Fire & Ice Contrast Therapy

Contrast Therapy is the process of deliberately exposing your body to cycles of heat and then cold. In our Fire & Ice room, this consists of:

1. A 5-15 minute session in our 190 degree Finnish sauna
2. A quick dunk under the Nordic bucket plunge
3. A 5-10 minute rest break to allow your body to reset and re-aclimate.

We typically recommend 3 cycles of this for maximum benefits.

During your sauna or in-between cycles, you can also use the snowballs provided in the room - both scented with lavender and unscented - for ice therapy to either cool down or to increase your experience of contrasting temperature exposures. A bit like Icy Hot, applying ice during your sauna session can be highly stimulating and invigorating.

Deliberate and controlled cycles of heat and cold strengthens the immune system by increasing levels of lymphocytes and monocytes; increases metabolism by burning glucose; improves blood circulation by triggering vasodilatation and vasoconstriction; helps regulate body temperature through brown fat production; keeps skin pure and glowing by tightening pores; and improves overall wellbeing and reduces stress. It leaves us feeling invigorated and energised, promoting a feeling of renewed wellbeing and relieving us of stress.

The evolution of dysfunctional comfort
A longer explanation is that the human body evolved for millennia without much protection from the elements, compared to our luxurious lives today. Compared to the length of our 300,000 years of having to adapt to various conditions, we’ve been living for a relatively minute amount of time in a tiny temperature range. We keep our homes at 72 degree homes, we work in 72 degree offices, and we wear clothing that keep us comfortable in a few-degree range 24/7. We’ve conquered our environment with novel technologies … and made our brilliant biological technologies redundant in the process.

We are not well adapted for this new-found constant comfort. Our human bodies evolved to be adaptable and resilient to extremes. All this modern comfort is alien to our immune systems and nervous systems. It’s making them lazy and disordered, and making us biologically inefficient and sick in the process.

Contrast Therapy helps us rediscover and retrain our innate capacities for adaptability and resiliency. During temperature extremes, our bodies produce heat- and cold-shock proteins. These proteins essentially act like emergency repair crews in our bodies. They’re part of our body’s built-in defense system against stress. While our culture of constant comfort has the intention of minimizing stress, it ironically actually makes us less adaptable and more stressed, leading to chronic states of inflammation and their mental manifestations depression, anxiety and burnout.

The culture of Contrast Therapy seeks to expose us, in short and controlled bursts, to the very stresses that help make us more resilient by triggering the very mechanisms that help us self-repair.

Go Go Brown Fat Activation!
Exposing yourself to temperature extremes - in a controlled environment - also helps build your body's "brown fat". This is essentially your body's insulation layer. Cold exposure triggers a process called "non-shivering thermogenesis", and it involves both hormonal and cellular changes. Brown fat is packed with mitochondria, the energy-producing parts of cells, as well as iron (which is where the "brown" part comes from). Unlike white fat, which stores energy, brown fat burns energy to help keep your body warm.

There's a complex process that gets kicked off involving norepinephrine's effect on mitochondria and a protein called UCP1. To simplify, though, if you imagine that you have a thin layer of fiberglass insulation throughout your body that helps keep you warm, cold exposure increases the thickness of that insulation layer, so you won't be as cold next time. Which also helps keep you cool when things get too hot! So building up your brown fat helps your body stay regulated throughout winter and summer, just like a well-insulated house does, and helps save on your power bill in the process. 💵

TL;DR version: Stand under the cold dunk. Pull the rope handle. Get dunked. Take a break. Get back in the sauna. Repeat. Longer version: There's a long cultural history of cold bucket dunking, dating back to Viking and Tyrolean (modern day Austria) times. Our Nordic dunk is a nod to those times and to that lineage.

