09/24/2026
First few seconds in the ice bath, I think I'm having a heart attack. Every time.
This is what I tell the young men right before we send them in. I'm standing there at Young Men's Ultimate Weekend, minutes away from the plunge, and I don't tell them it's easy. I tell them the truth about me.
My nervous system takes over. I'm out of control. Then I get my breath back, and the whole thing flips into "I can do this."
Then I name what's real. I feel the ice water. I see the sun. I feel my butt on the bottom of the bath.
Breath first. Mind second. 15 seconds.
And the ice is just the practice round. It's the same 15 seconds before a job interview, before a hard conversation with a professor, before he tells his boss he made a mistake.
His body won't know the difference. That's the point.
They don't need me to be calm. They need to watch me come back.
Follow along for more on motivating your son to master the challenges of the young adult world.
