84: Why I Quit Alcohol & Started Cold Therapy - Ciaran Flanagan

84: Why I Quit Alcohol & Started Cold Therapy - Ciaran Flanagan

Ciaran: I'm kind of controversial in this, but my favorite protocol is actually cold plunging after a workout and right before bed. 

Michael: What are some of the key benefits that you are after? 

Ciaran: Why do you plunge? For the focus and, um, mental acuity that I get from it. So I get into cold plunge and I head dunk. And the reason why I do that is it enhances the dopamine and neuroepinephrine effect.

And it active activates the memory and die reflex. 

Extra: Sharon Flanagan is the founder of Energize Health. A seven figure wellness brand transforming recovery with innovative, portable cold plunge therapy. Originally from Ireland, Kieran leveraged his engineering expertise, designing cooling systems for gas turbines, to develop cutting edge products that enhance both physical and mental performance.

Ciaran: And with Breathwork, you're forced into presence. Just like the cold, you're forced into presence. You have to think about nothing but your breath and like where you 

Michael: are. If you had to pick one cold plunging or, or breath work for whatever benefits you're after, which one would you pick? Alrighty. Hey, Karen.

Thanks so much for joining me on the show today. I'm super excited. Um, we had a bit of an email exchange before and you told me about your, uh, your sobriety and how transformative that was. Um, for your life and, you know, and so I'd like to hear more about how, what was the transformative nature of that and what did it mean to you in a sense of, you know, ending up where you are today with, you know, being deep into cold plunging, cold water immersion, um, breath work, you just mentioned before we started, uh, recording that you, uh, Uh, took part of one of the Wim Hof workshops, you know, um, I'm super excited about that because that's also on my bucket list.

So, uh, maybe let, you know, tell me a little bit about your, yourself, your history, your, your struggle with, or lack thereof with sobriety and how that led to where you are today. And then we dive right into. Cold plunging into some of the lesser known benefits, maybe some of the science that you've come across and same done with breathwork.

You know, I think breathwork is such an underrated tool that we all can use. It's for free, you know, and so let's talk about that more than as well. 

Ciaran: Yeah, I, I feel like. Alcohol is a poison. And for me, it was chipping away at my, my productivity and my potential. Uh, I, from coming from Ireland, that's in my culture, like drinking pints, like it's just part of what we do.

And it got to the point where I was partying all summer and I got COVID and I had a time to reflect and I realized alcohol had such a negative impact on my momentum and my focus

It just increases inflammation it for me. I had a lot of brain fog and not much mental clarity and emotional regulation. And I was like, okay, let me see if I what what happens if I stop. So I stopped for 1 month. I saw all the benefits of just like. clear head, no fog, better focus, more energy, better libido.

And I was like, why am I even drinking? So it was just a clear day and night, uh, comparison. And top of that, I looked at my O Ring scores at the time I had O Ring. So it's a interesting comparison of when I drank alcohol, my sleep scores were absolute. Garbage. I was in the 60s. And then after stopping drinking, you can see it just spike up like 20%.

And that was just a clear indicator that what I was doing was not working. And how I was feeling did correlate to the ordering data. And I just decided to continue on that path and stop drinking. And it helped me remain focused and build energized to where it's at today. 

Michael: So when you say drinking, how much did you drink?

How often did you drink? And did you consider yourself to be an alcoholic or just a, like the average Irish dude? I would say I 

Ciaran: was just average Irish dude. I would have, I don't know, like 10, 10 drinks the weekend. And, uh, it would, That like that just in one night, so it'd be just one night and that that would affect me for the rest of the week, like, you'd kind of be recovering on Monday, Tuesday, and maybe Wednesday, you feel good again, but then you do it all over again at the weekend.

So you just go back in this cycle. So. I was an alcoholic, but I just didn't have a healthy relationship with it. Like I, I never went for one pint. Like I could never see the benefit of just going for one pint. Like you just get one, one drink, you get excited, you're with the boys and you just end up drinking more.

So, uh, yeah, for me, it was just, I had to cut it all out to, to, to, to, yeah, just to get rid of it. 

Michael: So you're not drinking at all now? 

Ciaran: Like, uh, no, not, not, yeah, I don't, I don't drink alcohol anymore. All right. I 

Michael: remember back in the days when I was younger, you know, I did not see the point either in drinking only one, you know, for me, it was like, I would drink as much as possible, but I always made it home before midnight.

