Dipping into a lake in the middle of winter was never my idea of fun.
I left the ice bathing to Wim Hof and my startup founder buddies from University of Waterloo.
There seemed nothing feminine about it – until it started popping up on my LinkedIn feed about a year ago.
Maybe because I live right next to Lake Zürich or maybe having witnessed my 80 year old neighbour walking to the lake 365 days a year to have a dip, cold water therapy was in my face and I just couldn’t look away.
By the winter of 2025, I was very curious and decided to give it a try. It was scary and healing. Most of all, it made me feel proud for trying something new.
A few months later I connected with Martina Lenk on LinkedIn and invited her to be a guest speaker at my women’s networking event near Zürich called Womännedorf.
She had the idea to have an experiential session because the venue of our networking event is a 5 minute walk from the lake.
We met at our usual spot, the lovely Untervogthaus Café, and Martina explained the difference between ice bathing and cold plunging. She took her time to explain the physiological benefits and warned against common mistakes like staying in the cold water too long.
Did you know that you get the benefits of cold plunging within 1-3 minutes of being in the water? That’s usually enough and you don’t need to force yourself to be in for 15 minutes.
I felt proud that I can handle 1 minute and incredibly relieved!
My goal for this experience was to make it a real possibility to go in the water on my own any time I want to, just like my 80 year old neighbour.
Martina’s guidance gave me good hope that this is totally doable for me.
Then we walked over to the lake and started our warm up. There are a few specific exercises we did designed to warm up our bodies and also relax ourselves so that this would be safe for us.
After a few minutes of warming up, we got ready to go in the water. Some of us had water shoes on and some were barefoot. Some of us wore hats, and some not.
I managed to stay in for 60 seconds then had to come out with another participant. The rest of the ladies stayed another minute. And the bravest two stayed an extra minute more.
After the plunge we stayed in our bathing suits and did the warm up exercises. Then we got dressed and drank some delicious yuzu ginger tea that Martina brought.
The smiles on our faces that you see in these pictures describe much better than words how we felt afterward.
After this experience there are three things I learned:
- Cold plunging and ice bathing are not just for men. Women’s bodies can love it too and it can be a great regular wellness practice for us.
- Going in the cold water for 1 minute is enough.
- If you live by Lake Zürich and don’t take advantage of the lake from September till May, it’s like paying for an expensive gym membership that you never use. The lake is right at our doorstep, we should be using it!
Thank you Martina for such a lovely and enriching experience.
Learn more about our networking event for women living on the Gold Coast of Lake Zürich here: Womännedorf
Learn more about Martina and her offerings here:
Martina Lenk’s Website
Zen Ice Events and Workshops
Connect with Martina on LinkedIn
Martina Lenk Instagram
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