If you're reading this before your first Saturday with us, you're probably a little nervous. Good. Almost everyone is, and it means you're taking it seriously. Here's exactly what the day looks like in Săftica, so nothing catches you by surprise.

Before you arrive

You don't need to train for this. You don't need to be fit, or young, or to have done anything like it before. Most people who walk in on a Saturday have never sat in an ice bath in their lives. Bring a swimsuit, a towel, warm clothes for after, and something dry to change into. Eat lightly in the morning. That's the whole preparation.

The shape of the day

We run from ten in the morning until around four in the afternoon. It's a full day, and it isn't rushed. It goes roughly like this:

  • We gather, make introductions, and talk through the method and the science over coffee.
  • We do the breathing together, guided, on the floor. This is where you learn to stay calm.
  • Then the ice bath, one at a time, with someone right beside you.
  • The sauna, to warm back up and let your body settle.
  • A warm lunch together, usually Turkish, and this is where a lot of the day actually happens.

People joke that they come for the method and stay for the lunch. It's half a joke. The table afterward, everyone red-cheeked and buzzing, is where the group turns into something more like a family.

The ice bath itself

This is the part you're worried about, so let's be plain about it. The water is cold, really cold, and the first ten seconds are loud in your head. Your breath will want to run away from you. That's why we spend the morning on the breathing first. When you lower in, someone is right there with you, talking you through it. You are never in there alone.

You decide how long you stay. Thirty seconds is a completely real result for a first time. Nobody counts, nobody compares, and nobody pushes you past what feels right. The rule we say out loud, every week, is that you never force it. You get out the moment you want to, and you'll come out grinning. Almost everyone does.

What it costs and who comes

A first session is 70 euros, and that covers the whole day, the guidance, the facilities and the lunch. The group is small, usually around ten people, which is on purpose. It keeps it personal and means every question gets answered. We also run women-only sessions once a month, so there's a comfortable way in for everyone.

Afterward

You'll feel the cold for a while, then a wave of warmth and a strange, clean kind of energy that tends to last into the evening. A lot of people are quieter than they expected on the drive home, in a good way. And a fair few book the next Saturday before they've even left.

We're about thirty minutes outside Bucharest. If you've been curious about cold therapy and the Wim Hof Method but the idea of an ice bath scares you a little, that's the normal starting point, not a reason to wait. Come as a beginner. That's who this is for.