You know, for me, I'm like, at least I get to sleep, you know, enough hours. But obviously that only mitigates the downsides of the alcohol consumption for so much, but yeah. I do remember that, you know, I would just, you know, I don't know if I've ever 10 drinks. I don't think that even beer, I could handle 10, but, um, but yeah, I mean, you know, based on my, I guess, um, my, my personal limits, I drank a lot too on the weekend for a brief period in my life.

Um, and. I still look back and I'm like, how on earth did I even function properly? You know, and the thing is, if you don't know any better, if you think, okay, that the performance is what it is, right? That's your baseline. You don't necessarily understand that you could be performing significantly better.

If alcohol wasn't part of the equation, um, right. And that's a really, exactly until you see the difference. I'm like, Ooh, you know, that's how I'm supposed to feel. That's, I'm supposed to perform it. Um, and then obviously it's, you know, for some people, at least that's enough to say, you know what, I'm, I'm going to make some changes.

Um, and so you, you said that was during COVID, but it's only a couple of years ago, right? How are you? It was, 

Ciaran: it was, it was right after COVID. So it was like that, that year, like everything opened up and it was that summer. So, yeah, everyone, everyone got excited. We can talk to people. Um, and a lot of, we meet up for a lot of socializing that they couldn't happen during their lockdown.

So, yeah, we, we just got carried away. 

Michael: And so you were still in Ireland at the time. 

Ciaran: Uh, no, I was in America. 

Michael: Oh, you were already here. Okay. 

Ciaran: Gotcha. Yep. 

Michael: Okay. So you, you just live the Irish life here in the U. S. Yeah. All right. Fair enough.

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Michael Kummer: All right. So no more, no more, no more alcohol. Um, what do you think in terms of, I heard in, um, I don't remember the name of the book now, but a buddy of mine recently told me that he stopped drinking after reading this book, The Naked Mind, I think it was called, and it kind of, uh, digest or it dissects the reasons why people are consuming alcohol.

I mean, there are obviously a number of reasons, but very often it's, uh, it's only a handful of reasons, you know, some people drink because they feel like, you know, if they don't drink with their, you know, with their pals, then, you know, they are losers or whatever the case may be. They want to fit in, you know, they drink because everyone is drinking.

Um, some people drink to, you know, forget to wind down to, you know, whatever the reason might be. But, you know, once you're, In that book, at least once you read that and you really find out what are the true reasons why you're doing this, then apparently it becomes relatively easy, easy, comparatively speaking to say, you know what, I don't really, those are not good enough reasons, you know, I don't need that.

Um, and so that's what my, what my body did, um, successfully. And, uh, 

Ciaran: what was his, uh, what was his strategy for, for stopping then? Or like, what was his reason? 

Michael: Um, that's a very good, I don't even, I'm not sure if he told me his exact reason, but the, the high level reason was like, you know, to, to basically, you know, calm down and even a wind down, you know, after a stressful day and.

Kind of, you know, I mean the reason why I, I never drink 10 drinks, you know, if I have one and a half glasses of wine, you know, I'm already pushing it, uh, to not, to not see the negative impact in my sleep. And then, uh, you know, the following day, um, but I, I do truly enjoy the taste of, of, of red wine, um, much like I don't like the taste of beer, you know, um, I do like the taste and then this, this immediate or this initial feeling of where.

You know, you feel the effect of the alcohol where like, it's almost like, you know, Oh, i'm gonna let whatever pissed me off five minutes ago. It's good kind of you know, and obviously that same feeling What most people don't realize is you can get with With other things, right? You can, I mean, I would argue that, you know, jumping into a cold plunge and then getting out and, and feeling this, this effect that you, that you feel after getting out of the cold and slowly warming up again, and, you know, the endorphins, you know, coming out.

I'm like, I feel really good right now. So you can, you can do that. You know what I mean? It's obviously a little bit less convenient than having a glass of wine and sitting on the couch. But the net effect is pretty much the same. And then breathwork, I mean, I would argue can get it to the same, uh, to the same spot, right.

And maybe let's take that as a cue to talk a little bit about your cold plunging, uh, breathwork experience, what you've seen, how it has worked for you. And then, you know, dive into some of those. Maybe lesser known benefits that most people don't think about. 

Ciaran: Yeah. So I actually did my first breathwork experience in Colombia and I find myself at this event, Wim Hof event, ice bath and breathwork out of loneliness.

