Fellow explorer,

The next two letters are on a topic I've been patiently waiting to share with you.

Cold therapy.

But this isn't just about taking a cold shower or jumping into an ice bath. This is about breaking out of your comfort zone and triggering a cascade of benefits throughout your life.

I'm not here to sell you on some miracle cure or quick fix. I'm here to share with you a daily practice that has positively changed my life in ways I never expected.

Today, I will give you the "WHY" that will help you overcome your inner-resistance to cold exposure. If you are remotely interested in cold therapy, then reading this letter thoroughly is crucial.

Because, after taking over 1000 cold plunges, I've learned a cold, hard truth:

You have to have a flame burning inside of you, if you want to endure the cold.

As in…

You need to have a raging fire of motivation inside of you, if you will overcome your fear of the cold water.

Through this letter, I want to fire you up and get you excited about cold therapy. So you can experience the transformative benefits for yourself!

So, grab a warm sweater and a cup of hot coffee, and let's explore the power of cold therapy together.

Light Your Inner Fire With The Seven Biggest Benefits of Cold Therapy

1. Increase Your Focus & Attention

2. Increase Your Motivation & Drive

3. Increase Your Self-Discipline

4. Burn Excess Body Fat

5. Elevate Your Mood

6. Strengthen Your Immune System

7. Reduce Your Inflammation

Feel free to scroll down to the benefit that is most interesting to you and skip those that aren’t relevant to you.

1. Increase Your Focus & Attention

How many times have you come home from work or school in the early evening and been exhausted?

Not from physical effort, just from exposure to life.

It can feel like no matter which direction you turn, you are walking uphill.

You have felt it, I have felt it, we have all felt it.

You aren't alone.

Most people are desperate for an energy boost.

You just need a better way to maximize and control your energy levels. One of the fastest ways to naturally increase your energy levels and get your body "on your side" is through cold therapy

Taking a cold shower is like drinking a cup of coffee - your mind and body are immediately "ON".

Ask yourself this:

“Do you think you could go to sleep right after a cold plunge?”

The answer is NO (I’ve tried - it is really difficult).

Here is a graph I’ve created to explain your energy levels after cold therapy…

When you expose yourself to the cold, your body responds by releasing a variety of stimulating chemicals that INSTANTLY "get the gears turning" in your body. Your body temporarily shifts into "fight or flight" mode. It needs you to be sharp and alert, so you can survive.

This letter isn't about science - it is about the experience. But let's talk about one of the chemicals that your body releases during cold exposure: norepinephrine.

When your baseline levels of norepinephrine are elevated, your focus, attention, and mood are instantly sent through the roof.

Just 20 seconds of cold water immersion at 40 degrees increased baseline norepinephrine levels by 200-300%. If this effect were packaged in supplement form, it would cost $$$ - but it is free and available to everyone.

So, if you want to be less reliant on stimulants and you want a free (and natural) way to send your energy levels through the roof, then it is time to get chilly.

2. Increase Your Motivation & Drive

While we are at it, let's also talk about how cold therapy can send your motivation levels through the roof.

But, you can't talk about motivation without talking about dopamine.

You know what dopamine is, right?

It is a chemical in our body, but we know it well by the feeling it gives us. It gives us the "I want that" and "I NEED THAT" feelings.

I'd describe a dopamine-related sensation as one of "craving", or "longing". It is when your body is begging you for something.

Whenever you think of "dopamine", think "motivation".

Now, here's how this applies to cold therapy...

Back in 2000, a study was conducted on the body's response to cold water immersion. One thing they found is that extended cold exposure triggers a whopping 250% increase in dopamine levels.

This study just proves something that you will realize yourself, after your first cold plunge. Because, I'll tell you what, after you take a few cold plunges, your body begins to crave cold exposure.

Interesting, right?

My theory is that your body isn't craving the cold, it is craving the part AFTER the cold.

As you warm up from your cold plunge, you have an extra bounce in your step because a fire of motivation has been lit inside of you.

You will have an “I can do anything“ feeling that can last for hours.

Think about how you would approach your life if you could instant access to that feeling…

3. Increase Your Self-Discipline

When you can't control your mind, you cannot control your life.

That is just the cold, hard truth.

I don't know about you, but I like having control of my life. When you don't have control of your mind, you are powerless.

Think about it this way...

How many times have you been faced with a choice where you KNEW the correct action to take... but you STILL made the wrong decision?

• That workout that you had time to do, but didn't do because you procrastinated until it was too late.

