One of the studies Rory and I came across when starting Ritual followed 2,315 middle-aged Finnish men for roughly 20 years. Published in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2015, it looked at how sauna habits related to long term heart health. Men who reported using a sauna 4-7 times a week had lower rates of death from cardiovascular disease than those who used it once a week. The 2-3 times per week group fell in between, and the pattern remained after researchers accounted for several cardiovascular risk factors. The size of the study and the length of follow up make it a meaningful contribution to sauna research. Read the study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25705824/..
What interests me is that the researchers studied people's existing habits. Participants reported their sauna use at the beginning, and researchers followed their health over time. Other differences in their lives could also have influenced the results, but the findings give us a valuable reason to keep exploring sauna's role in long term health.
Later studies from the same Finnish research project also linked frequent sauna use with lower risks of developing high blood pressure (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28633297/) and dementia (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27932366/). These findings expand the questions worth asking, while drawing on much of the same population.
For me, this research also brings up a practical question: how do we make taking care of ourselves something we can return to regularly? With two young children and careers in firefighting and fitness, we know how easily time for ourselves gets pushed aside by work, family and everything else. Making recovery part of our lives takes intention, and having a place that makes it easier matters.
That's what we are building at Ritual Studio in University Place. Contrast therapy brings together sauna, cold plunge and rest between rounds. The Finnish study looked specifically at sauna, so it highlights the heat side of that practice.
At Ritual, we want to help people get comfortable with the full experience of spending time in the sauna while approaching the cold plunge at their own pace and allowing time to rest before another round. Our goal is to make that practice approachable enough to become part of a normal week.
We care about how people are welcomed, how the space feels and whether coming back fits into their lives. We want you to be able to put your phone away, reconnect with yourself and spend some time looking after your body without having to organize the whole experience yourself.
We're working toward opening in early 2027. Join the Founding Member Waitlist for opening updates and details about the Founding 75, our first 75 members.