April 19, 2022
Linda’s Lair, Monroe, Washington State ©2022 Singin String Publishing, ASCAP 
Building our koi pond, 2016 with the help of Sean and Linda Manning, Erik Mickelson, and Jeff Sherman
By now, many of us have heard of cold water therapy, and may have seen a video of the great Wim Hof. Though I’d been embracing cold water in many ways most my life, upon hearing the reasoning behind Wim’s incredible ability to remain in cold water seemingly indefinitely, I had to try it.
In February of 2021, I began getting in the 43º water of our koi pond for at least three minutes every day. Wim had explained that getting in cold water tends to shut down one’s brain, so activity resides in the Crocodilian area - where the brain meets the spine - and results in simply a fight or flight mentality. In other words, there’s not much going on, no mental chatter; no song on infinite repeat; no dwelling on unimportant fluff. In that mental modality, the body becomes still and limp.
My experience: upon getting in the water, I sensed the typical, “AAAAACK - get me outa here - this is freezing!!!” But, following directions, I chose to ignore that, and very quickly entered the “no-zone,” where nothing is going on. PEACE. No brain movement and no body movement. If I moved my body it felt more cold, so that stopped. Vision became clear and sharp. Hearing was improved because there was no mental chatter in the way. In the Crocodilian brain, one can still experience love and joy. This moment was full of love and joy - the new highlight of every day!
As the months rolled along and weather warmed, the norm became ten minutes per day in the water. Upon exiting, one has the choice to warm from the outside: hot tub; sauna; bundling in blankets, or heating from the inside: intense workout on Peloton bike; running in place; lifting weights, doing sit-ups and pushups, etc. Mid-December 2021, with huge energy following the dip, I slammed sit-ups and ran-in-place as hard and fast as I could. The next morning I realized I’d strained my groin. It was difficult to get out of bed, to walk, to get in to the car. Unbeknownst to me, I had also contracted a disease I’d never heard of: poly myalgia rheumatica… many painful muscles. It is not uncommon in Scandinavians over 70-years-of-age. Where it comes from and how to get rid of it are unknown, but it usually goes away in a year or two.
After the doc gave the diagnosis, a steroid was prescribed: prednisone. Voila! All pain gone, huge relief! So happy! But when, after a few weeks the dosage ran out, OMG! Disabled! Barely able to walk, bend over, sit on the toilet. Straight to pharmacy, more prednisone. Unfortunately, prednisone’s unwanted side effects are: "muscle pain/cramps, irregular heartbeat, weakness, swelling hands/ankles/ feet, unusual weight gain, signs of infection (such as fever, persistent sore throat), vision problems (such as blurred vision), symptoms of stomach/intestinal bleeding (such as stomach/abdominal pain, black/tarry stools, vomit that looks like coffee grounds), mental/mood changes (such as depression, mood swings, agitation), slow wound healing, thinning skin, bone pain, menstrual period changes, puffy face, seizures, easy bruising/bleeding,” [WebMD] AND MORE!
On February 11, 2022, I began a stem cell and PRP (platelet-rich-plasma) treatment for my knees and shoulders. “No more anti-inflammatories,” I was advised, meaning I couldn’t continue prednisone, turmeric, ibuprofen, etc. Fortunately, I had recently been introduced to PEMF therapy and near-infrared light therapy, both helping the pain a bit. These two treatments are effective, depending on what kind of pain or ailment one is experiencing.
“With red light therapy, you expose your skin to a lamp, device, or laser with a red light. A part of your cells called mitochondria, sometimes called the “power generators” of your cells, soak it up and make more energy. Some experts think this helps cells repair themselves and become healthier. This spurs healing in skin and muscle tissue.” [WebMD]
Very few live performances at this time. Plenty of other work to do :-) Photo: Jerry and Lois Levin
Linda and I bought two panels that stand six feet tall and are mounted in our bedroom. Twenty minutes a day is a wonderful experience, highly recommended.
Bottom line, I had to come to grips with how I’m going to handle all this pain, and believe me, there is plenty still, as of this date. There were times when I would look at my dog Mojo and just cry, “Sorry, buddy…I just can’t play with you like I used to.” Or feeling the pain and difficulty of getting out of the pond, after a few painful attempts, just breaking down and crying with the pain. A typical morning consists of slowly, carefully rolling out of bed. Most mornings it hurts too much to grip the phone so I have to lift it with both hands. Bending over to put on pants and socks takes awhile, and requires some limbering up first.
So a decision was made: “I’m just going to laugh at the pain! And I’m going to push into it as far as I can. And I’m going to get on the Peloton bike and hit it as hard as I can. I’m going to drive this shit out of my body!!”
With the aid of an acupuncture session with my daughter Lily, It worked! I began to slowly, steadily improve, with a lesson being imparted. I wasn’t sure what the lesson was, but upon a visit to a reiki artist, soon found out. Jessica talked quite a while before starting work on me, explaining that the energy fields around our bodies are extensive and more far-reaching than we know. She soon amazed me by saying I had blockages deep inside, stemming from early childhood. I knew this was true, having gone through psychotherapy that had revealed the same. The reiki experience was amazing and helpful. I recommend it. After it was over, she advised that I go into the pain and ask it, “What message do you have for me, what are you trying to teach me?” So I did that. The answer blew my mind, completely surprised me.
PAIN IS A DOOR. On the other side is bliss. To go through, you must experience the most-feared thing in our existence. People say they are afraid to die, but what they’re mostly afraid of is pain. To the degree that you have experienced pain, you are alive; you feel passion; you feel empathy. In other words, the greater the pain, the deeper and more profound your life experience. When I perform live now, putting my pain into the singing and guitar playing is very empowering. Makes me appreciate the blues and the people the blues have been delivered through, more than ever. Pain is a beautiful, wonderful teacher! The fear of it is worse than the pain… seriously. It also struck me that something to look forward to, maybe more than anything else, is death, the ultimate liberator.
So today, I’m happy. Everything hurts all the time, unless I’m still. So I’m laughing… a lot.
This too shall pass.