This is a traditional therapy of alternating hot and cold baths originating from Northern Europe, but it is also found in some Asian countries, with a history spanning centuries. It is not widely seen in China yet, but has gradually caught our attention. By Fifi Kao
Many health-conscious travelers have experienced soaking in hot springs in China and Japan, or the steamy warmth of a Turkish bath Haman, reveling in the cozy pleasure and relaxation that comes from immersing oneself in hot water, allowing pores to open up. However, most people may not have ventured into the world of “contrasting baths” – the practice of switching between hot water baths, sauna sessions, and frigid polar bear-style plunges or cold-water baths. It is a form of hydrotherapy that involves alternating between hot and cold water or environments to stimulate circulation, promote relaxation, and other health benefits. Or could call it “hot and cold hydrotherapy.”
Contrast bathing is quite common in the Nordic countries, known famously as the Finnish sauna or the Russian banya. For Chinese accustomed to the advice of elders and traditional Chinese medicine promoting the consumption of warm foods and drinks, this experience of extreme temperatures might sound uncomfortable. However, numerous modern medical studies and research have shown that subjecting oneself to controlled extreme temperature changes occasionally can benefit both the body and mind.
“It gives you a jolt, but afterwards, there’s a profound sense of deep relaxation and happiness,” says Dr. Michael Fredericson, a sports medicine physician and co-director of the Stanford Longevity Center. “Although the exact mechanisms of how this experience operates within the body are not clear, the improvement in mood may be related to the sympathetic nervous system.” An analysis found that immersing oneself in water between 3 to 15 degrees Celsius, considered an efficient tool for promoting muscle recovery after intense exercise, as warm water expands blood vessels while cold water constricts them, increasing tissue blood flow and oxidation, speeding up healing. “There are many reasons to do this from a health perspective,” says Fredericson.
Nordic wellness tradition
Nordic countries like Sweden and Finland have a special fondness for contrast bathing. “Saunas and sweat baths have existed since humans settled in this cold region of Northern Europe,” says Laura Seesmeri, a cultural heritage researcher at the University of Turku in Finland.
Originally, about 2,000 years ago, saunas were large pits heated with wood fires and covered with animal skins. Over time, they evolved into heated cabins, and by the mid-20th century, electric stoves sometimes replaced charcoal remnants as the heat source.
In Finland, saunas are an integral part of daily life, and in 2020, UNESCO included them on the list of intangible cultural customs. This country, with a population of about 5.5 million, has around 3.3 million private and public saunas. They appear in the folklore of this nation: the 19th-century Finnish epic poem “Kalevala” depicts Nordic gods bathing in steam, and the mythical sauna elf, saunatonttu, is believed to guard saunas and impart correct usage to users.
“Saunas are considered a time between everyday life and the sacred,” says Seesmeri. Many Finns kick off their weekends on Saturdays with sauna sessions heated to temperatures ranging from 80 to 110 degrees Celsius until they can’t bear it any longer, then they plunge into icy lake waters for a cold bath or simply roll in the snow.
In Finland, sauna enthusiasts often use vihta, a bundle of softened birch branches, to scrub and massage their bodies in water, offering hygiene benefits by removing dead skin and natural plant oils. Some Finnish saunas also incorporate essential oils, becoming a devout ritual where oils are poured onto hot stones, filling the entire space with fragrant steam.
Tourists can experience this ritual at Löyly Sauna in Helsinki, where the wooden sauna sits within a sleek, modern building, and participants can relaxingly step into the chilly waters of the Baltic Sea. In southwest Finland, the minimalist Ispoinen Beach Sauna is located along the Pitkäsalmi Strait.
Swedes also love winter bathing in cold-water baths, known as kallbadhus, nestled in lakes, along the coast of the Öresund Strait, or adjacent to the Baltic Sea, followed by sauna sessions. This centuries-old health experience of winter bathing followed by sauna has been documented in many magnificent, historically significant bath palaces, such as Kallbadhuset Varberg, built around 1903, a round-domed wooden structure, and the modern Karlshamns Kallbadhus, resembling a Nordic modern spaceship floating on the sea.
