Community Cold Plunge Agreements
How to cultivate a great cold plunge experience
Introduction
Do you like to share your cold plunge with friends, host community events, or have a business (gym, spa, wellness center etc.) with a cold plunge in place? If yes, having some basic agreements in place can help everyone have a great cold plunge experience and reduce the maintenance and down time for your cold plunge.
Agreements work better than rules. Consider brainstorming or creating them with your community. Having a sense of ownership and connection will help everyone have a better experience.
These are the agreements I have used when hosting community cold plunges over the years.
These agreements are *not* a substitute for cold water coaching or initial training to teach cold water immersion. How to cold plunge is a separate conversation. Each person can respond very differently to cold water. For more info, read our article “How Cold and How Long:”
https://chestfreezercoldplunge.com/how-cold-and-how-long/
Before Getting In
1. Only enter the Plunge when you are 100% sober.
2. You are 100% responsible for your own safety and well-being.
3. Do not use the Plunge if you have an open cut, sore, wound, or while menstruating.
4. The water is filtered and ozonated. To help keep the water clean, rinse or shower at
your place before coming over. Be sure to clean your butt.
5. Do not wear lotions, creams, hair gels, oils, perfume or any other body-care products.
6. Wipe your feet before getting in and/or wear flip flops to the plunge.
7. A swimsuit bottom is required. This event is family friendly.
8. Bring your own towel and swimsuit.
9. Do not do any kind of rapid breathing or breath holds while in the water. (Ex. Wim Hof Breathing).
10. Do not push for time. Listen to your body. Practice attunement. If you experience any of the following sensations, get out immediately: burning, pins and needles, tingling, stabbing.
After Getting Out
1. Use the fish net to remove any hair, debris or sediment floating in the water.
2. Wipe up any excess water off the cold plunge.
3. Replace the lid and ensure that it is closed.
4. Leave everything as good as or better than you found it.
5. If anything needs attention, or if you have any thoughts about improving our cold plunge experience, contact your host.
Encouragement
Encouragement sounds much more connected than enforcement or compliance. Here are some suggestions:
- Have an opening and closing circle with the group when possible. Quickly review the most important details.
- Post a sign. I found laminating it helps it last.
- Print out copies and have each person read and sign them.
Liability
These agreements are not a substitute for a waiver of liability. If your gatherings are informal, you may not need to have a written waiver. If you run a business or charge for cold plunges, it’s a good idea to have each person sign a legally binding waiver of liability before they plunge. Check with your legal counsel about that.
Cold Plunge Resources
Free Facebook Group
If you’re interested in connecting with like-minded people about building DIY cold plunges, join our Facebook community:
Here is a link to my free Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/chestfreezercoldplunge
Human volunteers screen the requests to join. Please be sure to give legit answers to both questions and agree to the rules.
Chillers
If you live in North America and are interested in a chiller-based cold plunge for your home or business, consider Penguin Chillers.
I’m an authorized reseller for Penguin and happy to answer questions. They are made in the US, chill faster and cost less to operate than lower-quality models.
For more information about Penguin Chillers, see this link on my website.
https://chestfreezercoldplunge.com/product-category/chillers
Your patronage helps me support our community- and my family- and is appreciated.