How daily dose of discomfort can help you to be healthier & happier

A couple of years ago, I asked my husband to get me a bed of nails for Christmas. I’d been having some back pain at the time and my osteopath told me some of her patients swore by the Shakti mat. I was instantly intrigued and went home to look it up.

For the uninitiated, a Shakti mat is a small cushioned mat covered in little spiky plastic circles. With its pretty fabric, it resembles a kind of torture instrument for the wellness junkie. The fact that I’d asked for it for Christmas was the source of puzzlement and amusement among my family members.

I’m not alone in actively seeking out physical discomfort as a medium for improved wellbeing. The number of people participating in ultra endurance events, which involve running, swimming or cycling very long distances, has risen significantly in the past 25 years. Activities involving getting cold are also becoming increasingly popular. In a report published in 2021, Outdoor Swimmer estimated that outdoor swimming in the UK has increased by 1.5-3 times since 2019. If you live in the UK, you’ll know that this usually involves very cold water and not a lot of sunshine to warm you up. Ice baths, traditionally used by athletes to help with recovery, are a rising wellness trend. Popularized by Wim Hof, who promotes cold therapy and deep breathing techniques for improved health and wellbeing, celebrities such David Beckham, Harry Styles and Kendall Jenner are among the growing number of ice bath fans.

If subjecting yourself to physical discomfort seems counterintuitive (and perhaps a touch bonkers), you’re not far wrong. The human brain is wired to seek out pleasure and avoid pain. This is useful because it’s what makes us take our hand away from boiling water to avoid being burnt. Pain is a warning system that helps us survive.

But have we become too avoidant of discomfort and if so, is this making us increasingly unhealthy?

Obesity is now a rapidly increasing health problem. The latest Health Survey for England revealed that 26% of adults in the UK are obese. What’s causing us to become more overweight? Lack of physical activity and cheap, high calorie food on demand. In the not so distant past, you had to get up to change the TV channel or adjust the thermostat. Now you can do these things by simply tapping your fingers. Our ancestors used to have to hunt and forage for food, often not eating for days when pickings were scarce. Now you can order a takeaway which will be delivered to your door within the hour.

Our lack of being ok with some discomfort can also negatively influence our behaviour. How many times, after a stressful day at work, have you opened a packet of biscuits or a bottle of wine, doom-scrolled on social media or bought something online that you didn’t really need? Numbing behaviour is a very common response to emotional discomfort. According to the charity Alcohol Change UK, over 50% of UK drinkers turned to alcohol for mental health reasons during the Covid-19 pandemic. A 2021 study revealed that 20% of the sample population tended to emotionally eat often or very often. These behaviours can numb difficult emotions, taking the pain away in the short term. In the long term however, they are not good for our health, causing us to overeat, consume too much alcohol or engage in other activities which can be damaging to our health and wellbeing. Numbing also only teaches us how to escape pain or discomfort, instead of dealing with it.

How can sitting in an ice bath, lying on a spiky mat or going for a wild swim help with all of this?

Doing something uncomfortable reminds us that we are capable of doing hard things. This helps build physical, mental and emotional resilience, which makes us better able to cope with stress. Studies have shown that cold water immersion activates the sympathetic nervous system, which controls our ‘fight or flight response’ and this in turn, activates a neurotransmitter which helps manage stress, as well as increasing energy and focus.

There are proven health benefits. Cold therapy has been proven to reduce muscle soreness and there is evidence to suggest that it can stimulate the body’s immune system. Some studies have shown that immersion in cold water can speed up your metabolic rate and other studies suggest that cold open water swimming has helped alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety in some people.

We can better connect with our bodies and our breath. Most of us spend a lot of time in our heads, mentally juggling many balls and constantly stimulating our brains. The more time you spend in your head, the less connected you are with your breath and your body. When was the last time you noticed your breathing or how your body feels? When doing something physically uncomfortable, you become acutely aware of sensations in your body. It is hard to focus on anything else, meaning that the monkey mind has to slow down. Your breath becomes a way to help you work through the discomfort so you have to bring awareness to how you are breathing. Slow deep breaths are proven to help reduce perceptions of pain.

It can be a gateway to deep relaxation. In case you’re wondering how I got on with the Shakti mat, I am a convert! After about 5 minutes of initial discomfort/pain, something almost magical starts to happen. The pain begins to turn into a tolerable tingle and then it becomes a kind of warmth, which your body can eventually relax into. It definitely takes a few attempts to reach the tolerable tingle stage. The first few times you have to resist the urge to get off the mat straight away. But with perseverance, it’s possible to prolong the periods of lying still on it and even zone out completely.

And yes, it’s helped with my back pain.