Ice baths for mind and body break heat of UAE desert

Published June 28, 2021
SHARJAH: A participant sits in an ice bucket during an ice bath therapy session at the desert near Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.—Reuters
SHARJAH: A participant sits in an ice bucket during an ice bath therapy session at the desert near Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.—Reuters

DUBAI: As the morning sun bakes the orange dunes of the UAE desert, a man lowers himself into a tinkling tub of ice.

Weathering such extreme discomfort is an attempt to boost the body’s immunity and connect with an inner strength.

“The temperature difference increases your immune system,” said Benoit Demeulemeester from Switzerland, who runs the ice bath and breathing sessions in the United Arab Emirates.

“You stress your system for a short period of time, which makes you stronger.” Emirati participant Marwan Abdelaziz, sitting in the orange basin of ice in swimming shorts and sunglasses, said: “The beginning is a bit scary: you want to get out, you can’t control your breathing. But now I am ok, totally fine.”

Abdelaziz entered the bath with a grimace, but held his breath calmly as directed by Demeulemeester, who coaches participants on breathing techniques.

“I am a passionate hot and cold person ... I like to take people out of their comfort zone and give them an experience of body and mind, (to) reconnect with nature,” Demeulemeester said.

Cold water immersion and breathing techniques have been made popular by Wim Hof, a Dutch cold water enthusiast who holds several world records for cold exposure.

Hof has developed his own methodology, with similarities to ancient Tibetan Buddhist breathing techniques, comprising breathing, cold exposure and commitment.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2021

Opinion

Editorial

Trump 2.0
Updated 07 Nov, 2024

Trump 2.0

It remains to be seen how his promises to bring ‘peace’ to Middle East reconcile with his blatantly pro-Israel bias.
Fait accompli
07 Nov, 2024

Fait accompli

A SLEW of secretively conceived and hastily enacted legislation has achieved its intended result: the powers of the...
IPP contracts
07 Nov, 2024

IPP contracts

THE government expects the ongoing ‘negotiations’ with power producers aimed at revising the terms of sovereign...
Rushed legislation
Updated 06 Nov, 2024

Rushed legislation

For all its stress on "supremacy of parliament", the ruling coalition has wasted no opportunity to reiterate where its allegiances truly lie.
Jail reform policy
06 Nov, 2024

Jail reform policy

THE state is making a fresh attempt to improve conditions in Pakistan’s penitentiaries by developing a national...
BISP overhaul
06 Nov, 2024

BISP overhaul

IT has emerged that the spouses of over 28,500 Sindh government employees have been illicitly benefiting from BISP....