Our Nordic dunk bucket holds 5 gallons of 60 degree water. Traditionally, a dunk would be done all at once; one big cold shock straight to the head. You can experiment with different forms of cold dunk, though. You can pull the cord just a little bit for a slow trickle, and you can hold it down for perpetual exposure. Unlike, say, jumping in a cold lake, you have instant on/off control over the cold exposure. Had enough? Just let go! Want more? Keep pulling. The dunk will refill itself within 30-60 seconds, or will keep pouring at a slower rate if you hold the cord down.

For more fun experimentation, see if you can trigger the "Mammalian Dive Reflex". (More on that in the FAQ below)

The mammalian diving reflex (MDR), also known as the diving response, is a physiological adaptation found in all mammals, including humans, that helps conserve oxygen and energy primarily during full underwater submersion. It activates with free divers, for example, when they're going into extreme depths.

It also activates when the head and face is submerged in any form of cold water.

It triggers a cascade of changes in the body, including a slowing of heart rate and increased peripheral vasoconstriction. These changes help to reduce oxygen consumption and direct blood flow to vital organs like the brain and heart, ensuring their continued function during a period of oxygen deprivation.

The felt experience is a deep relaxation response.

You can play around with this using the Nordic dunk. We've personally found that a dunk directly to the top of the head creates a more intense sense of contrast and cold shock, while tipping your head forward and letting it hit the back of the neck tends to trigger - after the initial cold shock - more of a parasympathetic response. In a way, you can feel it moving the stress from your head and neck down through your feet. Try to visualize that as you try MDR with the Nordic dunk and see if you could use as a tool to move whatever stresses may be stuck in your body down your spine, legs and out through your feet.

Here's a few more details on what the Mammalian Dive Reflex triggers:

Trigeminal Nerve Activation:
Submersion in cold water, particularly the face, activates the trigeminal nerve (fifth cranial nerve).

Vagus Nerve Stimulation:
The trigeminal nerve signals the brain, which then activates the vagus nerve (tenth cranial nerve), part of the parasympathetic nervous system.

Bradycardia and Apnea:
The vagus nerve slows the heart rate (bradycardia) and causes the individual to hold their breath (apnea).

Peripheral Vasoconstriction:
Blood vessels in the extremities constrict, diverting blood flow to the brain and heart.

Spleen Contraction:
In some mammals, the spleen may contract, releasing stored red blood cells to enhance oxygen-carrying capacity.

Increased Oxygen-Carrying Capacity:
Aquatic mammals have adaptations like increased blood volume, hemoglobin, and myoglobin to enhance their oxygen storage and utilization.

The snowballs - balls of ice, really, but snowballs sounds more fun - are for providing another element of contrasting sensory experience while in the sauna. You can use them simply to cool down (melting them on your forehead, in your palms or on your soles are the most cooling, as these are your prime areas of "glabrous" skin, where you lose the most heat), to play with the sensory experience of simultaneous extreme heat and extreme cold to see how it affects you, or, in the case of the aromatherapy-infused snowballs, to slowly diffuse the gentle aroma of lavender during your sauna.

You'll find lavender-infused snowballs on the bottom shelf of the in-room freezer, and unscented on the top two shelves for those who are not into essential oils.

No, not at all. While you do get the most benefit from contrast therapy, not everybody is into the cold. You can just enjoy the sauna, that's totally okay.

We do encourage you to experiment with even micro exposures to cold alongside your sauna session. Even dunking just your head (or just a toe) under cold water for a few seconds can be huge progress. Maybe next time you try a few seconds more, or head and shoulders. You may be surprised at how quickly you can train your system to not only tolerate the cold, but enjoy it. We have an amazing physiological system evolved to handle temperature extremes; it just takes a little training, one small step at a time.

