The vagus nerve: Would a cold plunge help relax and reset you?

Believed to stimulate the influential vagus nerve, cold-water face immersion is trending on social media as a way to relax and reset your body. Experts separate the hype from the truth

Pic: iStock

It’s not surprising that my first response to plunging my face into a bowl of ice-cold water is panic. What is surprising, however, is how quickly that initial sense of shock fades away.

Within two to three seconds, I am acutely aware of my body. I feel the tingling of my skin. I hear the slowing thud, thud, thud of my heartbeat. Thirty seconds later, when I lift my face from its ice bath and gasp for air, I am much calmer than I was pre-dunking.