Putting myself out of my comfort zone
Last week I was talked into going to a sea scrub sauna (and trust me, it wasn't easy persuading me!). It’s description - where hot meets cold, you walk outside from the changing room to the sauna, then when you are ready you can go back outside and have a cold shower and climb into cold plunge barrels.
I was already feeling a bit nervous, and unfortunately, we had booked for an evening session when it was blowing a hoolie and pouring down with rain! But I didn’t want to be the one to chicken out, so I kept a brave face on and decided I’d give it a go.
The sauna was brilliant - nice and hot, with good company - what more could I want? So, why did I say yes when my friends suggested moving outside for the cold shower and plunge barrels?
The wind was howling and the cold water shower barely touched me, just blowing to one side. Then as I stepped into the cold plunge barrel, my whole body just shouted at me. It took every ounce of courage to lower myself, so my shoulders were under. My head was screaming “no, no, no!” but I pushed through... probably stayed there for about two minutes before I rapidly climbed out and ran straight back to the sauna, thinking I’m never doing that again.
Back in the warmth, I waited for my friends to come back, I watched them through the window all laughing and looking totally buzzed. But I felt safe, nice and warm again, back in my comfort zone. Happy to let them crack on without me. They came back in, nobody mentioned that I had not managed to stay out as long as they had.
About fifteen minutes later, they decided it was time for another go. I hesitated, but to my surprise, I said yes and off we went again. This time, I managed nearly five minutes. It was till cold, I’m not going to say I loved it, but it wasn’t so bad the second time and I felt good about myself for giving it another go.
Back in the sauna, I took a moment to think about how I was feeling. Turns out, I was way more relaxed, my mind was clearer, and I wasn’t obsessing over the day’s stuff like I sometimes do.
That’s when I realised, this is probably how some (maybe all) of my clients feel the first time they come to therapy. They’ve made that big decision to seek help, which can feel totally out of their comfort zone. Telling a stranger how they're feeling, what they’re going through, and admitting they’re struggling, can seem impossible. But they have taken the plunge. Each session tends to get easier, as did my dip in the barrel.
Feeling out of your comfort zone doesn’t have to mean disaster. If you can learn to sit with that discomfort first, then start to relax into it, you’ll see the benefits of talking, being honest with yourself and others, discovering new things about who you are. It can be very empowering.
You can’t always avoid that initial feeling, but if you stick with it long enough, you might find you’re capable of doing what you thought you never could.