Gary Brecka dunks fully underwater to trigger the mammalian dive reflex, which shifts your nervous system from fight-or-flight to rest-and-digest. He then does box breathing, four seconds each for inhale, hold, exhale, hold, while submerged for about three minutes to stay calm and deepen the effect.
So here's how I do the cold plunge. I go right in, I dunk. So I trigger the mammalian dive reflex. That is the reflex that all mammals have. So that when they dive deep in the water and the cold water is passing over their nose, it puts them into a parasympathetic state from a sympathetic state. So it actually calms your heart rate down and makes it not so difficult. Dunking at the beginning actually does help out. And then I'll do something called box breathing. Just gentle breathing. Four seconds in, four second hold. Four seconds out, four second hold. It looks just like this. This is my drug of choice. Nice and chilly. So I'm gonna go all the way under, pop up. And now I'll just relax right here. I'll cruise for three minutes. Deep breath in, four second hold, deep breath out, four second hold. And I'll just keep tracing that square until I get to the three minutes. That's the secret.
