Cold Plunging with Intention
A Guide
Anything we do in life can be done with deep intention or very little intention. The intention we set on a moment with our kids, our spouse, our Creator, or our work makes all the difference. It’s the difference of truly living or living as a shell of the person we were created to be. Cold Plunging is definitely a fad in our western world and beyond, yet that doesn’t mean it isn’t a powerful tool to practice deep intentional living. In fact, it’s one of the most powerful tools I’ve experienced in my lifetime. But only, when I set deep intentional with each session into the cold. I’m re-writing an inner script that was rooted in fear and laid down deeply in my mind, body, and soul. What script do you need to re-write?
1. Before Entering the Cold
Set Intention and Identity
Breath Prayer: “I am the Beloved son/daughter of the King of Kings.”
Identity Anchor: Remind yourself who you are in Christ before stress hits.
Purpose Reflection: Why am I stepping into the cold? (To train resilience, to meet God in the chaos, to practice calm presence, to shed false narratives…)
Shadow Check: Notice the voices of fear, unworthiness, or shame that may arise. Name them.
Example Script:
“Father, as I enter the waters, I lay down the lie that I am _______. I choose the truth that I am Your beloved, called with purpose, safe in You.”
2. During the Cold
Practice Calm in Chaos
Breath as Anchor: Slow inhales and exhales (4-6 seconds each). The breath becomes a statement: “I am safe. God is with me.”
Embodied Prayer: Repeat Scripture (e.g., Psalm 46:10 - “Be still and know that I am God”).
Shadow Countering: When panic or old lies rise, reframe them: “Even here, I am held.”
Nervous System Training: Feel your body wanting to fight, flight, or freeze - then choose stillness.
Example Script while submerged:
“I feel the cold, but I am not ruled by it. I feel the chaos, but I am calm in Christ. My body is safe. My spirit is strong. I am loved.”
3. After Emerging
Integration and Rewriting the Narrative
Pause in Gratitude: “Thank You Lord for the strength You gave me.”
Reclaim Identity: Speak aloud who you are: “I am a beloved son/daughter, forgiven, chosen, strong.”
Shadow Work Journaling Prompt:
What lie surfaced in the cold?
What truth do I need to repeat until my heart believes it?
How can I carry today’s calm into life’s real chaos?
Blessing Ritual: Dry off slowly as if “clothing yourself” in truth and purpose or move into challenging workout to engage the next challenge.
4. Ongoing Practice
Cold as a Training Ground
Use each plunge as a micro-battlefield to rehearse identity, courage, and presence.
Rotate focus each week:
Identity Week: Anchor in sonship/daughterhood.
Purpose Week: Anchor in calling and service.
Shadow Week: Notice and dismantle lies.
Calm Week: Deep nervous system regulation.
Masculine Core Statements
For men, the plunge becomes a training ground to embody strength, courage, and presence. Create a personalized statement that includes:
Identity as a Son: “I am a beloved son of the King, made to stand firm.”
Resilience: “I face the cold, as I face life - steady, strong, unshaken.”
Courage: “I do not shrink back from challenge; I move forward with faith.”
Masculine Presence: “I bring stability, protection, and strength to those I love.”
Biblical Anchors:
“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Cor. 16:13).
“The Lord is my strength and my shield” (Ps. 28:7).
Sample Script for Men:
“As I enter the cold, I embrace discomfort as growth. My courage is tested, my strength refined. I am steady and unshaken, a beloved son of the Most High, called to lead with love and truth.”
Feminine Core Mantras
For women, the plunge becomes a space to embody grace, resilience, and radiant strength. Create a mantra that holds both softness and resilience:
Identity as a Daughter: “I am a beloved daughter of the King, radiant in His love.”
Resilient Strength: “The cold does not break me; it awakens my inner fire.”
Feminine Essence: “I embrace beauty, intuition, and life-giving power.”
Calm Power: “I am both gentle and fierce, steady in God’s embrace.”
Biblical Anchors:
“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come” (Prov. 31:25).
“God is within her, she will not fall” (Ps. 46:5).
Sample Script for Women:
“As I enter the cold, I meet it with grace and power. I am a beloved daughter of the King, radiant and resilient. I breathe into the challenge, rooted in beauty and strength, clothed in dignity and courage.”
Practical Exercise for Both
Write down one shadow statement that often rises (e.g., “I am weak”…“I am too much”).
Rewrite it into a truth mantra (e.g., “I am strong and resilient in Christ”… “I am beloved and enough”).
Speak it before, during, and after each plunge until it becomes embodied truth.
Men’s Section: Re-Warming for Testosterone and Strength
For men seeking to maximize the hormonal and resilience benefits of cold plunging, it is important to re-warm the body through resistance exercise. This stimulates testosterone production, enhances muscle growth, and supports prostate health when practiced consistently.
Suggested Routine (5–15 minutes after each plunge):
Calisthenics & Sandbag Training: Use a 50lb sandbag or bodyweight with added resistance.
Sample Movements:
Farmer’s carry (alternating arms)
Push-ups (with weighted vest if available)
Weighted dips
Sandbag curls and overhead press
Lunges (weighted or bodyweight)
30–60 second sprints on a stationary bike
Many men have reported doubling their testosterone levels and improving prostate health when combining a plunge + re-warming workout routine with intermittent fasting.
Personal Note: My Cold Plunge Practice
I have battled fear most of my life: fear of failure, fear of what others think, fear of not being enough, fear of not being accepted or loved for who I am. Those fears shaped me into living in the opposite energy of courage, confidence, and bravery. I played it safe, stuck with what I was already good at, and avoided situations where I might fail. I people-pleased, deferred to others, and too often lived in passivity. I performed.
The cold plunge has become a place where I rewrite this script and rebuild a lost masculine core.
Before entering, I set my intention: to embrace challenge rather than avoid it, to practice calm and assertive energy in the midst of discomfort, to learn that challenge is not my enemy but my ally. The cold is not here to break me, but to awaken my inner fire.
I remind myself of who I am. Not only am I a beloved son of the King—I am the son of a Warrior King, who loves me at my core. His love is not based on my performance but on His choice to set His love upon me, even in my weakness, unbelief, and failure. My identity and attachment are secure in Him.
From that foundation, I rebuild the correct narrative:
I am strong.
I am confident.
I am passionate.
I am assertive.
I am disciplined.
I am resilient.
I am compassionate—and my compassion is not a weakness but a strength.
I pray the words of Scripture over myself: “The Lord is my Shepherd… I lack nothing” (Psalm 23:1). I lack no external validation. I do not need the approval of others to tell me who I am or what I am worth. My Father has already told me who I am and whose I am.
With that truth in my heart, I step into the cold as practice for facing life’s challenges head-on—with confidence, courage, and love. Because I am fully loved, I can love fully.
And so I pray:
“Abba Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, uproot every lie I have believed and lived under, from every cell and every strand of DNA in my body. Replace it with the truth of who I am in You. Amen.”