To be honest. I was searching just for a community. I've been traveling for a year. Went, went to this event, uh, and we went through some breath work and right after I just felt my, my energy surge and I felt clear headed, like all my worries had gone and I just felt a lot of motivation to get in the plunge, which I was actually not going to get into.

I wasn't going to do it, so I felt that confidence and that energy and I. It actually gave me the motivation to get into the cold plunge. Um, but what the breathwork does, it, it, it also trains you like your nervous system. It activates your, your nervous system by switching your sympathetic state to the parasympathetic state, which is what happens when you get in the cold plunge.

You hyperventilate when you get in the cold plunge, and then eventually you get into that meditative state where you're calm, cool, collected around the two minute mark. And That's exactly what happens in the breath work. So when you do breath work before the cold plunge, it, it, it regulates your nervous system to deal with the stress.

So breath work is, you're hyperventilating just like in the cold plunge and you're doing these breath holds. So you're simulating, uh, the, the, the fight or flight and then the rest and digest. So when you do that right before the cold plunge, your body's already adjusted to deal with, uh, stress and. So when you get in the cold plunge, you're, you're, you're not going to be as jarred when you get in there.

You're going to be, um, more relaxed. You're going to get into that. Relaxed it a lot quicker. Um, and that's why I use it with people who I do events with. Um, we do events every, every 2 weeks here, bring people to my house. We do the breath work. A lot of people. It's just their first time. Uh, but the breath work gets them.

Um, it gets them in the right zone and oxygen to the body. It trains their nervous system right before they get in and it just makes it a little bit easier before they get in there. So gotcha. All right 

Michael: Yeah, and funny enough that you say it because my very first cold plunge was in in freezing cold water with like 33 degrees And there was this lady kind of, you know Walking me through this ritual right and i'm like, you know, I don't need any of those, you know, voodoo thing, you know I'm Just gonna do it.

But honestly, i'm so glad that I I, I allowed her to walk me through this, you know, it was, you know, some, some breathing and denied my eyes closed and it was kind of, you know, preparing me to maybe already go through, you know, the first, uh, stage of like, you know, when you have the five stages of, I always say, you know, when you get in the first, in the code branch for the first time, you've got to go through those five stages of grief, you know, until you, you, um, end up at acceptance.

I'm like, okay, I'm good. You know, nothing bad is going to happen. And so it kind of, I think it helped me to cycle through those already. Before getting in, as you just said, you know, once you're in, you're already in this, in this calm, collected kind of state and you're okay, you know, you're accepting what is happening to you and you know that I don't need to freak out, it's, it's good, it's okay, um, and And I don't think most people do that.

Um, I think most people just, you know, they try to get in and they, you know, freak out, maybe get out immediately or, you know, never do it again or go only in the halfway and, you know, and then stop because the water is too cold or whatever. And yeah, I wish that more people would focus on, on that breathwork.

Is there a specific, you know, you mentioned, you know, like intentional hyperventilating and breath holds. Is there a specific like pre cold plunge protocol that people can, you know, find and, and, and, and use? 

Ciaran: Yeah, so it's it's uh, just the Wim Hof method. It's 3 to 4 rounds of, of, uh, belly breaths. So if you imagine your, your, your breath going into your belly and you're taking big diaphragmic breaths and you're doing 30 of those and you're doing breath holes at the very end of that, the 30th breath, and then you take a big inhale in and then you tense and you hold it for like 30 seconds and then release.

So you do that three, three times and it just. Reset your nervous system, get your body oxygenated, and get you ready for the cold. But yeah, I do really, um, I do really agree with what you say, is just make it, make it easier. Like, uh, getting the cold plants is hard enough, and it's, it's all about reducing the friction.

Like, I, honestly, I was Struggling to get in the cold plunge, uh, the start of the start of this year, like I'd been on vacation, hadn't been cold plunging and I was like, I just wasn't consistent and I read the book, uh, the comic habits and one of the things is make it easy. Uh, I wasn't making it easy. I was going down to my boxers.

It was winter time and it was just an absolute nightmare. I didn't want to get in there at all. So I was like, okay, how do I make it easier? I'm gonna put on joggers, gonna put a hoodie on, I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna make it attractive, I'm gonna have coffee right before, and then it just, it just makes the whole experience, um, easier.

And right now, when I, when I put on my joggers, I know what's gonna happen, like, it's acute. Right. So. Just, just remove the friction. And if you've got to go for a high temperature just to get that habit, uh, started like in, in the 60 degrees, 55 degrees, whatever it is, I know it's not a bragging rights at that stage, and you probably shouldn't tell anyone, but it's going to get you started and you can eventually lower the temperature down.

