Othership Review: A Personal Trainer’s Honest Experience with NYC’s Sauna and Cold Plunge Studio
Othership isn’t a gym. It’s not a spa either. As far as I know, it’s genuinely unique. It’s a dedicated space for sauna and cold plunge experiences. But it’s not like doing a sauna and cold plunge at your friend’s cabin upstate.
“A wellness experience,” I think, is a good way to explain it. It has its own energy and approach. They’ve done a nice job cultivating a vibe and brand that’s not like a typical spa.
After spending a week with their trial pass at the Flatiron NYC location, I can tell you it’s something different.
As a certified personal trainer who’s been deeply interested in health and wellness since my teenage years, I wanted to experience Othership for myself and evaluate whether their protocols align with current research on heat and cold therapy, as well as more holistic wellness approaches.
I attended both a guided class and a “Free Flow” session, and I’m sharing my complete, honest review.
What to Expect When You Arrive
When you arrive at Othership, you’re greeted by enthusiastic and helpful staff. They treat you like a premium guest. It feels like you’re flying business class. They give you multiple towels. The whole room smells like essential oils or incense, not unlike a nice yoga studio.
All you will need to bring is a bathing suit (although I’d bring a water bottle too.)
The second day I went, I was very early, and when I waited, they offered me a tea. That’s an example of what I mean when I say the service is top-notch.
After the changing room, which has dim lights, free tea, and clean showers, you enter a wide, welcoming room with various seating options where you wait for your session to begin.
The atmosphere immediately sets a tone. It feels calming.
I went on a Sunday with my girlfriend, and the room was busy.
My First Visit: The Guided Class Experience
As the room filled up, I was curious how they’d manage the flow of a class with so many people, but they pulled it off seamlessly.
The class we’d signed up for was on “gratitude.”
Before booking, I didn’t pay too much attention to the title of the class, and I recommend the same for you.
It’s cool that there’s a theme, but you don’t need to overthink it. It just means a guided breathwork and meditation session, built around a theme.
After some quick announcements from the two staff members who’d be leading the session, they invited us into the sauna.
The Sauna Session (20 Minutes)
The sauna is large enough to fit probably 60 people or more. It’s also hot. You can see the temperature at the door, and it ranged from 175°F to 190°F during both of my visits. This temperature range is often considered ideal for sauna benefits. They explained that the three levels of seating offer different heat intensities, with higher levels being hotter, giving you some control over your experience.
In those twenty minutes, Bahir, the class instructor, and another helper threw naturally scented ice chunks onto the rocks, which gave the whole room a lovely smell.
Then, he guided us through various breathwork patterns set to music and a meditation on gratitude.
What I loved about the gratitude portion was how the instructor reframed it.
He emphasized that gratitude wasn’t about listing things you’re grateful for, but about stories. He asked us to think about a time someone was grateful for us, a time we were grateful for someone else, and a time we were grateful for ourselves. Tell the story, and feel it.
It was not a cliché, standard meditation or breathwork, and I appreciated this.
Reflections on The Breathwork and Guided Meditation
This is where Othership did something I genuinely appreciate.
The modern medicine and wellness industries often separate he mind from the body. But we know, of course, they’re deeply connected. Our breathing patterns affect our emotional state. Our thoughts influence our physical tension and recovery.
Othership brings these together.
The breathwork shapes your physiological response to the sauna.
Controlled breathing patterns help regulate your heart rate, manage the stress response of heat exposure, and can shift you from a sympathetic (fight-or-flight) to a parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) state. When you’re sitting in 186°F heat, you feel the difference.
And the gratitude meditation wasn’t just a nice mental exercise disconnected from the physical work. There’s substantial research showing that gratitude practices can lower cortisol levels, improve heart rate variability, reduce inflammation markers, and enhance recovery. When you’re using heat and cold exposure for physical benefits, the mental and emotional state you’re in matters.
The Cold Plunge (2 Minutes)
After the sauna, we split into four groups and took turns going into the cold plunge. There are showers before the cold plunge room to rinse off, then you enter a room with over half a dozen cold plunges—some sized for 1-2 people, others for 2-3.
