A Moment in the Cold Plunge with Founder Nathan Kaplan

Before Grotto was a business, it was a cold plunge in Nathan Kaplan's backyard. He'd started plunging at the gym after a lifestyle change and liked it enough that he bought one for home. Then he started inviting friends over. The cold had an effect on the social atmosphere of his gatherings, people loosened up, stayed longer, talked more. He loved the energizing and social buzz of the cold plunge, and soon after he started working on what would become Grotto Baths.

So what does the cold plunge experience feel like? We asked Grotto Founder Nathan Kaplan to guide us through it in real time below:

The first thing that happens when you get in is your breath goes. Your body immediately redirects everything it has toward staying warm. Your heart rate spikes, your skin tightens, and for a moment your only job is to not get out.

“Cold has a way of simplifying everything,” he says. “You breathe, you stay, and the rest falls away on its own.”

"The first thirty seconds are the hardest," Nathan says. "After that your body starts to figure it out. You just have to get through the beginning."

What's happening in those first seconds is a cold shock response, norepinephrine floods the system, circulation pulls toward your core, alertness spikes. Norepinephrine is also one of the primary drivers of mood and focus, which is why you step out feeling clearheaded. Most research points to two to three minutes as the threshold for full benefit. You don't need to suffer through ten.

On how long to stay in, Nathan doesn't give a number. "You're looking for the moment your breath evens out," he says. "Once that happens your nervous system has settled For some people that's ninety seconds, for others it's longer. The clock matters less than that shift."

At Grotto the plunge is communal, which is the part Nathan has cared about longest. There's something about being in cold water with other people, the shared adjustment, the eye contact, the nervous laughter, and collective exhale when everyone's body finally settles, that makes it easier.

"You see someone else get through the hard part and it helps you get through yours, it stops being about pushing yourself and starts being about being in it together." - Nathan Kaplan