Yeah, 

Michael: I totally agree. I've seen that in Adara. Fortunately, I've, I do have those days where I'm like, I don't really want to do this, but I know that whenever I tell myself this, I know that I have to do it because I want to overcome that. I don't wanna. Um, but there, there are days where I'm like, you know what, today, maybe I'm only going to stay in a minute or two minutes or however long, you know, like shorter than I would usually do just so I get it done.

And I booked that mental win. So then tomorrow. It's going to be easier because I already did it the day before rather than not doing it at all. And then you're kind of, you, you keep pushing that, that, you know, that initial call plunge, you know, ahead of you, instead of just getting it over with to in whatever shape or form book the success and then do better maybe the following day.

Ciaran: Right. Yeah. I think it's just like keeping keeping the streak going. Like when you stop. It's just a lot harder to get in your head. You're like, Oh, let's take another day. So I do agree with like, keep keeping the streak going. What is your protocol for, for cold plunging? 

Michael: Um, we usually do it before working out in the morning.

So, uh, I want to leverage that, you know, Tesla's drone boosting benefits of pre cooling, so to say. And so we do it two to three minutes, um, in the morning. And then we go straight to workouts. Um, sometimes if it's not a pre workout plunge, um, I typically combine it with contrast therapy. So I do, you know, sauna, cold sauna, cold, um, at least two cycles if we have more time than more often.

Um, but that's usually. And at the post sauna is, I really like that a lot because you're so hot and overheated. You kind of want to get into the cold to cool down, so it doesn't feel terrible. It's really, it's, it's actually nice to get into the cold and then back into the sauna. Right. Um. But yeah, the brutal, the brutal one is typically the one in the morning when, especially when it's cold outside.

I mean, here in Georgia, we don't get terribly cold temperatures, but you know, we've had, you know, maybe low twenties or so, um, two or so weeks ago. And then, as you said, you know, if you walk down in your, in your, in your trunks and, you know, otherwise naked and the wind is blowing and it's super, super cold, I'm like.

Really why I'm doing this. Exactly. Like, yeah, let's maybe, you know, I don't know, do something else real quick before. So I kind of, you know, can delay the certain evening 

Ciaran: time. 

Michael: Uh, exactly. I, you know, that's another thing because people, you know, a lot of people, um, under the, are under the impression that plunging in the evening can disrupt your sleep.

And I would agree that. You know, I would not necessarily get out of the plunge and then go right to bed, um, because it, it likely will negatively impact your ability to fall asleep just based on your, you know, changes in core temperature, but I've seen if, if I plunge like two hours before, especially at the end of a very stressful day, if I just go in.

It helps me relax and, and reset a little bit. So then the evening is much more relaxed and I kind of, it's almost like I leave my stress in the cold, right? Mm-hmm. Once I get out, I kind of, you know, it, it, it goes away and I'm like a new person. So I, what, what do you think about that? What have, 

Ciaran: what? So, one of my, what, like, I'm, I'm kind of, uh, controversial in this, but my favorite protocol is actually co engine after a workout and right before bed.

Mm-hmm . And the reason being, yeah. I want to cope. I want to work out every day and sometimes I work so I the workout is the only the only option I have is working on it. So if I work on it and then go to bed, I'm just not going to sleep well. And it's just like this cycle. So if I, if I call phones right after the workout, even though I know it's going to maybe blunt the muscle gains a little bit, I'd rather get it done.

Um, but get into right after the workout, it reduces my, okay. My, my core temperature reduced my heart rate and I'm able to go to sleep a lot quicker right after it. Um, and I'd rather get like an extra few workouts a week doing that, um, rather than like missing a workout and saying, oh, it's too late. Um, but yeah, I, I, that's one of my favorite protocols.

Michael: And I think that's a, that's, that's a important, you know, for, for listeners, because a lot of people say, well, you know, now is that the perfect time. So let's rather not, you know, I think I'd rather cold plunge, um, or get that workout in or, you know, do whatever. Even if it might not be ideal for everyone, you know, and again, you know, this is very, I think also very per everyone responds differently, you know, to certain protocols.

Some people like to eat before working out. Some people work out faster. You know, there are so many different ways of doing it. I think it's more important to do it than to worry about, you know, the exact or perfect timing. Maybe, you know, if there are days when, I mean, life is not, it's not perfect. And I think also from an ancestral perspective.

