Cold exposure at home can begin with small rituals. Søberg shows how breath, cold finishes, and weekly protocols build resilience, clarity, and calm.
Video·Unfiltered Extra·11 min read·September 30, 2023
Dr Susanna Søberg frames cold exposure as a practice in resilience: a short, deliberate stress that can train the body, steady the mind, and build confidence over time.
Why Resistance Matters
The dread before cold water matters. It is not a flaw in the practice; it is the doorway into it. For many people, the hardest part is not the temperature itself, but the moment before full submersion, when the mind begins to negotiate and the body asks for escape.
the more you reject the cold the more you probably need it
In the conversation, the host names that resistance directly. He describes the idea of full cold-water immersion as something he would rather avoid, a moment that fills him with dread. Søberg does not dismiss the response. She points toward a more useful interpretation: the more strongly you reject the cold, the more valuable the practice can become.
Cold exposure is a deliberate encounter with short-term stress. You choose the edge, enter it with attention, and leave before it becomes too much. That choice changes the meaning of discomfort. The body still feels the shock, but the mind begins to understand that stress can be met with steadiness.
Søberg links this resistance to a broader tolerance for stress. If you reject the cold, you are often rejecting the sensation of stress itself. Nobody naturally welcomes that first wave of discomfort. Yet the window expands through practice, both physically and mentally, and what once felt impossible begins to feel available.
The breath is the first point of mastery. Cold water can create panic, speed, and contraction, but breathing gives you a place to return. You learn to move through the first sharp seconds without surrendering to them. That lesson travels beyond the plunge.
This is why the practice builds more than cold tolerance. You complete something difficult and know that you completed it. The body receives a clear signal: discomfort can rise, crest, and pass. The mind receives a stronger one: you can do hard things with composure.
Over time, the threshold shifts. Søberg describes feeling less stressed by cold in everyday life, even in Denmark, where winter has its own discipline. The change is not dramatic performance. It is quiet adaptation, a wider capacity to stay open when the body would once have closed.
That is the deeper invitation. Cold water is not a test of toughness; it is a protocol for self-belief. You meet resistance, breathe through it, and come out with evidence. Confidence becomes embodied, not imagined.
you do something that is super hard and you overcome it and then you know that you overcome it and then you know that you can overcome many other things so you can overcome many other things so this short you can say into or of stress this short you can say into or of stress that you have will be broken and you that you have will be broken and you will open up your mind for okay if I can will open up your mind for okay if I can do this then I can do many things do this then I can do many things [Music] [Music] one of the key rules as an interior is one of the key rules as an interior is never to talk about yourself but when I never to talk about yourself but when I first discovered your protocol I gave it first discovered your protocol I gave it a go because I was fascinated by it but a go because I was fascinated by it but Dr sober I can't do it I cannot stand Dr sober I can't do it I cannot stand that that moment it fills me with Dread that that moment it fills me with Dread I would rather do anything else apart I would rather do anything else apart from fully submerge myself in cold water from fully submerge myself in cold water why do some people hate it more than why do some people hate it more than others is there a is there a reason why others is there a is there a reason why that other than just a psychological that other than just a psychological reason and secondly is it a case that reason and secondly is it a case that there are people that are more reluctant there are people that are more reluctant to do it could potentially benefit more to do it could potentially benefit more I'm trying to see if there's a I'm trying to see if there's a relationship between getting a greater relationship between getting a greater physiological or mental health benefit physiological or mental health benefit the less you want to go in and do it in
the less you want to go in and do it in the first place if you've got any the first place if you've got any insight on that insight on that hmm I think that is a really good hmm I think that is a really good question well I can use myself as an question well I can use myself as an example so the more you reject the cold example so the more you reject the cold the more you probably need it also yeah the more you probably need it also yeah I was worried you were going to say that it is like the the more you reject it is probably because you uh reject the probably because you uh reject the stress so you don't like stress nobody stress so you don't like stress nobody really likes stress even the short-term really likes stress even the short-term stress but you can get used to it and stress but you can get used to it and you can widen that window for how much you can widen that window for how much stress that you can take in both stress that you can take in both physically but also mentally so if you physically but also mentally so if you get used to that you can say pain of get used to that you can say pain of doing this deliberately it's kind of a doing this deliberately it's kind of a pain painful thing to do but you get pain painful thing to do but you get used to that and you learn yourself that used to that and you learn yourself that you can manage the pain you can breathe you can manage the pain you can breathe yourself through this pain so you can yourself through this pain so you can calm your nervous system and teach calm your nervous system and teach yourself that you can overcome a yourself that you can overcome a stressful situation so this helps you
