A Meditation on the Cold Plunge

Of the elements at The Springs, the cold plunge is the one about which people are the most curious. It's the most talked about, the most asked about, the most polarizing. It’s maybe, hmmm, divisive?

Really what we’re doing is replicating jumping into a cold body of water, whether it’s a lake or a river or an ocean, and damn if that isn’t always a bit thrilling. We’re kinda wired for that to be thrilling (it’s an inhospitable climate! if we stayed in, it would kill us!!!). It’s kinda an audacious thing, to stimulate an unsurvivable environment.

We all approach it differently. Some folks dive right in and lean into the shock, staying as long as they can. Others won’t dip a toe. A dear friend will only go into the knees. And sure, there’s a ton of science and hype out there right now about cold plunges—dopamine, brown fat, vagus nerve—but let’s put that aside for a minute and just look at the human side: cold plunges are thrilling, intense, and real.

We’ll never push you to do anything you’re not ready for. Ever. But I do want to offer a little perspective, a little something you can take into the water: You’ll never regret it.

When you're standing at the edge of the cold pool—heart racing, toes tingling, mind negotiating—it’s intimidating. Everyone has their own way of getting in, and we’re not here to tell you the “right” one.

But the thing we’ve felt and we’ve seen, again and again… Nobody regrets it. That feeling you get when you come out… you’re alive! In the world! Connected to your body!

You might not want to do it. But if you do the cold plunge, you (hopefully!) won’t regret it.

-Chris