• Othership, a sauna and ice bath space, has become a hotspot for NYC's tech scene.
• Founded in Toronto, Othership opened its first NYC location last year in the city's "Silicon Alley".
• Andrew Yeung, Rho, Northzone and other tech heavyhitters have hosted events at Otherspace.

As techies rush to manage stress through wellness routines, Othership, a sauna and cold plunge studio and social space in New York City, is picking up steam.

When Melissa Henderson, a content marketer for crypto and web3 companies, went to her first sauna class at Othership during the holiday season last year, the vibe shift was immediate.

"Something I've learned the hard way is that startup lifestyle is intense and can be all-consuming," she told Business Insider. "When we arrived, it was another universe. I felt so creative afterward."

Stress relief was a founding ethos of Othership, which is located in the Flatiron district — which is referred to as the city's "Silicon Alley." With this proximity, Othership has quickly become a hotspot for VCs, founders, and other health-obsessed members of New York's tech community.

Andrew Yeung, who organizes tech-focused networking events in New York, has hosted events there. Business-banking app Rho, New York Tech Week, consumer wellness startup Muse, and VC fund Northzone, Collision Conference, and legaltech darling Harvey AI have also held events at Othership.

For Muse, a meditation app backed by OMERS, Felecis, and BDC Capital, Othership was a no-brainer when the startup was looking for a space to host its launch party for its new EEG headband last month, explained chief marketing officer Nadia Kumentas.

"We'd been aware of Othership for a while and always admired the way they built a space where people could genuinely unplug and reset," she told Business Insider. "It was a natural match for what we're trying to do with brain health and mental clarity."

"It sounds cliche, but there's no other place in New York where you can just sit in solitude and escape from everything," Yeung told Business Insider. "I've never experienced anything like it."

Recreating bathhouse culture

Othership was founded in Toronto in 2020 by Robbie Bent, who formerly worked in ecosystem development at Ethereum, along with his wife, Emily, Amanda Laine, Myles Farmer, and Harry Taylor.

The group was searching for community and socialization without alcohol, and Bent wanted to re-create the bathhouse culture he enjoyed while living in Berlin years prior, where he would hit up saunas with VCs and founders.

The Bents built a cold plunge in their backyard and let friends come over to use it as they liked. Eventually, they converted their garage into a sauna and tea room and self-funded the first Othership location in Toronto, which opened in 2022. A second Toronto location opened a year later, and in 2024, Othership finally landed in New York.

The company also has an app, also called Othership, that offers guided breathwork sessions with music.

Every day, Othership offers a schedule of classes that guide participants into the facility's 90-person sauna, which is heated to 185 degrees. Throughout the class, instructors use aromatherapy snowballs to increase the sauna's heat and humidity to 200 degrees, and the room is lit in different colors based on the theme of the class.

After a period in the sauna, participants are guided to a dark, cave-like room, where they dip into one of eight ice baths, each able to accommodate up to four people. The baths are kept between 32 and 40 degrees, and depending on the class, participants might be encouraged to sit in the water for multiple minutes.

Different classes explore themes like happiness, unwinding, and acceptance, and many include multiple trips each to the sauna and cold plunge. All of the classes are 75 minutes long, which includes 15 minutes at the end for participants to gather in Othership's common area — an amphitheater-like space with rows of comfortable seating — to drink tea and socialize with other class-goers.

A drop-in class at Othership costs $64, and the company offers various packs and memberships at a discount to frequent visitors.

While Othership isn't exclusive to tech workers — the space is open to anyone, and the company has built relationships with running clubs and other community organizations throughout the city — it was designed with the intense world of tech in mind, Bent told Business Insider.

The average Othership community member is a professional working a job where they're stressed, Bent said. They could also be a parent navigating work with kids in New York.

"Our take is that if you want to have a spiritual experience, that's great, but we're not a traditional wellness company, and we're not prescriptive about health benefits and we're not a longevity club," he said. "This is a way to deal with stress in a fun environment."

New York's tech scene is jumping on the wellness train

Othership isn't the only wellness destination in New York. With locations in Flatiron and Williamsburg, Bathhouse offers saunas, steam rooms, pools, hot tubs, cold plunges, and spa services. Remedy Place, also in Flatiron, offers acupuncture, cryotherapy, IV, and various other treatments. And upscale gym chain Equinox remains a stalwart among many tech and finance professionals.

