Taking the plunge

What if the most difficult thing that you had to do today, you got out of the way before the sun came up? Then you did it all over again, tomorrow. Britt Coker talks with a guy who wanted to improve his mental health and ended up starting a group project where everyone involved in it is making waves.

January 1 last year, Barney Aupa’au rose at dawn and went to Tahunanui Beach. He was stuck in his head and he didn’t want to be. The water was cold, but he went in and under, and then out again. Day One. He was going to do it every day for a month, he reckoned. Up at dawn, down to the beach, in, under, and out again. But each day he did it, he became less in his head and more in his body. He felt so much better (“My mental health just skyrocketed”) and more prepared to face the challenges ahead. The month passed. And another. And another. Then one day, he wasn’t going into the water on his own.

“I was putting stories on my personal Instagram and a couple of people reached out to me asking, ‘What the heck are you doing, bro. It’s pitch black, it’s cold’. Other people were more curious, and some of the people said, ‘can I join or is this like a closed thing’ and once I had a couple of people join and people showed interest, I thought ‘I'm gonna make this a project and make it public’. So I made the project public in May last year on Instagram, and then people gravitated from that.”

This merry band of ocean plungers meet every day at Tahunanui Beach, 6.15 am weekdays, 7am weekends. Not everyone, every day, just whoever can make it. In April, weekend numbers ranged from 30 to 50 but it's June now, so enthusiasm may drop with the temperature. There is still a core group of between 6-12 that meet on the foreshore every day where, regardless of numbers, the beach gathering follows a simple format.

“Most people are there from about quarter to six, to six. Some people are anxious, some people don't like crowds, it's quite early, so just having that whanaungatanga, that forming of relationships with people as they arrive [is important]. We walk down to the beach and we share a karakia together and then I give a really brief explanation if there are new people, of what ME vs ME actually means and what it's about. Then we nominate somebody in that group to count us in. Then we all walk out together to a depth where we feel comfortable - everyone's different heights - and that person that we nominated, counts to three in either English or another language that they speak and then we all dip under the water together and we keep our shoulders under and try to stay under for at least a couple of minutes.”

So, ME vs ME, what is it all about?
“When I was going down to the beach daily, I kept saying to myself, ME vs ME, and what that means is I'm not competing against anybody else in life I'm only competing to be a better version of myself. A better version of myself today than what I was yesterday. And then when I broke it down, I thought, what does that actually mean? For me, it’s an acronym - mental exhaustion versus mental elevation, it's about finding that balance in life. I get quite mentally exhausted just with everything, life and work and just everything that goes on, and for me to go down to the beach and go for those dips I would get very mentally elevated and it was really noticeable, and it still is.”

Barney provides pastoral care as a youth worker. He says the job can be pretty challenging due to the nature of the work “and the complex situations that I have to face”. He says the dawn dips go a long way to helping him focus, remain level-headed and, “set a good energy”. Eighteen months on, he can’t always make it every day, but four times a week, at least. The wide appeal of an individual-led, mentally-challenging event seems the epitome of the current cultural zeitgeist.

Getting people together in this day and age can be like herding cats and yet, here was Barney minding his own mindfulness and the personal challenge of it was so appealing to others that they wanted in. This resonance has extended to Christchurch, Wellington and Gisborne where friends of his have also started ME vs ME cold water immersions with similar popularity. Everybody wants to get out of their heads and feel something with their bodies, even if it’s unpleasant. In this instance, it’s also because when they get back into their brains, they’ll find a bunch of endorphins have gate crashed and are holding a party up there.

For Barney, the colder the water, the better. Not because he is impervious to the cold, but because it represents a bigger challenge with more trepidation. The harder it is to face, the greater the reward. But nippy or not, the buzz of the early morning challenge sets him up for the day and stays until the end of it.

“I feel like the whole purpose behind this is if you can start the morning and face it with potentially your hardest challenge for the day. If you really set that tone and mood, any other challenges that come your way during the day are so much more achievable… You've physically put your body in this cold environment and you've overcome a mental hurdle straight away and it's really taught me to be comfortable being uncomfortable… I know that it has changed my life and that it is just part of my lifestyle now. Just waking up and doing that and just the after-effects of how I feel and my mood, my energy levels - it outweighs everything!”

A delightful additional benefit to ME vs ME is that at a moment in human civilization where everything but breathing seems to cost us money, this doesn’t.
It is a community event, as free as the ocean you’re walking into. No obligation to show up, no duration to stay under, everyone is welcome. You can head off straight away, or head for a coffee together afterwards, but the only thing I should warn you about is that no one is wearing wetsuits to minimise the impact of the icy cold water (togs, yes please).

Cold water plunging is not new of course. Scandinavians have been cutting swimming holes in frozen ponds for ages and even the ancient Greeks took time out from their toga parties and complicated algebra equations to go for cold dips. It’s been a pastime across the globe for so long, numerous studies have been undertaken to determine health benefits and risks. A 2021 study did find it helped people suffering from mental health issues. Other research extends the upsides to include immune system boosting, improving memory, reducing inflammation and - watch the stampede now - anti-aging. However, doctors may be more cautionary, especially for people with heart conditions and circulation problems. So (disclaimer alert) if you want to give it a go, don’t try and set a PB in your first week, and talk to your GP if you’ve got medical conditions that need factoring in.

It’s ironic that something that seems to be all about Me has become so much about We. You don’t actually need to go with a group of people if you want to embrace the sea at dawn, but we already do so much of facing life on our own. The thought of embracing a challenge as a collective, encouraging each other, succeeding together, will be what draws most people to be at the water’s edge alongside Barney.

“I think it was just timing as well, it was post-Covid and a lot was happening in the world and in the country and people were probably just looking for an alternative. Then I guess, just the accessibility of it and the connectivity with the community, and the relationships being formed which have been seen as above and beyond that.”

“A lot of the people that come down to the group we wouldn’t mix and mingle in the same circles of people. There are all walks of life, and all ages, and yet we’ve got this mutual kind of agreement that we’ve never spoken about, that we all kind of gravitate and we’re on the same journey. And it’s no judgement as well, people come for all different reasons, all things happening in their life and you kind of just know. You just know that we uplift and empower each other, one cold dip at a time. It’s quite special”.

Some might even say, heart warming.

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