You know, there was no planning. Oh, I'm going to get cold now before, before I'm going to, you know, hunt down that saber tooth tiger. No, you know, stuff happens, you know, in whatever order it happens. And I think you need to be flexible and you need to, I really like that concept of intermittent living where I do things.

Intermittently and also in a, not really a random, but in that, you know, quasi random order where don't always do the same thing, not always plunging before the workout, not always after, not always, you know, eating in a certain, uh, manner, try to mix it up because at the end of the day, you know, we need to keep our bodies guessing so they can adapt and become more resilient and be okay with whatever.

You know, it's happening, you know, instead of saying, Oh no, I cannot work out because I didn't have my banana, you know, I mean, dude, you know, just get the job done and worry about your banana later, you know, and the same, I think goes with cold plunging and sauna bathing and, and, and, and everything in between.

Ciaran: Yeah, no, I definitely agree when you talked about that, it just reminded me of, yeah, you just need to keep on changing, like make, make it, make it harder. Well, I know when you're at one, one, one, uh, temperature, you just, for me, I was at like 40 degrees for a while and I didn't think dropping the temperature was going to do much difference, but dropping it at three degrees, like you can feel that, that kick of epinephrine a lot, a lot more.

I know you said before in one of your podcasts that you got a cold plunge where it was full of ice and. You didn't think there was gonna be much difference from a 39 degree, uh, cold plunge versus ice, and it's just testing these things and seeing what works for you and like how it affects you and like how you feel after.

I think it's just all. It's just like, everyone's different, so you just need to test out and see how you feel. 

Michael: Yes, and I also think that, you know, I respond differently on different days, depending on, you know, maybe how well I've slept, you know, what I've eaten. I don't know what, what all the factors are, but I can definitely tell sometimes the cold plunge feels.

Suckier than a lot of days, you know, even if the temperature might be a little bit higher. It feels worse You know, I shiver maybe sooner or I I really don't want to get in even though, you know The environment the way it's set up is would be conducive to to doing that, but I don't feel like it You know, so there are a lot of different factors involved And again, you know, I don't think you you wanna get Hang up too much hung up on, on the details.

Just get that stuff done, you know, and, uh, speaking of getting it done, what is, what are some of the key benefits that you are after? Why do you plunge? I mean, there are so many health benefits, but what is it? Yeah, that you like my, 

Ciaran: yeah. My main protocol is first thing in the morning, 20 minutes within waking up, I get in the cold plunge, uh, right now it's at 37 degrees and I go in for three minutes.

The reason being, I get knocked out straight away in the morning and. I always get it done because we're like life doesn't get in the way I get it. I get it ticked off. Um, and another reason why I do it in the morning is for the focus and, um, mental acuity that I get from it. So I get in the cold plunge and I had dunk.

And the reason why I do that is. It enhances the dopamine and neuroepinephrine effect, and it activates the mammalian di reflex. So, it slows your heart rate down, it, um, it puts the blood to your vital organs a lot quicker. Therapists actually recommend it to people with anxiety, um, because it activates the parasympathetic state immediately.

Um, and I just get all these things done in the morning. I just, like, get out, and I'm just like, okay, I'm ready to attack the day. And it's just that discipline thing, like, I don't want to Head dunk in 37 degree water right, right when I wake up, um, but I think it's just a mental, um, self discipline thing that builds like confidence in yourself.

Like I can, I can tackle this, I can tackle whatever it's got, whatever is going to come my way this, this, this day. Yeah. So yeah, I mainly use it for focus and for the energy boost it gets, gives me in the morning and pair that with coffee. I'm just off, off to the races. 

Michael: My wife actually the other day said, you know, in the, it was in the afternoon and she said, you know, I kind of feel really sluggish and stuff.

And I'm like, just go down, put your head in a cold plunge, you know, don't. You don't have to go in all the way, just put your head in and be like, really? I'm like, yeah, do it. And she did it. And she's like, what a difference that makes, you know, just your, your face or your head doesn't have to be the entire body.

I mean, obviously, you know, to get the full benefits of the cold brunch experience, you want to be, you know. All in. Yeah. But if you're just feeling like sluggish and you need a jolt of energy without, you know, necessarily relying on, on caffeine or other stimulants, just get your face into cold water and you'll wake you, you'll be awake immediately.

Oh yeah. 