For Yeung, who has gained popularity in New York for hosting various tech parties and events and is now a VC investor, Othership brought something new to the table. He first learned about the company a few years ago, when he was living in Toronto. After he moved to New York, Yeung said that he would occasionally make trips back to Toronto just to visit Othership, and he thought New York was the perfect place for their eventual expansion into the U.S.

Compared to other gyms and wellness centers in the city, Yeung said Othership is special because it places a high value on community and getting people out of their comfort zones so they can form deeper relationships with one another.

"They have these classes that can make people scream or cry or laugh with joy, really just becoming their most vulnerable self," he said. "There's no hiding behind the mask. Compare that to most networking events, where you meet someone and don't really know who they are."

Yeung is a small angel investor in Othership. During its opening week last year, he hosted an event at the space as part of his popular Junto series. This is a smaller and more selective networking group that spans tech, finance, media, and other related industries. He said that out of all the Junto Club events he's hosted, the one at Othership was by far his most successful.

"You can't quite tell if it's a social or networking event, it's fun, everyone's in a swimsuit, so it's not completely corporate," he said. 'That forces people to bring the best version of themselves, where they're the most vulnerable."

Bent acknowledges that the vulnerability that comes with an Othership class — both emotionally as well as the thought of wearing a bathing suit next to a co-worker or investor — can seem daunting for some. The space offers amenities like rash guards and flip flops, and Bent added that the classes are designed to give each individual the choice of what they want to participate in. Each class includes a sharing portion, where participants are given the opportunity to share a thought or feeling that came up for them during the session.

"This is a golden time to connect," Bent said. In addition to partnering with various tech companies and startups across the city for corporate wellness events, Othership has also started a regular founder night, where members of New York's tech community can meet other founders, share the difficulties they're facing, and make connections.

Othership is also filling a void in New York's tech community for a social space other than a bar or club. Many New Yorkers and others in the tech community are craving healthier social and networking events that don't revolve around alcohol.

For Hendrickson, who visited Othership right before the holidays, this held true. As a content marketer who works in the crypto and web3 space, she says that it's difficult to find networking events that don't happen at a bar. When she was visiting New York from Miami on a business trip, and a colleague and friend recommended they go to Othership, she was game to skip the traditional happy hour.

"In general, we're experiencing a moment where people are redefining how to make professional connections and what that looks like," she said. "You can't do networking events all day every day, and drinking is bad."

• "Social wellness," which blends socializing with health and fitness, is becoming more popular.
• A Business Insider health reporter went to a social sauna and ice bath class designed to reset the nervous system.
• At first it was awkward, but that changed when she got in an ice bath with a classmate.

I turned right at Barry's Boot Camp and arrived at my destination: Arc, a communal sauna and cold plunge studio in London's financial district, which markets itself as a place for people to connect.

You can start your week there with a guided contrast therapy class —that is, switching between extreme heat and cold— at 7:30 a.m. on Monday morning, and see it out with a sauna party on Saturday night, complete with DJs, aromatherapy, and of course, cold plunges.

While saunas and ice baths aren't new (they're known to help athletes recover faster and are a must in any bougie gym or spa), they're quickly becoming a staple of social wellness: the blending together of socializing with wellness activities, such as running clubs and longevity retreats.

The merging of these trends makes sense. The global wellness industry was valued at $6.3 trillion in 2023, up 25% since 2019, and after being starved of social connection during the COVID-19 pandemic, people are becoming more aware of the link between socializing and longevity.

Social saunas are popping up everywhere. Rebase, another self-proclaimed "social wellness" club, opened in London last May, while Othership, a Toronto-based "social sauna" and ice bath studio, launched its first US spa in July with more than 20 locations across North America expected to follow in the next five years. Bathhouse, a New York-based spa with two locations, just added four additional pools and two saunas to its Williamsburg branch.

Arc opened in London's Canary Wharf in January and calls itself a community-focused space, where guests are guided on "a journey of self-discovery, personal growth, and meaningful connection within themselves and others." I was there to attend Dopamine Reset, a guided contrast therapy session that promises to "reset the brain's reward system," "break old habits," and "unlock new levels of growth and peak experiences" — a tall order for a 50-minute class.

I wanted to try it for two reasons. Firstly, as a woman in my twenties I naturally spend too much time on the internet and have anxiety. So, I'm always keen to experiment with something that might snap me out of my thought spirals. But secondly, and most importantly, I wanted to see if meeting new people while exposing myself to extreme temperatures, almost nude, would be as awkward as it sounds, or actually provide an opportunity for bonding. Breaking the ice, if you will.

So I took the plunge and booked the £35 ($44) class.

