Learning to slow down: an inquiry of cold-water swimming in Finland

Purpose This paper aims to explore how consumers learn to temporarily slow down through active engagement in embodied learning. By adopting an embodied perspective, this study extends understanding of temporal slow-down in consumption experiences. Design/methodology/approach This study is designed as a phenomenological inquiry into the lived experiences of cold-water swimmers. Twenty semi-structured interviews with regular swimmers (11 female and 9 male) were conducted. Findings This study explores embodied experiences of cold-water swimming and the learning process through which consumers achieve temporal slow-down. This process involves learning various body techniques, extending successful techniques across the entire temporal frame of the experience, engaging in experimentation, and ultimately discovering stable, embodied connections. Originality/value This study contributes to consumer research on temporality and embodiment by conceptualizing temporal slow-down as an embodied skill and showcasing the process through which it is learned. It also suggests that emergent experiences that offer consumer autonomy provide fruitful ground for acquiring this skill. Research limitations/implications All informants practiced cold-water swimming in Finland, where such activity is culturally and socially accepted and promoted by both government and media. Findings may differ in other contexts. Practical implications At the individual level, consumers may benefit from engaging in activities that foreground body awareness to develop a slow-down skill. At the managerial level, service providers should design escape experiences that encourage embodied learning. At the societal level, public institutions may promote embodied experiences as means for developing coping and well-being skills.