stressful situation so this helps you both physically to overcome the the very both physically to overcome the the very low threshold for pain that you have and low threshold for pain that you have and increase that but also mentally so it's increase that but also mentally so it's really funny how this works both as a really funny how this works both as a window for your capacity to cope with window for your capacity to cope with stress in general and mentally but also stress in general and mentally but also how much you can cope with it physically how much you can cope with it physically so today just to take myself again is is so today just to take myself again is is really much easier for me to go out in really much easier for me to go out in the cold and do cold water immersion so the cold and do cold water immersion so just go out when it's cold I don't just go out when it's cold I don't always have to like have it all be always have to like have it all be completely packed in the in in sweaters completely packed in the in in sweaters and and warm jackets I mean it's I can and and warm jackets I mean it's I can have my jacket open even it's very cold have my jacket open even it's very cold in Denmark so often of course close it in Denmark so often of course close it but I can leave it open up more today but I can leave it open up more today than I could before so I do feel that than I could before so I do feel that the this there's been a shift in how the this there's been a shift in how much cold I've I can take before I feel much cold I've I can take before I feel that it's stressful to me that it's stressful to me and I do think that someone may be like
and I do think that someone may be like you I don't know how much you have done you I don't know how much you have done cold water emotions but people would cold water emotions but people would benefit from this because it also benefit from this because it also increases them increases them um you can say self-believe you do um you can say self-believe you do something that is super hard and you something that is super hard and you overcome it and then you know that you overcome it and then you know that you can overcome many other things so this can overcome many other things so this short you can say into or of stress that short you can say into or of stress that you have will be broken and you will you have will be broken and you will open up your mind for okay if I can do open up your mind for okay if I can do this then I can do many things a lot of this then I can do many things a lot of people won't have tried it and then people won't have tried it and then there'll be that trepidation which is there'll be that trepidation which is putting them off what are the the easy putting them off what are the the easy ways to introduce yourself to this I'm ways to introduce yourself to this I'm thinking maybe a cold shower or thinking maybe a cold shower or alternating a cold shower with a hot alternating a cold shower with a hot shower what are the other easy shower what are the other easy introductory steps that someone very new introductory steps that someone very new to this could take to this could take yeah so yeah a cold shower is definitely yeah so yeah a cold shower is definitely a good way to get started if you are a good way to get started if you are um if you are rejecting the code very um if you are rejecting the code very much and you think that it's too big a much and you think that it's too big a thing to just step into an ice bath that
thing to just step into an ice bath that is for me for me it would have been too is for me for me it would have been too much definitely but a cold shower could much definitely but a cold shower could be a way to get started it will not be be a way to get started it will not be the same as doing a cold water immersion the same as doing a cold water immersion but it's a good way to get started so but it's a good way to get started so you can end your hot showers on the cold you can end your hot showers on the cold five seconds and try to build it up to five seconds and try to build it up to 30 seconds but you can also get used to 30 seconds but you can also get used to the goal by putting cold water to the the goal by putting cold water to the face it will also not substitute for the face it will also not substitute for the coke water immersions but it will be a coke water immersions but it will be a way for your for yourself to get used to way for your for yourself to get used to how does this code feel how does this code feel um maybe hand cold baths and and foot um maybe hand cold baths and and foot baths could also do it that will baths could also do it that will definitely activate your round fat so in definitely activate your round fat so in that way you can also prepare a bit I've that way you can also prepare a bit I've always whenever I've done any kind of always whenever I've done any kind of cold treatment I've always ended with a cold treatment I've always ended with a really hot blast because otherwise I really hot blast because otherwise I feel like I'm going to be cold for hours feel like I'm going to be cold for hours afterwards and it just takes away that afterwards and it just takes away that edge but obviously that goes against the edge but obviously that goes against the so-called sober principle where you need
