Contrast therapy – the practice of alternating between hot and cold environments – may have been around for thousands of years, but it’s having a real moment right now. From community sauna and plunge sessions in Bristol to lakeside sauna cabins in Yorkshire, the UK has fallen hook, line and sinker for the benefits of this ancient practice, the benefits of which are said to include stress relief, improved sleep and boosted recovery.

Most of these sites offer self-guided sessions, so you can move at your own leisure between hot and cold. But if you’re a complete contrast therapy newbie, this autonomy can leave you with more than a few questions. How long should you stay in the sauna? What’s the right way to enter an ice bath? And is there a ‘correct’ way to breathe throughout? 

Enter Arc – London’s newest contrast therapy centre. As well as offering self-guided sessions for people who want to relax, socialise and give themselves some TLC, the site also offers guided sessions perfect for those looking to maximise a specific benefit of contrast therapy or just learn more about how to get the most out of their time. 

Classes on the timetable include Breathe and Ground – a session that brings together breath work and movement to release pent-up energy – to Dopamine Reset – designed to boost your dopamine levels through ice baths, breath work and meditation. There are also sessions aimed at improving sleep and maximising athletic recovery.

Ahead of the site’s opening last week, I went along to check out everything Arc has to offer and give its contrast therapy sessions a go.  

Located underneath Crossrail Place in Canary Wharf, Arc looks unassuming from the outside – a simple glass-fronted room with a front desk and some robes hanging from the wall. But once you step in, it’s like you’re in another world entirely.

There’s a sizeable changing room with showers and plenty of lockers, so you don’t need to worry about finding a place to store your belongings. You’ll need swimwear to enter (no naked sauna sessions here), but towels are provided; if you feel more comfortable wearing a robe between the sauna and the ice baths, you’ll need to bring one along.

Once you leave the changing room behind, you find yourself in a slightly dark, cavernous space known as the lounge. Designed for socialising, there are several tiers of curved sofas surrounding a central pit with a bar on one side, so you can sit back, rehydrate and have a chat with friends between stints in the sauna and the cold-plunge room. At certain times, Arc offers evening social sessions where you’ll find a DJ located here. 

Everywhere in Arc is dimly lit and decorated in a range of terracotta tile and grey stone, so it doesn’t take long to forget you’re in the middle of a bustling city, but stepping into the 60-person sauna adds a whole other dimension to the experience.

It’s here where practitioners will guide you through breathwork, use aromatherapy snowballs to invigorate the senses and incorporate traditional European sauna practices such as Aufguss towel waving to waft the heat and scent around the room. With so many people in one space, it doesn’t feel quite as relaxing as your usual sauna experience, but that’s almost part of Arc’s appeal: it demands you to be more active and purpose-driven.

Step out of the sauna and continue on your journey and you’ll find the ice bath room, which is covered in black stone from floor to ceiling. There are eight ice baths in total, all kept between a frosty 1–5°C, so it can be quite a shock when you get in. 

However, with instructors on hand to talk you through the process, including how to breathe once you’re in the water (you’ll find your breath rate increases automatically), you’ll be ready to embrace the discomfort in no time. And if all else fails, there are showers on hand so you can give yourself a quick cold spritz and jump back into the warmth.

While Arc’s dimly lit, underground setting means it doesn’t feel as relaxing as a traditional spa experience, its guided classes-based approach and design-led interiors make for a truly unique experience. Classes cost £28 a go, but multiple membership options are available if you want to make contrast therapy a regular thing; you can currently get a limited-time introductory offer at £15 per session for your first three sessions.  

To find out more, visit the Arc website.

Images: Lauren Geall; Des Iles for Arc