I didn’t know what to expect from my first ice bath experience. I’ve always thrived in the heat. The decision to move to Puerto Vallarta came one frigid February morning in New York City when it had snowed for the fourth time that season. I was done with the cold. I won’t even go in a swimming pool if the water is below 26 degrees. So when I told my husband I would try an ice bath wellness experience in Raices Chocolateria, Puerto Vallarta, he just looked at me and laughed.
If there’s one thing I hate more than the cold, it’s being told I can’t handle a challenge.
So off I went one Sunday to Raices Chocolateria, a local artisanal chocolate shop with a side business of ice baths. Run by husband-and-wife duo Laura and Eduardo out of their former home-turned-chocolate shop, the ice bath experience has become a buzzy Sunday activity for locals and expats in Puerto Vallarta.
Taking the Plunge
It’s hard to describe the feeling of your body being swallowed by near-freezing water. Your brain goes haywire in the first 20 seconds as the shock hits your nervous system. Your mind scrambles as your body tries to decipher if it’s in danger. Your eyes go wide; your lungs gasp for air; in those first 20 seconds, your brain is literally thinking it’s fighting for your life. My thoughts were jolting like bolts of lighting between “Get out of here” to “You chose this. Just hold on.”
And then the chaos stops. The scramble clears, and there’s a break in the bedlam. You come back to your breath. It softens. I could smell the burning copal, hear the soft music, and feel the warm breeze on my face. Eyes closed, I focused on Laura’s voice guiding me through breathwork, telling me that I was okay. After what felt like two excruciatingly long minutes, Laura told me I had finished the full five-minute session. It was over. I did it, and I felt more alive than ever.
After you come out of the ice bath, Laura takes you to a sunny patch in the tropical backyard, where you start to slowly move your limbs, clearing the energy around you and letting your body adjust back to normal. An overwhelming sense of euphoria comes over you. Your brain works in a heightened state of calm, yet your mind is on fire. I have never felt anything like that. It’s high-speed meditation, yoga, and therapy all in one system-shocking five minutes.
“What was that?” I kept asking over and over.
“As ice baths have become more popular, they are finding more and more benefits to deliberate cold exposure,” said Laura. She said some of the top health benefits are increased circulation throughout the body, clarity and focus in mental health, energy boosts, activation of the brown fat organ in the body, which helps sugar levels and metabolism, a decrease in inflammation, and an increase in oxygen in the body.
Research on the mental benefits of ice baths is still in its infancy. However, small studies have shown that five-minute dips in cold water boosted feelings of alertness and attentiveness and decreased perceived anxiety.
It’s these benefits and that feeling that Laura and Eduardo want to share with their community in Puerto Vallarta.
The Roots of Raices
Of course, as is common in travel, love, and wellness, nothing happened on purpose. Laura moved to Mexico to teach. She met Eduardo at a restaurant, and the two fell in love. Their path to opening a chocolateria started by simply experimenting with making chocolates between them.
“We started making chocolate for ourselves at home, playing around with this seed in its many forms,” said Laura. “As we kept exploring and learning more, we decided that we wanted to share our knowledge, love, and passion for cacao and all its properties with others.”
They opened Raices Chocolateria out of their home, creating bars of chocolate, truffles, and cacao based beverages based on Indigenous recipes. It was after that they opened their backyard to the ice bath experience, bringing guests in to plunge in two metal tubs set up amid lush plants and burning incense.
“I had no idea how medicinal, diverse, and transformative cacao truly is,” she said. “The ice bath experience was definitely a surprise aspect to Raices Chocolateria, as it is not our main focus and never was in our original thoughts. But we are so grateful that it has become a part of our lives here and that the benefits of cacao and ice complement each other so well.”
Safety first
As with anything body related, it is essential to talk with your medical professional before you try something new. “As wonderful as the benefits of ice baths are for some people, there are certain people who are not recommended for deliberate cold exposure,” she said. “If you know your body has negative effects when you are exposed to extreme cold, it’s not a good idea to start with something so extreme.”
She suggests that people with heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, pacemakers, a history of frostbite, open wounds, epilepsy, or pregnancy avoid cold exposure. Laura and Eduardo will have each guest fill out a form where these points and more are discussed. They will also remove you from the bath if they see your body reacting negatively to the cold. Your health and safety come first.
Whether or not ice baths will become part of my wellness regimen remains to be seen. I would be lying if I told you my experience was not transformative. It wholeheartedly was. In all my years of consistent exercise and yoga, I don’t think I’ve ever been as mentally clear or slept as well as I did on the day of my ice bath experience.
Still, at the end of the day, my husband wasn’t too far off to think that I wouldn’t love sitting on ice. It may be a minute before I can psych myself up again for that.
The details: Raices Chocolateria is a cafe open Tuesday through Sunday, serving cacao-based beverages, chocolate bars, and food. Throughout the week, they offer different chocolate classes and workshops, including tastings, chocolate making, and classes for kids. Ice baths are available on Sundays and Wednesdays.
Meagan Drillinger is a New York native who has spent the past 15 years traveling around and writing about Mexico. While she’s on the road for assignments most of the time, Puerto Vallarta is her home base. Follow her travels on Instagram at @drillinjourneys or through her blog at drillinjourneys.com.