I felt uncomfortable walking into the class

Excited and nervous, I left the chic changing room in my swimsuit and entered a dimly lit ampitheatre-cum-cave called The Lounge: a terracotta room big enough for 50 people, with a tiered conversation pit at its center. I sat near three young women, all wearing smartwatches that were most certainly tracking their biometrics. So far, so awkward and lonely.

Of the 12 out of a possible 40 of us in the 12:30 p.m. class, there was only one man, who was taking a break from training for Hyrox, a buzzy, intensive indoor fitness competition.

(You'll notice that there are no people in the photos accompanying this piece — the sauna understandably didn't want us to take pics of guests in their swimsuits, or disrupt their journeys of self-discovery).

After a few minutes, our teacher — or "sauna master" in Arc lingo — appeared mic'd up and wearing a one-piece swimsuit and a long sarong to explain the structure of the class.

We would be led through breathwork, meditation, and gentle stretches in the sauna for around 15 minutes before hitting the ice baths. There, we would submerge ourselves in freezing water (a maximum of 42 degrees Fahrenheit) for two minutes. The magic — the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps the body relax — starts to happen after the 30-second mark, she said.

We spread out along the benches of the sauna built to accommodate 65 people

The 65-person wooden sauna was wide and tall enough for the twelve of us to spread out along its three benches. Our teacher started the class by throwing a snowball filled with essential oils onto the coals at the center of the room and whipping a towel in a circular motion in the air to spread the floral aromas. The room was heated to a near-uncomfortable 200 degrees Fahrenheit, and I started sweating almost immediately.

Breathing exercises in extreme heat weren't relaxing

As we started the breathwork —which involved rounds of inhaling, holding our breath, and exhaling for four seconds each — I loosened up a bit, mainly because we were encouraged to close our eyes. I'm used to breathing exercises like this in my weekly yoga classes and know my way around the Headspace app , but holding my breath in the extreme heat was strenuous and frankly unpleasant.

I didn't feel particularly relaxed yet and hadn't shared so much as a smile with anyone. This all changed when we moved on to the next section of the class.

I shared my ice bath with a fellow classmate

After a quick post-sauna rinse in the shower room adjacent to the sauna, where I slathered myself with complementary Malin+Goetz shower gel, it was time to get chilly.

In a charcoal-colored room made entirely out of stone were eight ice baths. It had a harsh feel compared to the light natural materials of the sauna and the lounge.

Each bath was large enough for two people, and I partnered with Carli Wheatley, 42, who I later found out is a lymphatic massage therapist and has worked in the wellness industry for years — a theme among my classmates.

I felt apprehensive as we assumed our positions and at the count of three, all stepped inside the icy vats and sat down. The pain hit my feet, legs, and hands immediately, and I had to fight the urge to get out. But lo and behold, after about 30 seconds, my muscles started to relax, and I felt calmer. Wheatley and I intermittently shared exasperated looks, which reassured me.

A gong signaled that two minutes were up, and we stepped out. My legs felt numb, and it was as if currents of electricity were zapping me. I felt awake from the inside out: an awakeness I had never felt before. Like an espresso entering your bloodstream, but without the mania.

After the ice bath, I started to feel more comfortable and chatted with the people around me

Re-entering the sauna, the atmosphere had softened. Everyone's body language was more open, and we started chatting about our shared experience (trauma). The intensity of the ice bath served as a welcome social buffer.

I asked people why they decided to come and if they enjoyed it. Those I spoke to (I wasn't able to chat with everyone in the class) were either into health and wellness or worked in the industry. They had come for the sauna's physical and mental benefits, not to socialize, but I do wonder if this would've been different had I come to an evening event.

Renata Bianchi, a 38-year-old hypnotherapist from Brazil, said that she found Arc online, thought the facilities looked beautiful, and wanted to try it. She told me she'd like to come back again next week.

One woman, who wants to train as a sauna master and is a fan of the cult health-optimization podcast, the "Huberman Lab," told us that she had been to Arc about seven times in the three months since it opened. She grew up using saunas and loves the high she gets from contrast therapy.

"I've heard it's good for metabolism and brown fat, but that's not why I do it," she said.

I went for a second dip, with friends!

Although no one had come for the social aspect, they were all up for chatting, and a group of us decided to give the ice baths a second go. We exhaled loudly and giggled to get through round two. It reminded me a little of summer camp.

We popped into the sauna again to warm up, shared some last-minute reflections on the state of the world, and gradually dispersed.

As I made my way back to the changing area, I realized that I hadn't thought about anything outside of these three rooms for at least 20 minutes. That was a huge win, which told me I had been in the moment and felt calm.

