How Cold Water Can Calm Your Nerves and Support Your Health
- Jade Twombly, NTP
- Jun 29
- 3 min read
Feeling overwhelmed or foggy? There’s a surprising tool that’s probably already in your bathroom: cold water.
If you’ve ever splashed cold water on your face to help wake up, you’re not alone. I used to do this all the time when I was training myself to wake up at 5:00 a.m. I’d go straight to the bathroom and splash cold water on my face—just to shake off that sleep fog and kickstart my morning routine.
At the time, it felt like a desperate trick. But little did I know, there’s real science behind this everyday act.
Cold Water and the Nervous System: What's Really Happening
This weeks episode of the Move Grow Rise Podcast is The Nervous System Reset: Practical Ways to Feel Calmer, Faster. In this episode, I give three practical strategies to calm your nervous system, including Tool #2: Cold Water & Temperature Shifts—one of the simplest, yet most powerful techniques to regulate your nervous system.
When you splash cold water on your face or hold an ice cube to your wrist, it activates something called the mammalian dive reflex. This is your body’s built-in safety mechanism that:
Conserves oxygen
Slows your heart rate
Stimulates the vagus nerve (a major component of your parasympathetic nervous system)
Why This Matters for Stress and Resilience
When you’re stressed, your nervous system kicks into high gear—fast heartbeat, racing thoughts, shallow breathing. Cold exposure tells your body: “We’re safe now.”
According to a study published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, cold water exposure improves vagal tone—which is a measure of how well your parasympathetic system (rest and digest mode) regulates things like heart rate and digestion.
High vagal tone is linked to:
Better emotional regulation
Improved focus
Greater stress resilience
Decreased inflammation
How to Use Cold Water as a Daily Reset
Here are a few easy ways to bring the benefits of cold water into your daily routine:
Splash your face with cold water first thing in the morning
Hold an ice cube on your wrist for 30 seconds during a stressful moment
Rinse your hands in cold water before meals to shift into a relaxed, parasympathetic state
These moments act like a nervous system reset. They are fast, accessible, and don’t require you to change your whole life.
From Fog to Focus: My Cold Water Story
Back when I was trying to become an early riser, cold water was my unexpected ally. I would splash my face with cold water to help me wake up instead of slinking back into bed. Over time, it became more than a wake-up trick—it became a tool for grounding and resilience. Now, I use cold water as a nervous system check-in. It’s a way to say, “I’m here. I’m okay. Let’s take a breath.”
The Takeaway
Cold water might seem like a simple thing, but it holds serious potential for your health and well-being. It's a practice rooted in science, but also in instinct. Your body often knows what it needs before you fully understand the why.
So next time you feel the stress rising, try this:
Step away
Splash some cold water on your face
Feel your feet on the floor
Take a breath
You might be surprised at how quickly you feel more like yourself.
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Follow along @moveholistichealthandnutrition on Instagram or tune into the Move Grow Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for weekly support, tips, and inspiration for nervous system health, nutrition, and intentional living.
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