George Miller can’t stop dipping into the icy depths of Lake Michigan.
Or talking about it.
“The first few seconds into the ice water is kind of terrifying,” he says. “Then the body kicks in and does it’s magic. You get into a meditative state.”
Miller, 42, has been regularly dipping in ice water after his yoga instructor recommended he try it three years ago.
Born in Southern California, Miller used to hate the cold. Now the life coach is evangelizing the restorative powers of cold water therapy.
Last Sunday, he and his wife, Jesy, dipped into the near-freezing water between ice chunks at Ohio Street Beach on a 15-degree day. They waded around for nearly 10 minutes.
Photographer Craig Shimala captured the moment from a drone hovering above.
“We had to kick the ice out of the way. I hear Craig yell, ‘Hey, look up and wave.’ I thought, ‘Oh, yeah, this is going to be a sick shot,'” he said.
Miller can talk at length on the benefits of cold-water therapy. He gave up drinking alcohol and taking drugs years ago, and his life is better for it.
“But there’s a sadness because I like being able to control my mood in a direct way,” he says.
He explored transcendental meditation as a way to enter a “blissed-out state,” but that can take two hours and sometimes doesn’t work. Ice water, however, works every time.
“Ice water creates a wonderful feeling in the body every time. It lasts several days,” he says.
And unlike with alcohol, there’s no hangover.
“With ice water, the price is it’s cold. The worst part is the first 30 seconds. And after that … I feel good. Endorphins and adrenaline are running through my body in wonderful ways.”
Miller has not trained professionally but he has built up a tolerance for the cold. The first time he ever dipped into an ice bath, he said, it felt “terrifying” but he immediately felt the benefits of it.
Cold water dipping has risks. There’s a risk of frostbite. He once injured the tops of his ears on a particularly cold day, though he says the pain felt something akin to a sunburn. There’s also a risk of injury due to the numbing that happens in cold water.
“You can hurt yourself because you don’t feel. If there was metal and I was cut, I wouldn’t know,” he said.
He wears neoprene gear to protect himself. To avoid potential 911 calls from worried bystanders, Miller warned the city’s Marine Unit before his Sunday downtown ice dip.
Miller says he does cold water dips nearly every day but usually near his Rogers Park home.
He says more people are taking up the practice. He knew around five people doing ice dips three years ago. This winter, he knows about 100.
He muses that Chicago could follow the lead of Scandinavian counties that provide saunas near waterways. Miller says there are at least two saunas in the area, one at North Avenue and one in Evanston. He says he’s talking with businesses about providing more.
“I think this is a healthy way to feel good and engage with an amazing body of water,” Miller said.