The social sauna class got me out of my head

I felt calmer and more grounded leaving Arc than I did walking in. I also had some pleasant conversations and enjoyed myself.

But, as is the case with many wellness treatments designed to help you destress and boost your sense of well-being, the effects were short-lived. After I left the luxury subterranean spa, I rejoined the real world: the cause of my stress.

I felt that I could've achieved that calm feeling for less money, or even for free, if I put my phone down and started each morning with a sunrise walk.

But it's easier to go to a sauna class than to delete your Instagram account or confront a demanding boss.

If I had the money and the time, I could see myself becoming a regular, albeit more for the relaxation than the connection. Did I leave with a new group of friends? No. But it got me out of my head and chatting to people, which is a difficult feat in our fast-paced, digital-first world.

Brian and Kristi Culhane have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on health and wellness amenities for their Scottsdale, Arizona, home.

The couple and their three kids now enjoy a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, UV air scrubbers, a steam room with aromatherapy and light therapy, a cold plunge, an indoor basketball court, and more.

They consider themselves biohackers, part of a group focused on a regimen of diet, exercise, and supplements that they believe will help them live longer.

"When I got into biohacking, I thought, 'Instead of going to the health club every day, why not bring everything to my house?'" Brian Culhane, the 50-year-old cofounder and former president of the real-estate brokerage eXp Realty, told Business Insider. "This wasn't just a novelty anymore; it was a lifestyle. If you're serious about it, you need all your tools at home."

The biohacking movement, most recently popularized by Bryan Johnson — a venture capitalist turned longevity guru who has invested millions in health technologies that he hopes will reverse his "biological age" — is now influencing luxury real estate. Some affluent homeowners are moving beyond traditional features like gyms and adding cutting-edge amenities from infrared saunas to ozone generators to take their wellness to the next level.

More people are integrating wellness-focused amenities into their homes, from wet rooms and private gyms to meditation rooms and gardens, according to Zillow. The real-estate giant found that as of December, the share of for-sale listings mentioning wellness-oriented amenities had risen by 16% from the year before. Homeowners today want more than just attractive spaces — they want places that actively support their physical and mental health.

The Culhanes' house is a case study of the lengths to which some people go to bring healthy habits home. Let's take a look.

Only the best amenities will do

Brian Culhane's desire to be present for his children and outlive his own father, who died at 63, led him to biohacking.

Brian recalled a 2015 conversation with a life coach who pressed him about his dreams: "He asked, 'What's your most probable future?' I answered, 'End up like my dad.' He asked again, 'What's your goal?' I replied, 'To not die young.' That conversation began my commitment to living a healthy life."

That commitment is reflected in the home that the Culhanes have built and refined since 2019 when they paid $546,000 for 1.1 acres in Scottsdale's exclusive Troon at Glenn Moor neighborhood. The couple hired an architect to design a 10,000-square-foot home with five bedrooms and 6½ bathrooms.

Nearly every inch of the home is customized with features they believe are essential for their health, including a built-in smart sound system from Crestron Home, which can cost between $300,000 to $400,000 to install. Brian, who has dubbed himself "The DJ Dad," cues up various "mood music," from techno to reggae to classical. The system also plays megahertz music, which fills the house with vibrations similar to white noise.

"We designed the house with wellness in mind," Brian said.

It has 16-foot sliding doors and 15- to 20-foot floor-to-ceiling windows, which Brian said were designed to let in natural light that aligns with the family's "circadian rhythms."

Don't forget the three $5,000 Toto toilets and the heated floors. The HVAC system is equipped with UV-light air scrubbers, which, Brian said, clean pet dander, mold, airborne pollen, and carcinogens. For relaxation, there's a rooftop deck for stargazing, a 7-foot-deep heated pool, and a six-person spa.

"My friend asked, 'Why do you ever have to leave the house?' I replied, 'I don't need to,'" Brian said.

Big budget, big benefits

Among all their health amenities, California Pool and Spa's customized six-person cold plunge, worth about $60,000, might be the most covetable.

Cold plunges involve soaking in very cold water, sometimes as low as 30 degrees Fahrenheit. While some people believe cold plunges improve mood and reduce inflammation, there's not enough evidence to suggest they significantly affect human longevity.

Positioned just steps from their master bedroom and next to the outdoor shower and private patio, the Culhanes' cold plunge is left uncovered and remains frigid 24/7.

