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Emily I only started swimming a few years ago. I
was 37. I only wanted to be able to get into the Forty Foot initially. My friend lent me his wetsuit so I basically had armbands all over me. And I just progressed from there. And I love it now. I absolutely love it. I especially love now getting in at this time of year – I love that bite. This is my second winter of swimming at the Forty Foot. We have noticed a huge increase in the amount of people doing it now every morning. People don’t talk as much now. A few years ago, you’d go down and have random chats with people. You’re bonded by the commonality of getting into the sea and you end up telling complete strangers loads of things. Now that there’s so many people, no one talks as much. More people are vying for their space to get changed. The Next #WimRise will be in May on Portmarnock Beach. Check breathewithniall.com for full details. minute cold shower. Even the thought of it now is making me a little bit afraid. When I came out of that I thought, ‘if I can stand in that for ten minutes, I can do anything.’” “It’s that idea of putting ourselves through something uncomfortable, something difficult, even just 30 seconds or ten seconds. It’s that hard thing that makes the rest of life easy. If we only do easy things, life becomes a bit hard but if you push yourself do hard things then life becomes a little easier.” Níall and Josie have even inculcated their four young children into the joys of Wim Hof. “They love it. They really love it,” says Josie. “They love getting into the ice bath. They love doing their breathing. And if they get nervous or if they hurt themselves when we’re in the playground, they say, ‘we’ve got to do our breathing now’.” “That’s the beauty of it, it’s so practical,” adds Níall. “So when we’re teaching it to adults, we’re helping them deal with the stress of adult life. But for children, the stresses are different. And they know it already, but it’s to remind them, just to breathe. And that’s a tool that they can use for the rest of their lives.” Paul This is the third time I came. The first time was in October. I was hooked. I go to a gym and one of the guys I train with has been coming since last Summer, so he said, “why don’t you drop out and have a look and see what you think?”. And I’ve been cold showering ever since. I’ve never felt better. Even in the gym, my performance, I just feel better. You sleep better as well. It’s a very busy world out there and taking a bit of time out to just properly disconnect really helps. 48