• That healthy food that you were supposed to buy but you bought junk food instead.

• That bad friend that you have been meaning to cut out of your life, but instead, you let them stick around.

Amazingly, you will make the wrong choice, when you KNOW the right decision.

There is a split second, a moment in time, where you have a chance to change the trajectory of your life but you lack ONE THING...

The self-discipline to disregard the bad option and to take action on the right option.

Self-discipline is like a muscle. You have to use it in order for it to become strong.

And what should you do when you want to become stronger?

You need to TRAIN yourself.

You need to condition yourself to take action on the little and the big things, even if you don’t want to.

The beauty of cold therapy is that it teaches you discipline.

Every time you override that voice in your head, you are strengthening your "willpower" muscle.

And as you become more disciplined, that discipline flows into other areas of your life, like:

• Shutting off your phone at 8 PM, because you know that staying up scrolling TikTok from bed isn't bringing you closer to your goals

• Grabbing sparkling water instead of a soda

• Putting on your gym outfit, even though you are tired and you don't want to go

• The list goes on and on...

Self-discipline gives you the power to make the right choice when faced with any decision.

Just imagine what your life would be like if you had the discipline to do the things that must be done.

4. Burn Excess Body Fat

Okay, this one is a little bit "sciency" but bear with me, because cold exposure is one of my biggest hacks for staying lean year round.

Did you know that not all fat cells are the same? I had no idea until a few years ago.

Just look at this:

The big difference between the two cells in the image above is the amount of mitochondria.

And guess what happens when your body gets really cold? The mitochondria in your fat cells get BUSY.

And after consistently being exposed to the cold, they begin to grow and concentrate inside of your fat cells. This is what changes the fat from "white" to "brown". The cells are brown because of all of the extra mitochondria.

For you, I've created a short, 2-minute-long video explaining this further, so if this seems confusing at all, then watch it!

You are probably wondering: "Okay, but why does the color of our fat matter?"

Well, you see when your fat cells are dense with mitochondria, they generate HEAT and they start munching like Pac-Man through any fat available to them.

I mean, let's zoom in on the picture from before...

This behavior has a very real benefit for anyone that wants to lose excess fat.

To explain simply:

• Cold exposure converts some of your white fat into brown fat.

• Brown fat generates heat and converts excess fat into fuel.

I won't pretend to understand all of the science as to why this happens or the wide implications of it, but I see this "mitochondria-boosting" effect as a protection mechanism to protect us from the cold.

Our lives are nice and comfortable these days. We live in temperature-controlled houses and if we ever shiver, it is a big deal.

Remember, there was a time in our ancient history when being cold was just a part of life.

Quick story…

A couple of years ago, I did a 5-day, 50-mile wilderness survival run.

Each night, we slept with nothing but clothes on our backs and some leaves to cover us up. I was completely humbled by the September weather of Southern Utah.

The above picture (not mine) is from the area we travelled through - I don’t have any pictures because we were technology-free!

On the final night, the temperature got down to 39 degrees Fahrenheit. I survived, but it was really uncomfortable. I'd wake up shivering several times a night. On more than one occasion, I would wake up to the sound of one of my fellow explorers crying in their leaf beds.

This is humbling to me, not because of how the cold affected me, but because the cave we were sleeping in had been used by Native Americans for thousands of years.

The cold was a part of their lives and their body adapted to help them get through it. I'd bet my modest net worth that those Natives had brown fat concentrations that would put them in the 99th percentile of modern Americans.

Remember, your body can withstand and adapt to extreme conditions. When you challenge your body, it rewards you. In the case of fat burning, cold exposure helps melt excess body fat.

5. Elevate Your Mood

Have you ever heard of a "runners high"? Next time there is a local race, watch the mood of everyone about 30 minutes after the race is over.

There is a shocking amount of good vibes going around.

This is because everyone is high as a kite. Their body is surging with positive, mood-boosting chemicals.

Okay, but what does running have to do with a cold shower?

Let me explain...

Your body wants to be in a state of balance and equilibrium.

When you force yourself through something painful like exercise, ice bath, sauna, etc. your body responds by releasing pleasure chemicals to get you back to homeostasis.

Here is a quick graph sketch of how I’ve felt this in my own life:

The graph above is based on the thousands of times I’ve challenged my body through hard training and countless cold plunges. Without fail - my body always counters pain with pleasure.

Sadly, most people never experience their body’s powerful mood-boosting chemicals because they lack the drive to endure discomfort.

