For many, the turn of the year comes with a New Year’s resolution. For some, January in Berlin means not drinking alcohol for a month or eating a vegan diet. Others, however, want to motivate themselves to do more sport and eat less junk food. In any case, it’s almost always about leaving your comfort zone and doing something good for your body. To be fair, one rather harsh way of doing this is ice bathing, which a group in Berlin called Ice Dippers regularly does during the cold season. Anyone can join in!
Ice bathing in Berlin: inspiration to leave the comfort zone
The Ice Dippers describe themselves as a constantly growing group of creative, ambitious and extravagant pioneers with a penchant for the manic. Makes sense – after all, jumping into icy waters takes a lot of courage. However, the aim is always to push your own boundaries and break out of your cozy comfort zone.
At the same time, ice swimming in a group involves a certain amount of mutual control, as with other, more common team sports. In a figurative sense, you pull the others along with you and in return you allow yourself to be pulled along and motivated, even if you don’t really feel like enduring the short ordeal. At the same time, the adrenaline rush after the ice bath is a very unifying component, which means you can certainly make new contacts quickly at the Ice Dippers – just get to know a few cool people.
Good for body and soul
In addition to the social component, ice bathing also has a very transformative effect on our body and mind. On the one hand, jumping into the cold water brings with it a great deal of pride at having overcome such a challenge. On the other hand, the body releases lots of endorphins after the bath, which has a generally uplifting and relaxing effect.
But the ice bath also has many physical benefits, for example, it reduces inflammation in the body and improves blood circulation (after thawing, of course). Do you dare? Then you can join the Dippers every Saturday at 10 a.m. between November and March. Meeting points are at the eastern Plötzensee, Regattaufer and Schlachtensee.
You can find more information on the Ice Dippers website.