Serena Williams: A Cryotherapy Practice
Designed by Bearmore
Inspired by Serena WilliamsWhen you start to brace against the cold before you even step in.
This is one way to get invigorated and totally wide awake! Start with a stretch to loosen-up, a few rounds of breathing to settle the nerves, then three minutes of deep cold exposure in the cryo chamber.
The runsheet
A stretch to start
StretchingA Bearmore addition, not part of Serena's posts. Before anything else, move gently through legs, hips and shoulders to wake the body up. Nothing forced. You are loosening off so the breathwork and cold exposure have a relaxed body to work with.
10 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing stretching before breath work
This can help because body awareness and any relaxation can enhance more complex breathing practices.
Intentional breathing
Breath workBefore you step in, a few slow rounds of breathing to drop the anxiety a notch. You are not trying to relax the cold away. You are just settling. Longer out-breaths, soft shoulders, then in you go.
5 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing breath work before cryotherapy
This pairing is especially effective because the same controlled-breath skill that handles cold plunges meets cryotherapy's more extreme cold with the same composure.
Three minutes in the chamber
CryotherapyThis is the part Serena Williams actually did: a session at about -110 degrees, posting that she made the full three minutes and could feel a difference. Three minutes is can go quickly but not at that temperature!
3 min activityTime well spent.
44m spent doing something good for yourself.
The breakdown
Burst evaluation
Wellbeing focus
About this Burst
Serena Williams is a retired American tennis player widely regarded as one of the greatest in the sport's history. Born in 1981 and raised in Compton, California, she turned professional in 1995 and won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, more than any other woman in the open era. She played her final tournament at the 2022 US Open. Off the court she founded Serena Ventures, and in 2025 began sharing a wellness journey publicly, including her first cryotherapy sessions.