that snowball into big changes.
i.e. understand your barriers of treatment; be realistic with yourself. Set small goals and start there. Maybe the plunges are only 2 min to start, and/or just a cooler shower. Carving the time for the habit is the foundation for it to grow; it doesn’t have to be perfect to have value.
Willpower matters but can be learned
Be strategic, learn your energy cycles and optimize your day for the most important things.
i.e. understand your phase of treatment and what to expect, removing the shame from failure. Use strategies, reflect on how you failed, change the schedule or place. Use accountability from friends, family or the cancer physio to keep optimizing for success.
With some reflection on how to make the behaviour easier, and tips on habit loops, we can all improve our ability to make small changes. We can do hard things. Although habits are hard and uncomfortable cold plunges are even harder, we all know that when something is uncomfortable it’s probably because it’s working!
Thank you for your interest in science and rehab.
Kindly, The Cancer Physio
