“You cannot study this without trying, so you have to get into the water.”

On this edition of the Oxygen Advantage® Podcast, Patrick and Daniel are joined by research scientist, cold immersion specialist and author of new book ‘Winter Swimming: The Nordic Way Towards a Healthier and Happier Life’, Dr. Susanna Søberg PhD.

A scientific researcher, Susanna’s studies originally focused on metabolism and more specifically, brown fat, the body’s healthy fat that helps regulate temperature. As part of the research she started looking at how the brown fat reacts to various cold situations such as cold air on your skin or entering a cold room. This eventually led her to look at cold water immersion and ice swimming, a well-known pastime pursuit in her own home of Denmark and throughout Scandinavia.

After facing her fear and entering the water, Susanna soon learned the importance of breathing when putting the body into such an extreme environment. She says that there are big health advantages to cold water immersion and that everyone taking part could benefit greatly from learning to breathe calmly and lightly during cold water immersion.

Susanna takes Patrick and Daniel through how cold temperatures affect people differently, how important controlling your breathing is in dealing with the cold, how commonly cold water immersion is used around the world for health benefits and much more.

Winter Swimming: The Nordic Way Towards a Healthier and Happier Life is available from all good book stores.

For more information on breathing for health and performance, visit the Oxygen Advantage® website.

Check out Spotify or your local podcast provider to listen to more of the OA Podcast. https://open.spotify.com/show/5XTS4B3ODaEfsbNOBmYb6d