In the far north of Swedish Lapland, the Arctic Bath hotel allows people to enjoy cold plunges in the Lule River, which requires cutting a large hole through thick ice most of the year to provide the ice water diving experience. During this time, guests can also enjoy indoor saunas and outdoor hot tubs. The well-known Arctic Baths resort is located in the wilderness of Swedish Lapland and features saunas, outdoor hot tubs, and outdoor cold plunge pools.
Experienced cold bathers usually cycle three times between ice water and hot saunas. “When you first go into the water, you feel like you’re washing away the dust,” Mia Jansson, a spokeswoman for the municipality of Skövde in Sweden, where public baths are ubiquitous, tells us. “The second time, after soaking in the sauna for 15 minutes, you rid yourself of worries and let yourself go. Then, when you go in for the third time, your mind starts to wander, and you start creating new things, I mean you are entering a deep relaxing form, both body and brain.” This feeling is the ultimate experience of peak performance!
The ultimate experience of Russian banya
“I was forced to go to the Banya with adults when I was a child, but at that time, I found it to be an unbearable experience, not child-friendly at all. We were compelled to endure experiences that were difficult for children, as if we had to toughen up like real men,” says Eugene Nazarenko, a tall and robust Russian physiotherapist who serves as a Global Therapist and Training iInstructor for the Banya therapy at the Aman Group. He has his own perspective on this extreme contrast of hot and cold therapy: “Everyone’s constitution is different, and their tolerance for heat varies. Since this is a therapy originating from extremely cold regions, when applied to other climates and spa centers, adjustments certainly need to be made according to the local conditions.” he says.
However, the adjustments Eugene refers to do not involve altering the course of treatment itself but rather placing higher demands on the implementation of Banya therapists. Therapists must carefully explain the procedure before the treatment begins, closely monitor the reactions and condition of the clients throughout the treatment based on information obtained from their height, weight, and communication, and stop at the moment when the client’s tolerance reaches its limit.
“During the immersion in cold water, most Chinese people tend to hesitate because their cultural background has never actively promoted this kind of health education of jumping into cold water. Truth is in reality, when the core body temperature reaches a certain level, entering cold water brings about an extreme sense of relaxation and comfort, which can treat and relieve pain in previously painful areas of the body,” says Eugene.
Fortunately, many spas have now improved and customized the duration of therapy according to the physical condition of each client. For Chinese and Asian clients who have not experienced this contrasting bath therapy before, the first time must be a memorable one to fall in love with this extreme therapy that has such clear health benefits.
Today, at the Amanyangyun Hotel in Shanghai, guests can experience the most authentic Russian bath therapy, Banya, which combines traditional Russian bathing concepts with Oriental health techniques. In the 75-degree high-temperature sauna, experienced therapists lightly tap the body with birch and eucalyptus twigs, made from natural oak and eucalyptus leaves, then alternate with refreshing ice spring baths when the client’s core body temperature reaches its limit. This not only detoxifies the body, opens up tiny pores, deeply cleanses the skin, improves blood circulation, soothes tense muscles, and alleviates localized pain but also helps enhance the immune system function. After the treatment, clients are given sufficient rest time, accompanied by healthy drinks and food to enhance physical strength.
Korean jjimjilbangs in Asian bathing culture
Asian culture has long placed great importance on bodily cleanliness and thermal therapy, giving rise to bathing culture, with the most famous being various hot springs scattered across Asia. Japan and China are both known as hot spring nations, while Korea is renowned for its traditional Jjimjilbangs.
Jjimjilbangs originated in the 15th century when Buddhist monks provided steam services to residents in heated dome-shaped clay rooms, akin to giant kilns, as a purification ritual. Steam was generated by placing water-soaked mats inside the room where people lay.
By the 1990s, Jjimjilbangs had evolved from places to typically gender-segregated and are popular destinations for Koreans to unwind, socialize, and practice health rituals aa traditional Korean bathhouses or public bathhouses. They became a beloved wellness therapy for all Koreans, evolving into leisure facilities offering a combination of entertainment and relaxation.
In a modern Jjimjilbang, visitors can enjoy various sauna rooms with different temperatures and features, such as hot rooms, cold rooms, and specialty rooms infused with elements like charcoal, salt, or herbs. Additionally, there are communal areas where visitors can relax, nap, watch television, or enjoy snacks. Some also offer massage services, beauty treatments, and other spa amenities.