so-called sober principle where you need to end on cold why is it so important to to end on cold why is it so important to end on cold and what are the detrimental end on cold and what are the detrimental effects if you don't if you do what I do effects if you don't if you do what I do and go back to hot afterwards how much and go back to hot afterwards how much of the benefits do I eliminate of the benefits do I eliminate yeah well people don't need to end on yeah well people don't need to end on the code I think that is maybe it's a the code I think that is maybe it's a bit Advanced I don't know but why I have bit Advanced I don't know but why I have studied this metabolism and during I studied this metabolism and during I called it a bit of a nerdy face where I called it a bit of a nerdy face where I was studying what happens to the body was studying what happens to the body when you expose yourself to the cold and when you expose yourself to the cold and what I figured was that if you are what I figured was that if you are called after your winter swim your cold called after your winter swim your cold water immersions then you will force water immersions then you will force your body to heat up by itself and that your body to heat up by itself and that is the sober principle because when you is the sober principle because when you do that you will increase your do that you will increase your metabolism for hours afterwards if you metabolism for hours afterwards if you are new to this and you just start out are new to this and you just start out and say well I'm gonna follow the super and say well I'm gonna follow the super principle then you will increase your principle then you will increase your metabolism for a long term afterwards metabolism for a long term afterwards not only the few minutes that you're in not only the few minutes that you're in the cold water and this is this is super the cold water and this is this is super helpful for you right for your helpful for you right for your metabolism that is like a an after
metabolism that is like a an after workout where you don't have to do workout where you don't have to do anything it's just your body working anything it's just your body working itself up to the right temperature again itself up to the right temperature again I find that I find that is so applicable and I find it so is so applicable and I find it so feasible for people to do if they can feasible for people to do if they can just figure out a way to keep moving just figure out a way to keep moving afterwards that I think that is afterwards that I think that is important so moving afterwards you can important so moving afterwards you can go home you can clean just don't sit go home you can clean just don't sit down on the couch because if you do that down on the couch because if you do that you have what is called the after drop you have what is called the after drop and then you will start shivering in the and then you will start shivering in the sofa not that it's dangerous in that sofa not that it's dangerous in that sense but it's just uh uncomfortable and sense but it's just uh uncomfortable and that might give you the idea that this that might give you the idea that this was not a great idea to to do this so I was not a great idea to to do this so I am I always advise people to keep moving am I always advise people to keep moving afterwards because that is also healthy afterwards because that is also healthy so it's kind of like so it's kind of like um exercise post your um exercise post your um cold water emotions yeah and and very um cold water emotions yeah and and very quickly where would your advice be for quickly where would your advice be for somebody to begin if they do want to go somebody to begin if they do want to go in could you talk a little bit about the in could you talk a little bit about the optimal protocol that the people should optimal protocol that the people should should adopt as a starting place when
should adopt as a starting place when they want to explore this field they want to explore this field yeah first of all I think that people yeah first of all I think that people should should go and take my beginner's should should go and take my beginner's course because I have made a course course because I have made a course where I teach people the the house and where I teach people the the house and wise on code and heat and also the wise on code and heat and also the breath work so the breathing part is of breath work so the breathing part is of course a very important steering wheel course a very important steering wheel to lower your nervous system but you can to lower your nervous system but you can also do it on your own if you are ready also do it on your own if you are ready to do that and what I advise is 11 to do that and what I advise is 11 minutes per week which I saw in my minutes per week which I saw in my studies 11 minutes per week divided on studies 11 minutes per week divided on two to three days and also alternating two to three days and also alternating with Sona and I think that is really with Sona and I think that is really really important part of it as well if really important part of it as well if you want this health journey and you you want this health journey and you want to start that so that is 57 minutes want to start that so that is 57 minutes of sauna per week also divided on two to of sauna per week also divided on two to three days so three days so if you are not able to alternate you can if you are not able to alternate you can also divide it on different days that is also divide it on different days that is also of course okay but I can't say also of course okay but I can't say exactly how does that differ in outcomes exactly how does that differ in outcomes compared to what I've done because that
compared to what I've done because that study is not done so that's that's study is not done so that's that's people I think it was really nice as people I think it was really nice as well the the whole holistic approach I well the the whole holistic approach I think thanks to social media and think thanks to social media and Instagram there's a lot of really buff Instagram there's a lot of really buff guys jumping into ice buckets and it's guys jumping into ice buckets and it's all a bit rare but actually as you've all a bit rare but actually as you've said it's the breath work and when I said it's the breath work and when I have done it and I've managed to do it have done it and I've managed to do it for a little bit it's almost that for a little bit it's almost that meditative effect it's it's the opposite meditative effect it's it's the opposite of Macho it's taking it it's taking your of Macho it's taking it it's taking your breath it's thinking about things it's breath it's thinking about things it's getting some perspective and then getting some perspective and then jumping out and going do you know what jumping out and going do you know what nothing I do today is going to be as nothing I do today is going to be as hard as this and it's resilient you hard as this and it's resilient you touched upon that self-awareness and for touched upon that