How Ice Baths Can Help You Beat Stress and Find Inner Peace

My skin felt like it was on fire. My brain was blank. There was only a primal and irresistible need to escape. I tried to count the seconds as they passed, but a minute felt like an hour. No one said torture was possible when I signed up for my first ice bath In Chiang MaiIt’s the heat of July. Surely the promised benefits of improved well-being would come with the ice bath experience?

Evidence of the use of cold therapy as a medical treatment can be found in Egyptian papyri dating back to 3,500 BC. But the practice of ice baths gained popularity in the 2000s, particularly in sports training, as a tool to promote recovery and optimize performance. Today, ice baths, also called cold baths, are increasingly offered at spas, resorts and wellness retreats.

According to a study published in the journal Biology in 2023, the short-term effects of cold water immersion include feeling more active, alert, attentive and inspired. By constricting blood vessels and reducing blood flow, exposure to cold also helps reduce inflammation and muscle pain – the same way we would ice an injury to prevent swelling. Other studies of cold stimulation have shown improved sleep quality and activation of the vagus nerve, which regulates the nervous system, thereby training your body to relax when stressed.

Keiko Takahashi, founder of Breath of Life Ice Bath, with an ice bath customer. Photo: Handout

I discovered ice baths in Suan Sati for the first time, a yoga retreat in rural Chiang Mai, Thailand, when I completed my yoga teacher training. After being divided into groups of four, we mentally prepared ourselves for the immersion with cups of hot water and tea, and changed into our swimsuits. We were told to stay for five minutes, the less movement the better. I barely lasted three.

During my second ice bath experience, in Bali, Indonesia, I learned that deep breathing is a key part of the process. This time I worked with Keiko Takahashi, founder of Breath of Life Ice Bath, based in Hong Kong and a certified breathwork practitioner. Takahashi developed the Breath of Life cold meditation method after overcoming a particularly difficult period in his life.

“I discovered my body and my traumas,” explains Takahashi. “I studied polyvagal theory, hormesis, and the Japanese misogi ritual, and how cold can not only reset the nervous system, but also build resilience and release retained stress in the body.”

Inside a beautiful Bali villa, Takahashi led a small group of us in a guided ice bath meditation. After filling the free-standing bathtub with ice-filled bags, we began with a basic meditation in the gentle sunshine. We practiced the breathing rhythm we were to use inside the bath and took a few quiet moments to observe our emotions and our bodies.