The Significance of Water on Wellbeing - Klara Halkjaer

During 2022 Helgabad introduces KAFTAN(EN) users who share their thoughts on water and wellbeing. Hopefully their thoughts inspire you.

Our fifth KAFTAN(EN) profile is Klara Halkjaer. Klara owns her own business that focuses on digital communication and content strategies. Klara lives in Copenhagen, Denmark with her two sons and her husband.

Each of our profiles gets the same questions.

Do you have a special relationship to water?

If you would have asked me two years ago I would have said that I love the water. I always have. But it would not have held the same meaning as it does now.   Because lately, water has become a place where I come to feel 1000% alive. Not that I don't feel alive otherwise (that would be terribly sad!), but it multiplies when I am in the water. When life is turning and I can hardly catch my breath between work and kids and everything in between - water calms me down. Makes me breathe properly. Be still.  

I have my own business and therefore plan my own time to a large degree, and I plan my trips to the ocean by Copenhagen before I plan work. I think that says it all.

Are you a cold water swimmer?

I am and it has added a whole new layer of life on top of my life.

How long have you been a cold water swimmer?

I started when the whole world started. During covid. So very unoriginal of me. But hey, unoriginal or trendy is not necessarily something bad - if it makes you feel good, who cares why you started? For me, it was a sense of adventure that I was missing during all those lockdowns here in Denmark.

When do you prefer to go cold water swimming?

I prefer the early morning as the sun is rising over Øresund between Denmark and Sweden. It is just an incredible way to start the day and I come home feeling like I have already experienced a small adventure before work.

Where do you prefer to cold water swim?

I would prefer a hole in the ice with a steaming sauna next to it but that just won't happen in Denmark, since it's rarely that cold and saunas only exist in member clubs with 20 years long waiting lists. So I stick to the many places dotted around the coast north of Copenhagen, where there are lots of small, beautiful bathing jettys with stairs all years around. I often add the luxury of going there in our VW California campervan and turn the heating on before I jump in, so that I can then return to a warm car. Sometimes I stay in the car and have breakfast that I brought, and sometimes I even stay to work in it. Makes me feel like I experience so much more than in an office or at home. It's all about finding those micro-adventures for me.

I am totally in love with a cold swim and a sauna. Whenever I am planning a trip, I start looking for houses or hotels with wooden saunas by the water. It's almost an obsession. Bathtubs are better in my head than in reality. I love the first two minutes and then I get cold and bored. So disappointing : ) VERY long hot showers are definitely a favorite. I come out all warm and red, like a lobster. I will return to those long showers as soon as we don't have to pay 200 DKK per shower to heat the water - so in like, 2024? : )

Thank you Klara for sharing your story. Your story and mine are similar, we both started cold water swimming during the covid lockdown. I will treat you to a cold water swim with sauna once you come to Helsinki.

Follow Klara on Instagram @copenklara, she is somewhat of an expert when it comes to Copenhagen and Gotland (two amazing places) and many other feel good things that we need in life. While you are at it you might as well follow her on LinkedIn, wise woman with wise thoughts.

Pia

CEO & Founder of Helgabad