self-awareness and for me it was it gave me a sense of purpose me it was it gave me a sense of purpose and a belief that you know what I can do and a belief that you know what I can do anything that pops up today and I think anything that pops up today and I think that's where the benefit came from I that's where the benefit came from I didn't enjoy it but I can absolutely see didn't enjoy it but I can absolutely see the mental health benefits the mental health benefits yeah I think that is a really important yeah I think that is a really important benefit that you just touched upon there benefit that you just touched upon there because when people are worried it is because when people are worried it is not easy to get out of your mind right not easy to get out of your mind right you cannot you cannot just park that and you cannot you cannot just park that and say well I'm not going to worry anymore say well I'm not going to worry anymore but what you can do is something but what you can do is something physical you can do you can go and physical you can do you can go and exercise that is also a great thing but
exercise that is also a great thing but you can go and shock your body and you can go and shock your body and that's gonna take you out of that it that's gonna take you out of that it worries because the body cannot worries because the body cannot concentrate on Surviving and think about concentrate on Surviving and think about your worries about what's going to your worries about what's going to happen in five years or tomorrow or happen in five years or tomorrow or whatever or what you're gonna shop in in whatever or what you're gonna shop in in a few hours you cannot think about a few hours you cannot think about anything else to just being in that anything else to just being in that moment during that moment you have that moment during that moment you have that increase in neurotransmitters in the increase in neurotransmitters in the brain which will make you more positive brain which will make you more positive to whatever worries you have when you to whatever worries you have when you then go up so that in in a physiological then go up so that in in a physiological sense you you will actually be at a sense you you will actually be at a better state of thinking about whatever better state of thinking about whatever you had on your mind so if you want to you had on your mind so if you want to have a more positive mindset definitely have a more positive mindset definitely if that is all you want want to get out if that is all you want want to get out out of your cold war emotions that is out of your cold war emotions that is definitely something you will have definitely something you will have um on a short term so short-term effects um on a short term so short-term effects there are definitely something for your there are definitely something for your mental health but also probably also for mental health but also probably also for for the long term
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Begin With Smaller Rituals
The first step does not need to be an ice bath. For a person who rejects cold intensely, a full plunge can be too abrupt. A smaller ritual protects consistency. It gives the nervous system a clear but manageable signal, and it allows the practice to begin without spectacle.
Søberg names the cold shower as the most accessible entry point. Most people already have the setting, the water, and the privacy to begin. The protocol can stay precise: finish a warm shower with five seconds of cold, then build toward thirty seconds as your tolerance develops.
Five seconds is enough to start a relationship with the sensation. The cold arrives, the breath reacts, and you practice staying present. You do not need to force a long exposure on the first day. The aim is not endurance at any cost; the aim is deliberate contact.
Cold water on the face offers an even gentler threshold. It introduces the sensation without requiring the whole body to enter. For someone new to the practice, that matters. You learn the texture of cold, the reflex to pull away, and the steadiness that follows a slower breath.
Hands and feet can also become entry points. A cold hand bath or foot bath lets you explore intensity in a contained way. The sensation is still honest, but the commitment is smaller. This can build respect for the practice without turning the first session into a contest.
These introductory rituals are useful, but they are not identical to cold-water immersion. Søberg is clear on that distinction. A cold shower, face rinse, or hand bath can prepare you, but it does not fully substitute for the experience of entering cold water with the whole body.
That distinction should not discourage the beginner. Preparation has its own value. When you repeat a small cold finish, you train the first seconds of the response: the inhale, the tightening, the desire to escape, and the choice to remain composed. The practice begins before the plunge.
We favor protocols that can be repeated with clarity. A five-second cold finish is simple enough to keep, and strong enough to be felt. From there, thirty seconds becomes realistic. From there, immersion becomes less foreign.
Start where your body can learn. Build with precision. The cold does not need to be conquered on the first morning; it needs to be approached with intention, then approached again.
The Case For Ending Cold
Ending on cold is useful, but it is not mandatory for every beginner. Søberg calls it a more advanced part of the practice, and that matters. The principle has value, but so does adherence. A protocol that overwhelms you on day one will not become a ritual.
The Søberg principle is simple: after cold exposure, let the body reheat itself. Instead of returning immediately to hot water, you allow your own system to restore temperature. The ending becomes part of the exposure, not a separate comfort layered over it.
Søberg connects this to metabolism. When the body must warm itself after cold-water immersion, metabolism can stay elevated for hours afterward, which means the body continues working after the water is over. The felt outcome is heat generated from within, a deeper sense of vitality, and the satisfaction of completing the full protocol.