Ciaran: I mean, your, your face, your, your, your head has like the, the most concentration of nerves. So putting your face in there, I feel like if you don't head dunk, you're not doing it right. You're, you're, you're missing on half the benefits. So get, get your head in there, head dunk, and you're going to feel, feel a lot better.

Michael: Yeah, funny enough. I don't know why I did this or when I started doing this, but I usually head dunk before getting out. Um, yeah, so I typically, you know, I am in for my two, three minutes, whatever. And then I, I head dunk and I get out. Um, and I'm like, I wonder if there is a, I have to change it up and then do it before and see if, if it makes a difference.

Ciaran: Once, once you go in, so I, I've been thinking about that as well. It's obviously a lot harder because you're, you're going from zero to like a thousand when you like head dunk. So, but I do think it would be probably the next stage, like doing it right before, right, right, right when you get in there, it's going to be hard.

Right. Um. Yeah, I know, um, I have a customer who's a pro BS ball player and that's his protocol. Like, he gets in, head dunks straight away and holds his head under there for like 10 to 20 seconds. And I asked him, why do you do that? He's like, I don't, I don't know about the health benefits, but I know it's hard as shit.

And I want to do the hardest thing to free grab a badass. 

Michael: So breathwork. Um, so you do your cold plunge in the morning. When do you do breathwork? Before every cold plunge? Or you don't do it anymore before because you're used to it already? 

Ciaran: Yeah, it's just a bit of a it takes a bit of time. So it takes like 1520 minutes.

I I would I would do it once a week just to on a Saturday or Sunday when I'm doing my my own like kind of recovery protocol and it just helps more more so to reset my nervous system and and like clear out my mental clutter because it's just a really intense. Meditation, I feel like, um, and I, I go really deep with it.

Um, I, I feel like with meditation, I, I get like, I can't go that deep in it. Like it takes a long time to get into it. And with breathwork, you're forced into presence, just like the cold, you're forced into presence. Like you have to like, you have to think about nothing but your breath and like where you are.

So. Yeah. I, I would just do it once a week. I, I lead people through it. Who's, who's the first time. Cause I know it's, it's, it makes it easier for them. Um, but for me, um, yeah, it's, it's just more for, uh, like, uh, a nervous system reset and, um, just to help with like stress of the week. 

Michael: So once a week is enough for you to kind of get back to baseline and then, you know, let us, I guess, stress accumulate again for the following weekend and rinse and repeat.

Ciaran: Yeah, I mean, like the cold plunge helps with the stress like that, that, that, that, that helps, um, if I'm doing that every day, like, I feel like I don't really need much else. Like, it's, it's, I don't feel much stress at all. Uh, when I'm doing the cold plunge every day. So that, that have you ever done breathwork yourself or like, or like, I know you mentioned once.

Yeah, I mean, I, 

Michael: you know, pretty much every time I. Go into the plunge. I mean, I don't do it like before, you know, I, I, I fortunately come to the point where, you know, I, I don't even have that major gas reflex anymore. I just get in and I'm immediately okay. Um, I don't feel like I needed, you know, to prepare myself, uh, getting in.

But when I'm in there, I'm very intentional of focus on slowing down my breathing. So I kind of do breath work, not because I want to follow a specific protocol, but I've, I've noticed that. Okay. By paying attention to my breath, I zone out or I, you know, block out everything around me and I can really focus on, on, on feeling what I'm feeling at this moment, you know, and, and, and trying to enjoy this as much as I can is as funny as it sounds because it doesn't feel pleasant, but it kind of does, you know, it's like this.

It's unpleasant, but you just, you want to do it, you know, kind of. Um, and so I, I really try to focus on that and, and I achieve that by, by just focusing on my breath and, and intentionally slowing it down. I even, you know, usually when I, when I'm in there for three minutes, you know, I take eight breaths, you know, during those three minutes, that's like a box breathing kind of thing where I inhale, you know, hold, exhale, hold at the same kind of cadence, like 10 seconds each.

And so, you know, I take, you know, one full breath and a minute is over kind of, you know, almost. 

Ciaran: Really? That's super interesting. I, when you're, when you're talking like, and I'm talking about like different protocols, I know Navy SEAL that I was guiding him through our, our coplanes at the time. And he was, he was like, have you ever, have you ever tensed your core to get the, the, the, the blood flowing in there?

And I was like, what are you talking about? He's, he's like, we're told to tense our core and cave it upwards to trap the warm blood as if we're in cold water as a Navy SEAL. So I've, I've, I've been trying to practice that recently of like thinking about like you're holding to your, your, uh, your blood in, in your core and it's just like another thing you should try a test now and see, see if you feel a difference.

