Science

Cold water has become a moral good in modern wellness culture, a shorthand for discipline, resilience and self-mastery. But for bodies already living in a state of chronic stress, the shock of cold may be less restorative than we’re led to believe. This is not an argument against discomfort, but an invitation to question whether recovery should always feel like another test.

Neuroscience calls it a serotonin dip. We call it longing. Inside the brain science of why fall makes us crave closeness and how melancholy, when embraced, can actually heal us.