The Power of Ritual
I’m a cold water swimmer. It’s not for everyone, but almost everyday I have a ritual where I swim in the Pacific ocean in the northwest of Canada. Currently, the water temperature is around 46–48 degrees Fahrenheit.

I really began the process to prove to myself that I could do it. The water here is cold pretty much all year round, with the exception of the thermoclines that get created on a hot sunny summer day. Ordinarily though, the water stays pretty consistent between 42–54 degrees.
I was reflecting today on how my cold swim has become such a potent ritual. The first 5–10 minutes are the hardest. I literally just walk into the water as though a tiger is chasing me. Once submerged, I focus on getting my breathing controlled. When I first started doing this, I would have to self-coach myself and say aloud “you’re ok Sherri, you’re ok.”
Once that 10 minute mark gets passed, something really quite profound happens. I sink into this space of utter peace and calm. By that time, my body is producing heat, and the more I’ve done this, the better adapted my body has become to the cold.
When I reach this state, I feel so completely and utterly connected to all of creation. It’s as though my body, mind and spirit melt into the fabric of creation itself. There is no anxiety in this space, no need for hurry or worry, it is true beingness. Sometimes I don’t want to even get out of the water, but I tend to only let myself stay in for 30 minutes at the most.
We hear so much about habits these days, but I am deepening into the truth that real transformation resides in the receiving end of rituals. In many ways, we’ve lost our way with rituals in the western world — everything is about productivity, and the panacea for that is habits.
Habits have an inherent hollowness to them though. Sure, they can help us achieve more and reach goals, but they miss the mark in that they lack deep intentionality — the real “why” behind doing them.
Rituals have the potential to connect us to the deepest truths the Universe wishes to bestow upon us, provided we do them consistently over time.
Cold swimming is a way for me to prove to myself over and over again that I can handle anything life brings my way. It helps me to build my capacity and stretch myself outside of my comfort zone. We all know that this stretching is where true growth and transformation reside. This ritual encourages me to stretch myself in other ways and truly tap in to my co-creative power and craft my life exactly as I desire it to be.
