Trauma, Cold Water and Breathwork: Veteran Sam Murray’s Journey from Healing to Coaching
Ex Royal Marine Sam Murray utilising the benefits of cold water therapy
It can be difficult to comprehend the levels of stress that Royal Marine Commandos must experience during and after their years of service. For Sam Murray, who worked in the marines for many years, this culminated in a period of serious depression. When he hit rock bottom, Sam embarked upon a difficult journey of self-awakening and personal development. After discovering cold water and breath work to be a life changing combination, he was then inspired to help others. Since then, Sam has co-founded the Breath Connection and coaches other veterans and frontline personnel to overcome their traumas. (Trigger Warning: The following content contains references to suicide, addiction and depression.)
Words by Sam Murray
The black dog, dark moods, stress, PTSD, anxiety, and trauma built up inside my head for many many years.
Like most men, and especially as a former Royal Marine, I worked hard to suppress my emotions. I was defined as ‘Sam the bootneck’ and my ego told me it was weak to feel low or to ask for help, so I drank and drank, and drank to make the pain of past traumas go away. Compound this with class A drugs, used so I could drink even more, and I was going in a very bad direction. After several (luckily poor attempts) at taking my own life, I realised I was at rock bottom. When several of my close friends subsequently took their own lives, it was clear that something had to change. I couldn’t believe that so many veterans were struggling, including myself. With the love of a strong little sister, family and friends I finally sought help.
It wasn’t long until I was on a path of what some may call an ‘awakening’. I looked into Buddhism, Alan Watts, Eckhart Tolle and everything in between to find answers. Eventually, a combination of these things and discovering Wim Hof led to a change in the direction of my life.
Discovering cold water immersion and breathing techniques changed Sam’s life
Discovering Wim Hof
At first when I came across Wim Hof and breath work I was extremely sceptical. My ego was so entrenched in ‘Sam the former Royal Marine’ and I thought it was way too out there. Regardless, a part of my consciousness told me to try it. As soon as I did my first session it was like every cell in my body woke up. It required pushing myself to extreme lengths in freezing conditions and nearly getting hypothermia, but nothing has made me feel so alive and ready for life. I’ve pretty much breathed and got into cold water everyday since the first day I tried it in Barcelona in 2019. I immediately began utilising his techniques for my own mental and physical well-being and later introduced other veterans and people who worked in the police and blue light services to them.
Sam discovered cold water therapy and began practicing Wim Hof’s methods
Deciding to help others
Thankfully, I was then on the road to recovery. But after the tragic death of my older brother Danny 2 years ago, I realised it wasn’t enough to just help myself, I wanted to give something back. Danny was a cave diver and an amazing free diver so it seemed fitting for me to find something that he would absolutely love and that helps me and countless others. Through sharing what I had learned about cold water therapy, I have met so many inspirational people, one of whom has become a dear friend. Helen Barnett, is a former armed response Met police officer, and having suffered severe trauma during her service she became incredibly anxious. During our sessions together I instructed Helen how to manage her breathing as a means to cope with her anxiety and we discovered how powerful it can be when used as a tool to physically calm down when your mind may be over-activated.
When Sam discovered the power of cold water immersion he knew he had to share it with others
The Breath Connection
I also met Miranda Bailey, a nutritional therapist and breath work practitioner and together we formed the Breath Connection. Within our sessions we use a form of diaphragmatic breathing, meditation and cold water to help serving police officers, veterans and the wider community to become better equipped to cope with stress, anxiety and PTSD. I feel that breath work and cold water is particularly ideal for veterans and serving members of the armed forces because both practices have a big impact on the nervous system. If you practice the techniques regularly it improves vagal tone, and helps build resilience giving our clients the ability to cope with stressful situations. Breath work and cold water swimming also lower inflammation and support greater blood flow and oxygen transport (ideal for old injuries). Amongst a host of other amazing benefits for mental and physical well-being.
Often when people are stressed they breathe shallowly, into the chest, and this reinforces the stress response. So getting someone to focus on breathing into the diaphragm can really help to calm down their stress levels. During our Dynamic breathing sessions we show people how to breathe into the diaphragm (belly) using an open mouth technique, in a form of controlled ‘over-breathing’ (which is done for a number of specific purposes) and we also combine this with breath holds.
We also offer single sessions of Dynamic Breathing or a 10-day Dynamic Breath work course online. During which we invite participants to take cold showers or find a place in nature where they can dip. With our in person 1-2-1 sessions and live group sessions we always breathe close to an open body of water to get into afterwards, and our retreats are built around breath work, nature walks, meditation, sound healing and wild swimming/dipping.
Sam now feels more connected to himself, others and nature and hopes to share this with others
Why practice cold water immersion and diaphragmatic breathing?
I can honestly say that the breathing and cold water have quite literally saved me. After years of poor mental health and self medication – I’ve tried pharmaceuticals, heavy exercise and touched on counselling, none of which had much of an effect. Then I tried breath work and cold water therapy and for the first time in years I instantly felt a lift in my mood. I now know that this is due to naturally released neurotransmitters that create a state of happiness, and also the stimulation of the vagus nerve that helps to calm us down. Instigating these processes has consequently improved my resilience to stress over time. The reason I love cold water swimming is because being in cold water instantly brings me into the present, my mind clears of any worries of the past, or a future that doesn’t even exist. I become at one with everything around me, I have the most amazing feeling of connection, with nature, and my own self.
To discover the power of breath work and cold water immersion and to find out more about the different courses that we provide please make sure to visit our website www.thebreathconnection.org.
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