"Cold immersion is decidedly cool - this attractive gift book celebrates the wonderous power of cold water swimming."
As a cold water swimmer, I am often asked: WHY? Why would anyone willingly wade into a chilly lake for pleasure? Isn’t it a shock to the system? How cold do you dare to dip? And aren't you scared about what's lurking beneath the surface?
In Cold Joy, Libby DeLana gently and thoughtfully answers these questions and more, drawing on five years of almost-daily cold water immersion. Her reflections blend personal experience with encouragement, inviting readers to consider not just the physical act of dipping, but the mindset that accompanies it.
Alongside her story, DeLana offers practical guidance: the importance of seeking medical advice before beginning, what kit you need (and what you don’t), breathwork techniques, and essential safety considerations when swimming outdoors. She also acknowledges that wild water isn’t accessible to everyone, suggesting that cold showers or ice baths can provide many of the same benefits.
There is a look at the history of humanity’s long relationship with the cold, from ancient bathing rituals to cold-water meditation practices, reminding us that immersion has long been intertwined with both spiritual and physical wellbeing.
Above all, Cold Joy captures the elemental pleasure of being outdoors: swimming alongside wildfowl, feeling the weather on your skin, and rediscovering your place within the wider ecosystem. And yes, there’s even a hot toddy recipe for afterwards.
There is a “splash of science”, but this is not a manual detailing medical claims or prescribing rigid instructions. Instead, it is a reflective exploration of what cold immersion can teach us about ourselves, where it can take us emotionally and socially, as much as physically. More than a wellness practice, it becomes a way of connecting: with nature, with community, and with our own resilience.
Beautifully packaged as a gift book, complete with evocative photography, Cold Joy is structured into ten thematic chapters including Wondering, Wading, Wildness, and Warmth, and a section of further resources to help readers deepen their own cold water journey.
In this exhilarating guide to well-being, creative adventurer and wellness podcast host Libby DeLana illuminates the many physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of cold water and explores how creating a daily cold plunging practice taught her self-love, courage, and resilience.For most of her life, Libby DeLana believed she hated the cold-fear of cold became part of her identity. Then, in the midst of a period of deep personal inquiry, an impromptu dip in icy water cracked something open in her heart, forcing her to reexamine the limiting stories she told herself.
Cold Joy features in the following genres: Gift Books, Health & Fitness, Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure, Mind, body, spirit, Nature therapy, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Fitness, exercise and healthy eating, Mind, body, spirit: thought and practice, Mind, body, spirit: thought and practice, Complementary therapies, healing and health, Nature therapy, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Children’s / Teenage: Personal and social topics, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Body and health, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Fitness, exercise and healthy eating
Hardback. £13.49, down from the £14.99 cover price. In Stock.
Cold Joy was written by Libby DeLana and published by Chronicle Books
Cold Joy has 183 pages
£13.49, reduced from £14.99. In Stock.