Possibly interesting personal sidebar from Dan, co-owner and creator of the Fire & Ice room: "I get it. I used to hate the cold too. I just didn't understand why *anybody* would deliberately expose themselves to cold water. What the hell was wrong with those people? Then I did a lot of inner exploration around my reactivity to the notion of cold and learned that I had recent ancestors who were forced to put up with cold due to poverty and lack of available heat in the winters. Memory of hating the cold was lurking in my cellular memory before I ever gave even a single thought to cold water. After I reflected on those epigenetic influences and resolved that they weren't actually my own beliefs or ideas, I was able to easily get into an ice-cold outdoor plunge and stay in there for 10 minutes. What a switch! Ever since then I've been getting into cold lakes, cutting holes in ice and fully enjoying contrast therapy. It's much easier to do when you're really hot, of course. So give some consideration to where your resistance to cold comes from; you might find that it's not even yours and that you actually have the capacity to fully embrace and even enjoy cold. Because getting cold - in a controlled manner - can provide some amazing benefits."

Yes! In addition to the Nordic cold dunk, there is large, beautifully-tiled shower in the room. You can use the shower just for rinsing off after your sauna, or you can go back and forth between the sauna and a cold shower for some contrast therapy, if you'd like.

Yes, we ask everyone to take a thorough, cleansing shower before getting in the sauna. It's common courtesy to remove all skin products, deodorants and odors before getting into a space that is used by others after you. Thanks for being considerate with your cleanliness.

After several rounds of sauna, your core temperature is naturally pretty high, which can make putting clothes back on a little unpleasant. To cool off we recommend:

• Leaving time after your sauna to rest and cool down (good practice, regardless)
• Using the Nordic cold dunk and/or a cold shower. These are going to be the most effective ways to cool down.
• Turning on the large room fan you'll find on the floor by the freezer and pointing it at yourself while you take a cool or cold shower, then stand wet in front of it. It's a powerful fan, so it really moves a lot of air over you!
• Use the snowballs to cool off. If you apply them to your forehead, palms and soles, they really help cool you down. Those areas consist of "glabrous" skin, the areas where we lose the most body heat as they have no hair.
• Bring clothes that are easy to put back on while still hot (tank top, shorts, flip flops). You can throw on your warmer clothes after you've left and cooled down a bit.

We recommend wearing nothing during your sauna session, as that is likely to be the most comfortable for you with the sweating you'll be doing. The Fire & Ice Room is a private room. You'll be provided with towels and a robe when you arrive. We require that guests sit on a provided towel at all times while in the sauna and when using one of the loungers outside the sauna.

If you're coming with friends who you aren't comfortable being naked around, naturally, wearing shorts or a swimsuit are recommended. There is a changing area behind a curtain inside the room that you can use to change in and out of wet swimwear.

There is not currently a separate changing room, but there is an area inside the room with a full curtain that provides privacy for changing if you're using the room with friends that you don't want to be naked around.

Many people feel deeply relaxed, rejuvenated, and energized after their infrared sauna session. Your skin will feel great.

Some also experience a sense of lightness from detoxification and muscle relaxation.

Hydration is absolutely essential before and after your session, so we recommend drinking plenty of water to support your body’s natural detox process. You won't feel great if you get dehydrated.

We provide complimentary electrolyte packets at our tea and water station (outside the room). Those can also help a ton to replace electrolytes that might be lost via sweat.

If you're clicking on this particular FAQ and don't already know the answer, there's a reasonable chance that the is the answer is no, Contrast Therapy might not be for you.

There are some conditions and situations that make it unsafe to use any sauna: if you have a fever, infection or injury; high blood pressure, risk of heart attack or other cardiovascular problem; a history of dizziness, fainting spells, heat sensitivity, narcolepsy or seizures; or any bleeding disorders. If any of these are an issue and you have concerns, we recommend talking to a doctor about sauna use first.

If you're using sauna for a detoxification protocol - which could be killing parasites, purging metals, or myriad other forms of detox - you should start slowly and do shorter sessions until you know how your body will react. We recommend getting the advice of a doctor or naturopath before using the sauna for a detox protocol. If you have a parasite of some form, sauna can be quite effective at helping kill it, but ... the experience of a die-off process happening too quickly can be quite intense.

Really, there's no limit. Some people use sauna and cold water exposure every day. That might not be practical, though. For best results, we recommend using the sauna and contrast therapy 2-3 times per week, though the frequency can vary depending on your health goals and personal needs. Some people enjoy using the sauna daily, while others prefer it as part of a weekly self-care routine.