"I'd wake up at six, go to the gym, work out for an hour, then spend 20 minutes in the sauna, five minutes in the cold plunge, five minutes in the steam room, five minutes in the hot tub, and another five minutes in the cold plunge," Brian said. "That routine took me two hours every morning. With kids to get ready for school, I realized, 'I need to be able to do this as soon as I wake up.'"

An entire room is dedicated to the sauna, built for about $100,000 by Spa Steam and Sauna, the same company that supplies saunas to the Ritz-Carlton and other luxury hotels.

Finnish saunas are the most widely used saunas worldwide, so more scientific studies on their benefits exist. Research suggests they could help flush toxins from the body, improve heart health, and boost the immune system.

The family said they practice yoga, breathwork, and aromatherapy in the sauna, which features a wall of Himalayan salt they believe is beneficial for the respiratory system. Healthline found that studies on non-dietary uses of Himalayan salt are "relatively weak" and require further investigation.

Another notable feature of the house is the basketball court, which features NBA-grade flooring, a rim, protective pads, a scoreboard, lights, a 100-inch TV, and various gym equipment. The court cost about $250,000, and lighting and additional features were an additional $80,000.

Brian said he grew up playing basketball in a modest Chicago neighborhood, but his family couldn't afford the private courts some of his peers had access to.

"Several of my friends had indoor courts. It was a treat to play there, though they rarely let me," he said. "I thought it was the pinnacle of success and always thought, 'I want that.'"

The Culhanes own multiple infrared light systems, including an advanced LightStim device typically found in luxury spas that they paid $4,411 for. This device uses specialized LED, or light-emitting diode, therapy to stimulate collagen production and reduce the appearance of fine lines, acne, and wrinkles.

Kristi uses the machine daily.

"I get up and turn it on first thing in the morning, and it lights up the whole room. I sit under it for about 15 minutes," she said. "It actually improves my mood."

The Culhanes also said their home's extras have not only boosted their quality of life but also increased its value. A 2022 appraisal report valued their home at $6.1 million.

Some people love the house, while others are a bit skeptical

The Culhanes' biohacking journey has gradually won over their friends and family.

"If they're not already converted, they're well on their way," Brian said.

Gaining approval from the neighbors in their community, however, has taken time.

"We're an active family, and it's just not the neighbors' lifestyle," he explained. "It's a quiet community, a golf club with mostly retirees. They all have dated, quiet homes, while we've got this big, bright glass house with a lot of kids and plenty of outdoor activities."

Brian said it was sometimes challenging to follow all of their homeowners association's rules for construction and architecture.

"We probably had 10 complaints against our build and property, ranging from leaving the porta potty open to materials blowing around, dust, and soil erosion," Brian said.

Another wellness-focused construction project lies ahead

The Culhanes also take various supplements every day to enhance their health, including an array of Purium Superfoods for nutrition, Ultimate Human Molecular hydrogen tablets with methylene blue added for its reported antioxidant properties, and activated charcoal for detoxification.

They underwent Viome gut biome mapping, which analyzes blood, stool, and saliva to identify foods to avoid and detect any deficiencies.

"We each got our genetic test once, get our blood work done every six months, and have gut biome testing yearly," Kristi said. "The goal is to get off supplements."

For readers who are interested in trying this kind of supplement regimen, longevity-medicine doctors recommend first getting bloodwork through your primary care physician to check your vitals. Then, start slow — take one supplement for a few months, rather than starting a lot at once.

The Culhanes have joined several Facebook groups for people focused on health and fitness to stay ahead of the latest biohacking trends. Before permanently adding any new element to their regimen, they personally test it and only incorporate it if it fits into their "daily protocol," as Brian put it.

They're already planning their next project. In 2021, the Culhanes purchased a 15-acre ranchette along Oak Creek in Sedona, about a two-hour drive north of Scottsdale, for $900,000.

They took out a $2 million construction loan to build a 4,000-square-foot cabin on the land, which features ATV trails, hiking and biking paths, and areas for kayaking and fishing. In addition, they put in roads and brought in 36 dump trucks of sand to create a man-made beach the size of a football field. They also plan to build a treehouse, plant an orchard, and grow grapevines.

So far, they've spent $250,000 on the Sedona project, Brian said.

Their ultimate goal is to turn the property into an off-grid, self-sustaining health retreat for themselves, friends, and family, with the potential to rent it out.

"I want the best of both worlds," Brian said. "I want to recreate the healing elements we brought into our Troon home and turn our Sedona property into a master retreat. I envision something like being on top of Sedona, tapping into the powerful vortex energy of the earth."