Michael: Yeah. So you, you tighten your core 

Ciaran: or? Yeah, you tight, you tight, you tight your core and like kind of concave it and it. His thought process is that it, it holds the blood in around your, your, your vital organs, and it makes it easier to deal with the cold. 

Michael: Interesting. Yeah. All right. I have to, I have to try that.

Um, and so, so with, you know, besides, uh, well, let me ask you this, if you had to pick one cold plunging or, or breath work for whatever benefits you're after. Which one would you pick? Which one do you think is more beneficial for you? 

Ciaran: Uh, for me, it's, it's definitely the cold plunging. Like it's more, it's more intense.

Um, yeah, it's, it's just like that full body immersion, like gets, it's, it's a, like a visceral experience. You get your whole blood flowing. You've got the norepinephrine and dopamine that that's released. Um, The, the breathwork is also good. It does the same thing with your, your nervous system by switching it from fight or flight to rest and digest.

And you, you go into deep meditative. See it. They're just very different. They, they both train your nervous system, but I feel like with all the benefits of the co plunge. There's just a lot more, um, with the recovery that it hits on, um, increases your longevity. It improves your mood, like your focus, like it hits on all these things.

So within three minutes you get all these things from, from cold plunging and then breath work takes a bit longer. It's like 20 minutes. So it's a bit more, but you don't, you don't need. You don't need to buy a cold plunge for, you don't need to buy anything for breathwork. It's free. You can do that every, every morning.

Um, so maybe pair it with a cold shower if you don't have a cold plunge is a, is something you could, you could test out. 

Michael: Right. Um, what would you say that, you know, besides from a, from a benefit perspective, both on the breathing as well as on the cold plunging side, what do you think are some of the lesser known?

benefits that people might not think about or consider. 

Ciaran: So for, for the breath work, like for me, like I, I use it as like a clarity setting. Intention. So before I go into the breathwork, it just goes, it makes you go straight into your subconscious. So right before I say, what do I need to know that I'm not present of right now?

And because you're so deep, like things just pop up and it could be just, it could be a voice. It could be like a visual, um, like a visual sign. It's. It's, it's just been very beneficial for me and understanding what's going on internally, like mentally. So returning about that after has been like a benefit that not too many people really talk about.

Like it, it just goes, you go straight into your subconscious mind and you can really um, get some really good nuggets that you're not aware of in your day to day because of all the stimulus that's going on. 

Michael: Right. Yeah. I've never thought about that either, but that's, that's interesting. And for, for co plunging, what do you think?

What would you say? 

Ciaran: For, for co plunging, um, one of the benefits that, that's not really talked about, I mean, it's, it's not to do with me, but I've, I've heard about the cancer effects, it helps reduce cancer, and I was on a podcast recently, I had to do some research, and, uh, it was super interesting how cancer cells just gobble up, uh, glucose, like they use glucose.

100 times more glucose than normal cells 

Michael: with the glucose is an interesting aspect because you know It's also one of the benefits of a ketogenic diet, right if you starve the cancer of glucose main fuel 

Ciaran: Yeah, 

Michael: you can at least if nothing else support conventional cancer treatments, right? I'm not saying that oh, you know, you're gonna heal your cancer by just avoiding carbs, but everything else being equal Starving the cancer of its main fuel source.

It's probably gonna be beneficial and with co plunging. I can only imagine that there are you know, I've if I'm not mistaken, they are like insulin and glucose regulating benefits to to cold water immersion and that likely Plays a role in, in, you know, how cancer cells can proliferate or, you know, do well in, in such an environment if, if they are starved of the glucose or if, if it, I don't know that the cold makes it more difficult for them to use the fuel source.

Ciaran: Uh, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, the, the cancer like needs glucose to survive and gobbles it up to grow and when you go into cold or you, whether it's water or cold, cold environment, it activates the brown fat and the brown fat, like, uses that glucose and starves out the, the cancer cells, which was pretty interesting.

They haven't done too many studies. Um, studies on humans, but they've done it on mice who had, um, who had cancer growth and they saw like a direct comparison or direct correlation in, in the growth of cancer and a cold water or cold, cold environments. 

Michael: Right. And it makes a lot of sense. Um, you know, the funny thing is with all those metabolic issues, if you, if you trust, you know, all, all of the things that, you know.

