This time around, I only walked five minutes from my apartment in South Williamsburg to The Dime, a luxury residential tower on the other side of the BQE. I\u2019d heard murmurs \u2014 that is, seen postings on Forte<\/a>, a social fitness app \u2014 about the Ice Cold Club<\/a>, a rooftop cold plunge workshop founded by Global Nike Trainer Lauren Schramm<\/a>, which often hosts events for run clubs and yoga studios.<\/p>\n The Dime, South Williamsburg<\/p>\n Tanner Garrity<\/p>\n My class is called \u201cBreath + Flow,\u201d and it\u2019s taught by Jen Frodsham<\/a> in a spare studio with 15-foot glass windows, adjacent to The Dime\u2019s roof deck. She begins by asking us our sun signs and explaining the implications of Venus retrograde. I\u2019m no less dubious of astrology these days, but I am less dismissive of it. There\u2019s always a dash of woo-woo at these things; I\u2019ve found that beneath those zodiac particulars are messages we all need to hear. Reminders about slowing down, letting go.<\/p>\n The first half of the class is a gentle mobility flow. We work from tabletop \u2014 side stretches, thread the needle, warrior poses, a bit of downward dog, and finally 90 seconds of pigeon for each side, which, after building some heat, feels like heaven. All the while the sun is setting on the other side of Manhattan, and the vermilion sky seems to melt the silver buildings away until the day is no more.<\/p>\n When Jen tells us we\u2019re going to finish the class with 30 minutes of intense breathwork, it occurs to me, somehow for the first time, that I\u2019m the only person wearing a bathing suit. Wait, shit: aren\u2019t we doing a cold plunge? <\/p>\n I\u2019m confused, but there\u2019s no time to litigate my potential booking mishap. We\u2019re on our backs now, falling into a steady cadence of inhales and exhales. It\u2019s remarkable \u2014 as the time passes, as she changes the tempo, and starts prompting various breath holds (30 seconds at a time, 60 seconds, longer) \u2014 how I can feel my diaphragm find its confidence. I\u2019m able to take in more air as the session goes on, hold it in for longer and even seem to forget I\u2019m holding it. When she calls for a release, it\u2019s like I\u2019m being zapped back to the present.<\/p>\n Increasingly, there are people chasing clarity (and a natural high) through this sort of \u201chigh-ventilation breathwork.\u201d Done carefully, and correctly, the practice can simulate \u201cexperiences people normally associate with psychedelic drugs.\u201d<\/a> Is it legit? Yes. I think so. All I know is I feel crazy in a good way. Crazy good. And also quite cold in my limbs, on account of all the oxygenation<\/a> and subsequent hormone release.<\/p>\n To end the class Jen slowly shifts us back to reality, then urges us to have a gentle evening. She also says we\u2019re free to explore the roof deck.<\/p>\n Hop in, water\u2019s absolutely freezing.<\/p>\n Tanner Garrity<\/p>\n There\u2019s a great riff in the novel Netherland by Joseph O\u2019Neill<\/a> about the natural entitlement New Yorkers feel to explore their neighbors\u2019 apartment buildings. What\u2019s in this closet? How big\u2019s your bedroom? Let\u2019s see the roof!<\/p>\n So it\u2019s with a local\u2019s nosiness that I wander around The Dime\u2019s deck, checking out its basketball court and lounge chairs and 360-degree views. At the industrial grill a guy\u2019s cooking a bunch of sausages. Over the river yellow windows are winking to life. No doubt still intoxicated by the breathing session, I feel an absurd shock of immortality. Then I remember my confusion from earlier. I guess (ultimately correctly<\/a>) that Ice Cold Club collaborates with local movement studios; maybe some of their classes don\u2019t include cold plunges.<\/p>\n Then I notice a gelid-blue glow from the far corner, where a man is splayed out in a six-foot-long tub, sucking lungfuls of October air. Jackpot. I linger to the side, pretending to scroll my phone. When he climbs out, over five minutes later, I ask him the temperature.<\/p>\n \u201c50 degrees,\u201d he says, checking a thermometer on the side. <\/p>\n Grill Guy comes over and asks us how we access the cold plunge.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t actually live here,\u201d I defer to Plunge Man.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t live here either,\u201d he says, \u201cbut there\u2019s a QR code.\u201d <\/p>\n Turns out he pays a membership ($99 to $120 a month) to access the tub whenever he wants. His name is Jake and his personal plunge record is eight-and-a-half minutes. He even comes up here in the winter. He\u2019s amused to see me there, says he\u2019s never seen someone come plunge at the same time as him (it\u2019s about 8 p.m. on a crisp Monday night).<\/p>\n \u201cSo to you,\u201d I say, \u201cthe Ice Cold Club is just you coming up to this tub.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n I love it. This era of wellness has made us all a little crazy, me included. For one night, Jake expands his club to include me \u2014 I sit in the tub for a little under three minutes while he puts his clothes back on. I notice how available my breath is throughout my effort. That\u2019s my parasympathetic nervous system operating at its most activated. Or maybe I owe some thanks to the BQE. Watching the cars fly by was a nice distraction.<\/p>\n When I\u2019m done, he closes the thing up. We exchange names, fist bump, say see you around. I head home in a wet bathing suit.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tTanner Garrity<\/p>\n Tanner Garrity is a senior editor at InsideHook, where he\u2019s covered wellness, travel, sports and pop culture since 2017. Beyond the newsroom, he can usually be found running, skating, reading, writing fiction or playing tennis. He lives in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tMore from Tanner Garrity \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tMore Like This<\/p>\n Twice a week, you’ll find proven advice and tips, expert interviews, deeply reported features and personal essays on living better \u2014 for however long you\u2019re here. Subscribe to Champ now.<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/thedime-inline-1.jpeg\")
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