I Tried Cryotherapy for the First Time...BRRRRRRRR!

On the face of it, it seems insane. WILLINGLY climb into a tiny, freezing space (naked!) and shiver for two minutes as a sub-Arctic snap swirls around you?! I had been curious about cryotherapy for a long time, but hadn't been moved to try it until recently. When it popped up as an option on my ClassPass membership, I had to go. Anyhoo, here's the basic rundown if you're curious about it.

Once you arrive, you're asked to take all of your clothes off and slip into a robe. This is important—even something as seemingly innocuous as an underwire for a bra can get you into trouble when your body is being blasted with temps of -250. Yes, you read that correctly. MINUS 250! Then you'll be given booties and mitts so that you don't get frostbite(!) Your first time, they'll probably only let you go on for about two minutes. For the first 30 seconds, you'll feel freezing but fine. Then, for the last minute or so, your body's fight-or-flight response will kick in. Everything inside of you will be screaming "Let me out!"

But then, magically, it ends before you even realize it. The attendant is there the whole time, so there's no need to panic. And...I have to say that I found the experience absolutely invigorating. I'd been dealing with a sore shoulder and it pretty much evaporated into thin air after I did cryo. Supposedly, lots of athletes use cryo for recovery. It's also credited with warding off depression, dementia, insomnia and several other conditions. Tony Robbins is rumored to have his own personal cryo tank in his home. And I can see why. After I exited in my robe, I suddenly felt euphoric. My surface body temp, which hovered around 90 degrees when I climbed in there, was now at 68. And I basically floated outside, like the block of ice that I was. Check with your doctor before doing cryo (I think conditions such as high blood pressure can cause potential problems), but I LOVED it! And I can't wait to go freeze my butt off again.