You know, we kind of recommend people should do, you know, eat an appropriate diet, you know, expose yourself to hermetic stressors, cold, hot, et cetera, you know, exercise, all of those things really help for all of those chronic conditions. I mean, it's, yeah, it's great that there is now a, or if there is now emerging science that says, well, if you're in most, if you emerge enough to cold water, then you can potentially, you know, reduce the risk of cancer or at least slow down the growth or support traditional treatment methods.

But at the end of the day, obviously, you know, if you live well and live in a way. How humans are supposed to live, how humans and our ancestors have been living for a very, very, very long time, you know, exposed to cold intermittently, exposed to heat, exposed to, you know, a lack of food, a. k. a. fasting, you know, a lack of water for that matter, you know, and, and all of those things, and then having to walk, having to exercise, having to exert themselves, you know, and, uh, Not being able to continue, you know, watching TV after the sun has gone down because there was no electricity and the light was out, basically, literally, you know, if you kind of follow all of those principles, chances are, you know, you're going to do fairly well from a health and wellness, wellness perspective.

And, uh, cold water immersion is definitely one of those things that, I mean, everyone should really be doing in whatever shape or form, you know, starting with a cold shower. You know, if you live in a climate where it gets really cold in winter and you're close to a body of water. Jump into the water, you know, um, otherwise get yourself a good cold plunge, you know, like, uh, I know that you guys obviously, um, sell plenty of cold plungers.

Um, and you know, that's such a, it's an investment for sure, because, you know, some of those, the higher quality ones aren't necessarily inexpensive, but being sick is. Um, you know, 

Ciaran: yeah, I know, like when you talked about like just doing something hard, like remind me of when I was, uh, in an entrepreneur house and I was kind of got comfortable, like I was in a brain fog, wasn't, wasn't like focused.

And one of the guys said to me, what is the one thing that you've stopped doing that, that you can get a win on in the morning? That's hard. And it was, it was the cold water or the cold, cold showers that I stopped. And once I started incorporating cool showers, like my, my momentum started building back up and it's just like a cornerstone routine.

So it's just a question to yourself, like, what is the one thing that's hard I can do in the morning that's going to give us new momentum, whether it's like a cold shower, whether it's like meditation, what you don't want to do or journaling, or maybe it's an intense workout, but like doing that hard thing right, right off the bat and, and, and, and just.

Yeah. Yeah, going to back to your, the primal, like uncomfortability, uh, and yeah, just get, getting, getting the ball rolling and, um, getting the momentum going. 

Michael: Yeah. 

Ciaran: Yeah. 

Michael: That's, uh, that's a very good point. I think everyone should pick one hard thing and do it first thing in the morning or maybe a second. It doesn't matter if it's the first thing, but do it in the morning before your day starts.

Chances are once the day has started, you're not going to be doing those things anymore because there are a thousand other priorities that compete with, you know, what, what do you want to do? Get it done. Take the win. Make, make, you know, at the end of the day, it makes you feel good that you've accomplished something in the morning already.

And as you, I think you said it before, you know, once you have done this hard thing, everything else that's going to come your way throughout the day, you can do as well because you likely already did the hardest thing you can possibly do it as jumping into the cold water, taking a cold shower, especially when it's cold outside, like in wintertime, you know, taking a cold shower in winter sucks balls.

But if you can do that. Um, there is nothing else that you can't do, you know, 

Ciaran: right. Yeah. It's just like sets the tone for the day. And once you get that win, it's just everything else is downhill from there. So it's definitely advisable. 

Michael: All right. Well, cool. That was a good, uh, uh, and, and informative discussion.

I much appreciate it. Uh, where can people find you? So they wanna learn more about what you do, how you do it, and, and your core plunges. 

Ciaran: Uh, yeah. Energize Health, um, is our Instagram handle or energize health.com is where we, we, we sell our products and you can learn a bit more about my story and, uh, we've got some videos on their blogs, educational information as well.

Um. But yeah, energizehealth. com. 

Michael: All right. Sounds good. I appreciate it, man. Um, very much. And, um, I'll, uh, let you know once the episode airs and, uh, we'll tag you on all the social content. Sweet. Cool. That's good. Alrighty. man. Thank you. Have a good one. All right. 

Extra: Next on the primal shift podcast. You've heard it before every hour of sleep before midnight is worth two after, but is that actually true?

And what if you're a night owl? Are you doomed? In the next episode, we're breaking down the science of sleep timing, circadian rhythms, and how small shifts in your schedule can be a total game changer. Don't miss it.