One of the distinctive features of Jjimjilbangs is the “jjimjil” experience, which involves soaking in hot tubs, taking steam baths, and undergoing scrubbing sessions to cleanse and exfoliate the skin. Visitors often wear the provided uniforms or traditional Korean clothing called “jimbe,” and they may spend hours or even overnight at the Jjimjilbang, making it a social and cultural experience as well as a wellness retreat.
There are thousands of Jjimjilbangs throughout Korea. Paradise City Cimer, just a few minutes from Incheon International Airport in Seoul, features two levels of saunas, each utilizing salt, amethyst, or charcoal. It also includes a meditation room and a decompression pool for guests to use before or after flights.
The most popular Jjimjilbang experiences for foreign tourists are Insadong Spa & Sauna and Dragon Hill Spa in downtown Seoul. The latter, a seven-story Jjimjilbang city, is the preferred Jjimjilbang destination for foreign tourists. Upon entry, guests are given a wristband key, and their belongings are stored in designated lockers. After changing into uniform clothing and receiving towels, guests are free to experience various sauna rooms in different areas.
The spa center at the Paradise Hotel in Busan features natural spring water baths and ocean-view sauna rooms. Guests at the Paradise Hotel in Busan can soak in an outdoor hot spring pool overlooking Haeundae Beach. The company also operates a hotel and a Jjimjilbang of the same name near Incheon International Airport on the outskirts of Seoul.
Spa Land, a five-star Jjimjilbang, is located inside the former world’s largest department store, Shinsegae Centum City in Busan, which accidentally discovered hot springs during its construction. Shinsegae ultimately transformed the hot springs into a modern-style spa experience center. Spa Land features hot, cold, and warm spring water baths, ice rooms, and traditional wet and dry saunas. One of the famous themed sauna rooms is shaped like a pyramid and features salt therapy, which is said to relieve arthritis symptoms. In addition to bathing, dining, and beauty services are also available, and guests can also enjoy indoor or outdoor hot springs.
The ajummas (middle-aged women) specialized in scrubbing are strong and vigorous, providing a refreshing experience akin to shedding a layer of skin. Some Jjimjilbangs also offer hair washing services, which are very relaxing. Families and friends can spend several hours here, lying on heated stone floors called ondol and enjoying snacks that pair perfectly with thermal therapy: sweet rice drink and roasted eggs. The sweet rice drink is somewhat similar to rice wine, making it a refreshing beverage to enjoy after thermal therapy, while the roasted eggs come in three varieties: black charcoal-roasted eggs, coffee-colored smoked eggs, and original roasted eggs, all of which provide protein supplementation.
Lachlan Woodland, a travel agent at InsideAsia Travel, often books Jjimjilbangs for clients traveling to Korea. He says Koreans believe that alternating hot and cold therapy has many health benefits. “They believe it can detoxify by sweating, strengthen skin immunity, and alleviate localized body pain.”
Contrast bathing gains popularity in North America
Recently, “contrast bathing” has begun to appear in spa centers across North America, from the Alyeska Resort in Alaska to the Aurora Inn’s spa center in the Finger Lakes region of New York. These American spa centers and hotels often offer various contrast bathing therapies.
Located amidst the Chugach Mountains, Alyeska Resort in Alaska offers a 50,000 square foot Nordic spa center, accessible to overnight guests or day visitors, featuring facilities such as saunas, hot tubs, and cold plunge pools.
Crystal Spa in Los Angeles, California, an Aveda concept spa center located in the bustling Koreatown district, features multiple themed rooms equipped with Korean red clay, Himalayan salt, dry sauna rooms, and ice-cooled chambers. Guests can opt for traditional scrub services and then relax in the jjimjilbang, a traditional Korean bathhouse featuring themed sauna rooms, communal relaxation areas, and food.
Durango Hot Springs Resort & Spa in Durango, Colorado, nestled beneath the San Juan Mountains, offers cold stone massages at its spa center, which are said to relieve inflammation and swelling by using hot stones to soothe muscles and cold stones to constrict blood vessels. The facilities include warm water pools and cold plunge pools.
Scandinave Spa in Whistler, Canada, is a forest spa center located in the ski town of British Columbia. Visitors can enjoy an incredibly cozy “journey through the hot springs.” These North American spa centers offer a variety of contrast bathing experiences, catering to the growing popularity of this wellness trend in the region.