‘On the couch’ with Jasminda

DEAR Jasminda,

I’m thinking of getting an ice bath for stress relief. Do you have any views on this?

Gavin H.

Oh, Gavin,

Sometimes I read a conundrum and my first thought is, yes, I have views on this, but do you really want to know them?

I have no qualifications in ice-bath therapy, so please take my advice as it is intended i.e. a good dose of common sense. Gavin, I’m fortunate enough to live within driving distance to the beach (and I’m not alone – over 80 percent of Australia’s population lives within 50km of the coast), so something that astounds me is people making money from cold water immersion products or costly ice bath sessions at beachfront locations, when many of us can already enjoy similar benefits by plunging into the ocean.

I just don’t see how you can get any stress relief knowing you are submerged in a high-density polyethylene tub with some ice blocks thrown in.

I also reckon it would be disconcerting to have Sven the influencer perched next to you, knowing his Insta reel is going to

need some serious filter action after he’s turned a whiter shade of pale.

I know that I wouldn’t be able to get any health benefits from an ice bath, not only because I would be wondering if I was going to have a heart attack, but also because I’d be pondering the fact that most portable ice-baths will one day be landfill, the effects of which are going to last a whole lot longer than any short-term stress relief gains.

And I’m confident, that as I reached the point of hypothermia, I’d be consumed with a vision of the plastic breaking up (not breaking down) into tiny pieces and ending up in the ocean (yes that aforementioned free cold water immersion source — do you see where I am going with this?).

I’m sorry if I have deflated you more rapidly than a stick lodged in a portable ice bath, but If you must get one, could I urge you to have a trial run by putting ice into your home bath or laundry tub?

You may not even enjoy the experience, and nothing is sadder than an unrealised dream, except, perhaps, a fad that exits the mainstream and ends up in a sad heap on the verge ready for the next council clean up.

Carpe diem,
Jasminda.