But, if you are reading this then you aren't "most people".

You are willing to grit your teeth and put yourself through a little bit of pain because you KNOW that the "juice is worth the squeeze"

Put yourself through discomfort and your body will respond with ecstasy.

This may seem counterintuitive, but next time you need a mood boost: do something uncomfortable (like a cold plunge)

You'll be surprised by how much better you feel afterward.

6. Strengthen Your Immune System

Do you want to know something crazy?

If you were to combine all of the biomass (as in weight) of all of the bacteria and viruses on earth, they would "outweigh" humans 1200 to 1.

In other words, throughout your life, you are basically swimming in bacteria.

Kind of weird, huh?

Now, there are plenty of good bacteria but there are also plenty of bad bacteria and viruses that can cause illness.

When you get sick, it is because a virus or bad bacteria was able to successfully bypass your immune system.

What this means is that your immune system needs to be robust and vibrant, if you want to move through life without getting pummeled by illness.

Well, guess what? It turns out that cold therapy is INCREDIBLE for your immune system.

Multiple independent studies have shown that cold exposure therapy increases your body's immune cells. (Link to Studies)

And when you have a stronger immune system, you are better able to resist invasion from pathogens that might make you sick.

So, if you want to stay healthy and have a vibrant immune system, then consider using cold therapy in the form of a cold shower or cold plunge.

Note: If you have existing health issues or are sick, I don’t recommend cold therapy. Get healthy first, then start strengthening your immune system.

7. Reduce Your Inflammation

You only get one life to live.

Do you want to reduce your pain for the rest of your life?

Then let’s talk about inflammation. An incredibly complicated topic that I will attempt to simplify for you

Once you understand the role that inflammation plays in your life, you will have the ability to manage it through cold therapy and other lifestyle changes.

^{Disclaimer: I'm not a medical professional and this is a hella-complicated topic, so I'll do my best to interpret and simplify it for you. This is just my perspective and you should consider medical guidance for your own unique situation.}

Simply put, inflammation happens when your body receives a signal that it needs to heal.

Now, some inflammation is great.

For example... after you finish a hard workout, your muscles become temporarily inflamed, which tells your body: "chop chop! let's heal up so that we can be ready if that happens again!"

This is an expected and desirable inflammatory response. We want it to happen!

But sometimes, we do things to our body that result in a consistent and chronic inflammatory response.

For example... when you are constantly stressed, not getting enough sleep, and eating the foods that you KNOW aren't good for your body, your body releases a low level of inflammation.

Your body thinks it is being harmed, so inflammation builds up while trying to heal itself.

But here is the problem... it can't heal itself because you keep beating it up with bad habits.

Bad Habits → Chronic Inflammation

If you feel like crap all of the time (always tired, constantly getting sick, etc.), you MIGHT be dealing with some kind of chronic inflammation.

Okay, but... um... what does this have to do with cold therapy?

We are almost there, I promise.

The best way to protect yourself against chronic inflammation is to AVOID doing the things that cause chronic inflammation in the first place (I know, duh?)

Let me give you a quick recipe FOR chronic inflammation:

• Don't get enough sleep.

• Don't eat nourishing foods and eat a high-sugar diet with lots of processed foods.

• Don't exercise (in fact, move as little as possible).

But let's say you are avoiding those things (good job) and want some extra support against chronic inflammation...

That brings me (finally) to cold therapy and how it can reduce inflammation throughout your body.

Countless studies have shown that cold therapy reduces inflammation.

From arthritis to tennis elbow, there is no debate: when you get really chilly, the amount of inflammation in your body is reduced.

If you have been dealing with some nagging inflammation, then consider giving cold therapy a try.

Of course, consult a medical professional and ALWAYS, listen to your body and observe how it responds to cold therapy.

But if you are in pain, then it is at least worth trying, right?

Start Forging Yourself Like A Blade

As we end today’s letter, I want you to Imagine a blacksmith pounding on a blade near his forge…

With sparks flying, the blacksmith works the metal.

The red-hot blade is pounded into shape before being suddenly plunged into cold water.

The cold water instantly hardens the metal.

In the same way, exposing yourself to the cold strengthens your mind and body, helping you to become resilient and powerful.

As you've read this letter, I hope I've lit a fire inside you. You are going to need it, because next week, we'll be taking the plunge into the realities of cold therapy.

Today, I gave you the WHY, next week I’ll give you the HOW.

Until next Saturday, stay warm.

- Cliff