This is not a command to stand still and shiver. Movement is part of the practical answer. Walk home, tidy the house, or keep the body active in a simple way. The goal is to support the rewarming process without collapsing into passivity.
Sitting down too soon can make the experience discouraging. Søberg describes afterdrop, the uncomfortable cooling that can arrive after you leave the water. It is not presented as dangerous in this context, but it can make you shiver on the sofa and decide the practice was a mistake.
That emotional memory matters. If the finish feels miserable, the mind begins to resist the next session before it starts. A better ending protects the ritual. You leave the cold, move with purpose, and let the body find equilibrium through action.
For beginners, a warm finish can still have a place if it keeps the practice accessible. Søberg does not frame the cold ending as a requirement for everyone at the beginning. The more important first commitment is to return. Consistency builds the foundation that precision later refines.
you will force your body to heat up by itself
As the practice matures, ending cold becomes a clean expression of trust. You stop outsourcing warmth immediately and let the body participate in recovery. The final minutes after exposure become quiet work, a reset that continues beyond the water.
A Practical Weekly Protocol
A useful protocol has boundaries. Søberg points to eleven minutes of cold exposure per week, divided across two to three days. The number gives structure without asking for excess. It turns an intimidating practice into something measurable, repeatable, and calm.
The weekly rhythm matters more than a single heroic session. Two to three days allows the body to meet cold, recover, and return with attention. This cadence respects adaptation. You are not proving intensity; you are building capacity with deliberate repetition.
When sauna is available, Søberg recommends pairing heat and cold as part of the same broader journey. Her studied rhythm includes fifty-seven minutes of sauna per week, also divided across two to three days. The structure creates balance: cold asks the body to respond, heat invites release, and the contrast gives the ritual shape.
The two practices do not have to happen in the same session for every person. Søberg notes that if alternating is not available, you can divide them across different days. That distinction keeps the protocol grounded in real life. Access, time, and setting matter.
The breath remains the steering wheel. Søberg places breath work at the center of learning how to lower the nervous system during exposure, and the outcome is immediate: more calm, more control, more presence inside the stress. When the cold rises, the breath gives you direction.
This is where a wellness ritual becomes a practice of agency. The water is cold, the heat is hot, and the body responds. You are not passive inside those sensations. You observe, breathe, move, and decide how to proceed.
A weekly protocol also removes negotiation. Eleven minutes of cold does not need to be reinvented each time. Fifty-seven minutes of sauna does not need to become a vague ambition. The numbers give the mind something steady to hold, which allows the experience itself to become spacious.
We see the power of this approach in its restraint. It does not require obsession. It asks for precision, recovery, and return. The ritual becomes sustainable because it respects the body’s need for both challenge and balance.
Begin with the structure you can keep. Divide the minutes. Let the breath lead. When the protocol is clear, the practice becomes less about willpower and more about rhythm.
Cold As A Return To The Present
Cold exposure is often misread as a performance. The image of the ice bucket can become loud, competitive, and detached from the quiet reason people return to the practice. Søberg and the host point toward something more refined. Cold is not macho. It is immediate.
The shock of cold pulls attention out of rumination. Worry often lives in distance: tomorrow, five years from now, the next decision, the imagined consequence. Cold water shortens that distance instantly. The body asks for the present moment, and the mind has to answer.
Søberg explains that the body cannot concentrate on survival and distant worries at the same time. That plain truth carries weight. When the cold arrives, abstract concerns lose their grip. Breath, skin, temperature, and presence become the whole field.
She also describes a short-term increase in neurotransmitters in the brain during the experience. In plain language, that shift can leave you with a more positive state afterward, giving worries less authority and making clarity easier to access. The science matters because the feeling is practical: you step out with a different mind.
This does not erase difficulty. It changes your relationship to it. You do the hardest thing first, and the rest of the day has a new scale. The emails, tasks, and conversations still exist, but they no longer define your threshold.
you cannot think about anything else to just being in that moment
The host names this effect as purpose and belief. After the cold, the day feels more manageable because you have already met discomfort with discipline. That is not bravado. It is evidence gathered through the body.
For mental resilience, that evidence matters. You cannot always think your way out of worry, but you can enter a physical practice that interrupts the loop. Cold gives the mind a clean instruction: return here, breathe now, stay with this.
The deeper benefit is not the cold itself. It is the clarity that follows deliberate contact with stress. You leave the water steadier than you entered it, carrying a quieter form of confidence. The present moment becomes a place you can return to by choice.
