Last updated 2026-10-20
In our workshops we take your team or group to a lake in or around Berlin for 90 minutes, where our dip leaders guide everyone through a breathing exercise on the shore before we go into the cold water together. It is the same ritual we have been practising every winter weekend since 2017, reserved for your group and arranged around a date that suits you.
Most ice bathing workshops in Berlin take place indoors in a tub filled with ice, and we think something important gets lost that way. A winter lake in the early morning, with mist over the water and the forest on the far shore, makes the cold feel like a part of nature rather than a treatment, and in our experience it is this setting that people remember long after the cold has worn off.
From October to April the lakes and rivers around Berlin are cold enough on their own, so we need neither ice deliveries nor cooling units, only a public shore and a group that is willing to give it a try.
Nobody has to go into the water, and anyone who would rather stay on the shore still takes part in the breathing exercise and the closing round.
We adapt the introduction and the closing round of the workshop to the occasion your team is coming for.
Going into cold water together is a challenge that nobody can fake, and when the whole team stands in a winter lake at the same moment, job titles and hierarchies stop mattering for a few minutes. It works well as a kick-off for a new team or as part of an offsite, and since it only takes 90 minutes, it fits easily into a normal working day.
As part of a health day or your workplace health management, the workshop tends to reach colleagues who would never sign up for yet another talk about stress, because they feel the effect of a breathing exercise on their own body instead of hearing about it. The breathing technique is simple enough to take back to the desk and use on a stressful afternoon.
Cold water triggers a strong stress response, and the workshop gives everyone the chance to practise staying calm and breathing through it in a safe setting with experienced guidance. We see it as a practical addition to the structural measures a company takes against burnout, and it is no therapy and cannot replace professional help for anyone who is already struggling.
Workshops also work well for private groups, whether it is a birthday with friends or a bachelor party with a difference, whenever you would like to experience the cold together without joining one of our public weekend dips. We look for a lake that is easy for your group to reach and a date that suits everyone, and the rest of the day is yours.
We usually go to one of the lakes we know well from our weekly dips, such as Plötzensee in Wedding or Schlachtensee in the southwest of Berlin, but we are just as happy to come to a lake closer to your office or to a lake in Brandenburg if you are planning an offsite outside the city. Every place we use is a natural lake or river with a safe public entry into the water.
Every workshop is led by our dip leaders, who have been guiding the weekly dips at the lakes of Berlin for years. We stay at standing depth close to the shore and never go under ice. The breathing exercise happens only on land and never in the water.
If you have heart or circulatory problems or epilepsy, please talk to a doctor before taking part. During pregnancy or with an acute infection it is better to stay on the shore, and the same goes for anyone who reacts badly to cold, for example because of Raynaud syndrome. Our dip leaders are not certified Wim Hof Method instructors, and the workshop is no medical treatment.
The price depends mainly on the size of your group and on where the workshop takes place, so we put together an individual offer for every request. Just write to us with roughly how many people you are and the date you have in mind, and we will get back to you with a suggestion for the lake and the price.
No. Going into the water is always voluntary, and anyone who would rather stay on the shore still takes part in the breathing exercise and the closing round.
No experience is needed, since the workshop is designed for people who have never been in cold water before. All they need is to be in good health and to bring warm, dry clothes for afterwards.
Everyone decides that for themselves, and nobody times anyone. For most first-timers one to three minutes is plenty.
A thin layer of ice at the edge is no problem, and our dip leaders know how to open a safe entry point. If the ice is too thick or the weather makes it unsafe, we move to the Spree, which rarely freezes over, or find a new date together with you.
Yes, as long as it is a natural lake or river in or around Berlin with a safe public entry into the water. Tell us where your office or offsite is and we will suggest a suitable spot.
Yes, our dip leaders guide workshops in English or German, depending on your group.
Yes, our weekend dips stay free and open to everyone, as they always have been. A workshop is a separate, private session for your group on a date of your choice.
Outside the official bathing sites you go into the water at your own risk, and in all our years on public shores we have never had any trouble with the Ordnungsamt. Our guide on the rules in Berlin explains the details.