Dipping our toes: Initial investigations into effects of cold-water exposure and controlled breathing techniques on perceived stress and psychological wellbeing in regular and irregular wild swimmers across two weeks

Recent increases in wild swimming and cold-water exposure for mental health benefits warrant further investigation into the psychological impacts of these activities. Habituation of stress responses and translation of stress habituation across stressor domains (e.g. physiological and psychological) are fundamental in the formation of this study’s hypotheses. This randomised controlled study investigated effects of cold-water exposure and a controlled breathing technique (box breathing) on stress and wellbeing. Forty-four participants completed surveys at baseline and post-intervention; intervention included no cold-water exposure, cold-water exposure only, or cold-water exposure and box breathing across two weeks. Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed cold-water exposure and box breathing combined significantly reduced perceived stress, while null wellbeing findings encourage future replications to address sample size. Further research is required to advance our knowledge of potential stress and wellbeing interventions.