The protocol is two minutes in the cold water, though you can get out at any point. The instructor guided us through breathing techniques to help us stay calm and present.
The first 30 seconds are the hardest part. If you can keep your breathing slow and find the calm in it, the two minutes aren’t bad at all.
This timing protocol, 15-20 minutes of sauna followed by ~2 minutes of cold plunge, is in line with current popular protocols. These are exactly the kinds of recommendations you’ll hear from popular science communicators like Dr. Rhonda Patrick and Dr. Andrew Huberman, give or take a few minutes.
While I’m by no means an expert on all the research, I can say with confidence that Othership’s recommendations align with what’s beneficial according to current evidence.
As you wait for other groups, you can relax in the main room or stay in the sauna.
The Second Sauna Round (15 Minutes)
After the cold plunge, we returned to the sauna for another 15-minute session, continuing the gratitude theme.
Bahir encouraged us to share something we were grateful for from the last month with someone next to us. Even with the crowd, the flow felt natural and never overwhelming, and everything was completely optional.
How I Felt Afterward
After the class, I felt energetic but calm, and mentally more present and (naturally) grateful. It took a lot of stress off of me. There’s significant value in the connection between mental health practices like guided meditation and the physical benefits of sauna and cold exposure.
I was happy I’d gotten the week pass.
My Second Visit: The Free Flow Experience
A few days later, I returned with a friend for a “Free Flow” session. I didn’t know what to expect. Basically, you get 75 minutes to enjoy the space however you want, with staff on hand to help. I invited a friend.
Morning Free Flow Atmosphere
I went at 8:30 in the morning and appreciated the thoughtful touches. They had pieces of paper and pens laid out for journaling with optional writing prompts.
They had a whiteboard with a list of “landings” and the time they would be at. I asked a staff member, Rachael. She explained that these are brief (3-7 minute) guided sessions for people doing Free Flow. Our 9:15 landing was a short breathing and spinal stretch session, about 5 minutes long, the length of one song.
It’s a taste of what the classes are like, but also gives Free Flow participants the option for some guided experience while maintaining flexibility.
A More Personalized Cold Plunge
I actually preferred the cold plunge session during Free Flow. With only about 10 people total, when my friend and I went into the cold plunge area, we were the only two there. The staff member guided us through a private two-minute session and was able to give much more specific advice:
- The breath pattern with the “shh” exhales, encouraging us to stick with it as we felt the hyperventilation response
- “Land your butt on the ground within the first five seconds”—this really helped me. If the instructor said this in the first class, I didn’t focus on it or hear it.
- With a guide, I could close my eyes, which made the time go by even faster
Overall, the service during Free Flow was incredible. They’re available to answer questions you have.
Othership’s Place in Modern Wellness Culture
The staff also spoke up about their evening classes as an alternative to going out and drinking.
Othership is, in many ways, a real-life example of a new trend in wealthy American society. People are drinking less, meditating more (though without explicitly spiritual or religious language), and increasingly interested in “optimizing health” with methods like cold plunging and saunas.
Othership is neither corporate nor anti-capitalist, neither fully hedonistic luxury nor minimalist. I wouldn’t call it “techy” or “bro-y” either, neither left-wing coded nor right-wing coded.
I wouldn’t call it a pricey substitute for a community like CrossFit and SoulCycle seem to offer. It is an expensive class, yes, but you get access to tools that are expensive regardless: professional-grade saunas and properly maintained cold plunges with guided instruction.
I don’t say this to place any strong judgment on it, but merely to call it out. Othership represents well a lot of trends in a segment of American society right now: health optimization combined with a secular search for peace and meaning.
The Bottom Line: Will I Go Back?
Yes. I will be go back to Othership. I’m not quite ready for a membership, but I would not say no if somebody wanted to go with me.
After both visits, I felt better. I felt physically relaxed, mentally clearer, and genuinely more at ease. As someone who’s dedicated several years of my life to health and wellness, I believe in the benefits of both sauna and cold exposure when done properly, especially when combined with effective professional guidance.
Is it expensive? Of course. But if you’re into luxurious wellness experiences, I think it’s a great deal, especially if you can make it to more than one class with the trial offer.
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