Andrea’s One Wild Life:
Cold Plunging into Lake Michigan
Since the fall of 2023, I’ve been discovering the joy of Lake Michigan.
I had been coming to the lake during that summer to go for runs/walks and then jump in and swim near the bird sanctuary at Montrose Harbor with 2 of my besties. As summer started to wane, we were sad about it ending, so we decided to keep trying until October. After the crowds of summer were gone, we started meeting other folks going in the water. They were encouraging and explained how it made them feel. Dan, the great lake jumper became a friend. Paula, Hayley, Claire, George and the list goes on of regulars who were all experiencing the beauty of the cold dip in their own ways.
The book, Winter Swimming was passed around. I watched the short documentary, Swimming Through, about a group of Chicago women who found each other through winter swimming during Covid. I cried.
Someone said, let’s go until Thanksgiving! So we did. Then, how about Christmas? Ok! But there’s no way we could do this in the depths of winter - January and February.
We bought neoprene booties and gloves and eventually matching plunge jackets. We prepared ourselves for how to do this as safely as possible.
We eventually learned to bring hot water and pans to warm up our fingers and toes after getting out because the fingers start to not work pretty quickly after getting out.
We dance, we high five - we are numb and completely elated after. When the waves are too big, we go to the protected boat harbor. We stay in for 2 minutes - the goal during the coldest days.
We kept trying to figure out WHY we wanted to keep it up. We knew it had something to with the cold water, but felt like it had to be more. We were together; venting, talking about all of the hard and good things in our lives, we were outside, we were moving...meeting new people.
It became one of the most sacred times of our week. We decided we would go every Wednesday and Sunday morning and have now done that for the past 3 winters (fall, spring and summer too). Each morning brings a different adventure.
We began to understand that it was building confidence in being able to do hard things. The terrible dread of going in (still even now every time), disappears once in the water, we breathe; look at the sun or the Chicago skyline, each other’s faces and our expressions.
There is some research out there that suggests cold water plunges spike your dopamine by 250%. I have taken cold showers and baths, but I never feel as good as when I dip in the lake with friends.
We have made so many friends down at Montrose. Some for just a day, others for a season and a few for good. This has been such a surprise, brought me so much joy, so much wild, gratitude and love - not only for these lake women and men, but everyone I’ve ever met!
I started posting about it on Instagram when we started. I had not really used social media before. But as the plunges went on and I kept documenting (poorly) with photos and then videos, my friends were grateful to have the memories; and I was having fun. I felt creative. My posts are still so amateur, but it’s been another unexpected joy to come out of these mornings. Here are two of my favorite posts from this past winter - the coldest and iciest yet, and a very cold but sunny morning.
Anyway - thanks for reading and if you ever want to try it- you know where to find some encouraging friends down at Montrose Harbor.