For a variety of reasons, we don't recommend it. The Finnish sauna gets up to 190 degrees. While your body will love that temperature, your phone will not. Overheating risk is high. Plus, if you can't go 30-60 minutes without your phone ... you might want to ponder your level of phone addiction. We encourage you to step away from screens for a while and spend a short time in quiet reflection. Note that we do not allow music or other sound from your phone to be played loudly in the sauna room so you can hear it inside the sauna, as the sound travels beyond the sauna room too much. So please just put it away and enjoy some present, undistracted sauna time.

A lot. As much as you can reasonably consume. You get a great sweat going in a sauna, so you want to replace those fluids! We also recommend taking some electrolytes after any sauna session. We have complimentary Emergen-C electrolytes at our tea station.

Some sauna purists insist that water should not be consumed during a sauna, the logic being that if you're going to sweat out fluids, you want to sweat out the fluids that are deeper in your body, where toxins are potentially being held, versus sweating out new water that's just entered your body. We don't necessarily recommend this or know if there's actual biological basis to this idea, but we thought it was interesting to mention. Ultimately, you should hydrate intuitively, as you feel like your body needs.

While sauna therapy is not a weight loss solution on its own, it can help support healthy weight management by boosting metabolism and promoting calorie burning through increased heart rate and perspiration. For best results, we recommend combining sauna use with a balanced diet and regular exercise.

Pregnant individuals are generally advised to avoid using saunas, as high heat can affect the developing baby.

We recommend arriving hydrated and comfortable. Avoid heavy meals or alcohol right before your session, and wear loose, breathable clothing or a towel. After your sauna session, we suggest drinking plenty of water to help replenish fluids lost through sweating and take some electrolytes.

You can absolutely do both—it's just a matter of what feels best for your body and your schedule. That said, most people prefer to float first and then enjoy the sauna afterward to extend that relaxed, melty feeling a little longer. If you do choose to sauna before your float, just be sure to give yourself enough time to cool down afterward. Entering the float tank while your body is overheated can make the water feel cooler than it actually is, which may distract from your experience. A quick cool shower after your sauna is a great way to reset your body temperature before stepping into the tank. Either order works—you really can’t go wrong. Let your body be your guide, and we’re always here to help with timing if you’re booking both sessions back to back.

Yes, absolutely! We love social sauna, and want you to bring your friends.

Our Finnish sauna can comfortably accommodate up to five people, six at a stretch.

Additional guests are $15 each. So if you split the total cost of the session with several friends, not only will you have a fun social sauna session but it will make the per-person cost quite cheap.

Each additional guest will be asked to complete an intake form on arrival. You can get the intake form here.

We do ask that you let us know when you book (or in advance of your session) if someone will be joining you. That way, we can be sure to have the appropriate supply of towels and robes available for you when you arrive. You can put that in the notes section of your online booking.

You sure can. You just pay the small difference between an Infrared Sauna session and a Contrast Therapy session. So if you're receiving a free monthly Infrared Sauna session, just pay $15 extra to upgrade your 30 minute Infrared session to a 30 minute Contrast Therapy session instead.

To book a Contrast Therapy session online with the intention of using your Infrared Sauna session to pay for most of it, just choose the 30 Minute Contrast Therapy session when booking online and put in the notes section on the last checkout page that you'd like to apply your Infrared Sauna benefit.

If you'd like to do a longer Contrast Therapy session, the upgrade charge is $40 for a 60 minute Contrast Therapy session and $60 for a 90 minute.

If you'd like to bring guests with you, it's just $15 extra for each guest. Please also specify the number of guests (up to 4) in the notes section too, so we know to prepare the right number of towels. Note that each guest will need to fill out an intake form, which can be completed online ahead of time from our New Client Forms page or when you arrive. Just be sure to arrive 10 minutes early if you're going to do paperwork on arrival.