Three years ago Raquel F., 47, left her full-time corporate job and began teaching women’s self defense and training to compete in jiu-jitsu. She went from sitting behind a desk to working out for hours a day, five to six days a week.
Raquel loved her new active routine, but found she had difficulty sleeping at night. Her soreness, combined with perimenopause symptoms that included night sweats, made it difficult for her to get the rest she needed to recover and train the next day.
Then in April of 2023 Raquel began attending instructor-led sauna and cold plunge sessions at Revivery. She now goes three or four times a week and said regular contrast therapy solved her sleep issues.
“I hardly have any soreness in my body,” she said, saying she is able to recover faster on the days she attends sauna and cold plunge, a fact she’s able to verify with her WHOOP health tracker.
“It’s incredible,” she said, saying her WHOOP shows that “on the days that I don’t sauna and cold plunge my body doesn’t recover as fast.”
Among the many benefits of contrast therapy – which include mood elevation, lower stress levels, brown fat activation, improved cardiovascular fitness, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, along with a reduction in all-cause mortality – a regular sauna and cold plunge practice can help you get a better night’s sleep.
Revivery Improves Sleep
In fact, 90 percent of Revivery members say that sauna and cold plunge improves their sleep quality. Close to 85 percent say they sleep more deeply on the days they attend a Revivery session, and 80 percent report they fall asleep faster on their sauna and cold plunge days.
Sleep is the Key to Good Health
Quality sleep is the cornerstone of wellness. According to the National Institutes of Health, sleep improves brain performance, mood, and overall health. A lack of quality sleep can increase your risk of heart disease, stroke, obesity, and dementia.
Despite the benefit of a good night’s rest, most Americans struggle to get enough sleep. It’s often difficult to resist the lure of smartphones and streaming TV, and many people work jobs that are not conducive to a regular sleep schedule. Frequent travel for work is another culprit – the body takes time to adjust after changing time zones. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, about 50 to 70 million people in the US have disrupted sleep.
Even if you don’t travel regularly or work nights, sometimes the stress of keeping up with work and family responsibilities make it difficult to get adequate rest.
Revivery by the numbers
Our numbers don’t lie – our Revivery members see life-changing benefits from our best-in-class contrast therapy experience. How ofte...
Read MoreWhile it may seem counterintuitive, because the cold is often energizing and invigorating, some studies have shown that cold plunges help with sleep. One theory is that the cold plunge stimulates parasympathetic hormones, which help the body feel more relaxed. It’s also known that with sleep comes a decrease in body temperature, so a cold plunge can help jumpstart that cooling process.
However, Revivery sessions include sauna with the cold plunge, so how then does a sauna practice improve sleep?
One theory is that the body’s temperature drops as a response to the heat, which can then trigger sleep. It could also be that the health benefits of sauna, which are well established, have a side effect of improving sleep. Whether it’s the cold or the heat, it’s clear that contrast therapy contributes to a feeling of calm relaxation. More than 90 percent of Revivery members say they feel less stressed on days when they attend a session, and 96 percent report that sauna and cold plunge improves their overall mood.
Less Stress Leads to Better Sleep
Ryan N., 35, knows firsthand how a regular sauna and cold plunge routine can help with sleep.
As a realtor, Ryan’s work days can be very unpredictable. Sometimes he’s busy, juggling multiple clients with urgent needs, other days he’s left with not much to do, which can be unsettling. He works out regularly and uses the sauna in his building to manage the stress, but then in September of 2023 he tried his first session at Reviviery.
“I absolutely loved it,” Ryan said. “I left and I was calm and I felt really good, I felt really at peace.”
In addition to his feelings of well-being, Ryan said his Revivery sessions have a positive effect on his sleep.
“I fall asleep more quickly and I sleep really well through the night,” he said.
Although Ryan said he feels the sauna helps his sleep, many people say it’s the cold plunge that makes the difference. Debbie B., 55, has been going to Revivery regularly for about six months. After her sixth session of contrast therapy, Debbie said she noticed something interesting.
“It’s super relaxing and you sleep really well after that,” she said about the combination of sauna and cold plunge.
The cold plunge has such a positive impact on her sleep, Debbie said, that she will often buy a 20 pound bag of ice and throw it in the tub so she can do a cold plunge right before bed.
In addition to her improved sleep, Debbie said she feels calmer overall, which she attributes to the breathwork practice in the Revivery sessions.
“Out of the sauna I’ve been doing more deep breathing, which I think is just helping to keep my nervous system calm,” Debbie said. “I feel like I’m calm and my breathing has been better since I’ve been doing the sauna. It has reduced my stress level a lot.”
For Raquel, sessions at Revivery are now an integral part of her routine. As a dedicated athlete she uses other modes of recovery, like compression boots and massages, but she said nothing compares to sauna and plunging for keeping her body feeling strong.
“I won’t go without it,” Raquel said about Revivery, “it’s something that I really believe wholeheartedly.”
Raquel encouraged her husband, who has severe back pain, to attend Revivery sessions. She said he feels like a different person after the sauna and cold plunge, and he experiences significant pain relief following the contrast therapy.
“It’s wonderful,” Raquel said about Revivery. “It’s definitely helped me with multiple things, and my sleep is just wonderful. I’m very pleased with it.”
