In Context

The bathhouse tiles echo with splashing water and hissing steam as you step down to the cold-plunge pool. On the final stair, the 29-year-old analyst in front of you starts to turn back, muttering something about forgetting his towel. “Coward,” you think. In the sauna your body had been crying out for relief from the heat, but plunging into the water feels like being stabbed by a thousand tiny knives. You try to focus on breathing, but your body, betrayed, considers that out of the question. To the people shuffling past from sauna to showers to cold plunge, you look serene, even calm, a paragon of inner strength. Inside, you’re shrieking. […]

The self-described biohackers have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on health and wellness amenities for their 10,000-square-foot Scottsdale, Arizona, home. Their setup includes a steam room with aromatherapy and light therapy, a cold plunge, a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, UV air scrubbers, an indoor basketball court, and more. But of all their shiny, expensive amenities, the crown jewel is their room-sized sauna. It was built with the home for about […]

It’s getting hard to escape the barrage of advertisements, signs, and social media posts touting red light therapy. Many of them trumpet big claims, including firmer, clearer, younger-looking skin. But is it all hype — or can red light therapy deliver? It really can, says Dr. Rachel Reynolds, interim chair of the Department of Dermatology at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center […]