I came across an episode of the New York Times' Modern Love podcast recently, and it stopped me in my tracks. It's the story of Blake Martin, a PhD student in psychology, and his wife Audrey, who'd been trying for a baby for almost two years, and what happened the week it finally worked.
The pregnancy test came back positive on a Thursday. They decide to celebrate the next day with pizza. The next evening, while Blake sat in his car waiting on the order, a notification hit his phone: a diagnostic result, positive for multiple sclerosis (MS). Within 24 hours of the best news of his life, he was carrying the hardest news of his life, and still had to walk in, hand Audrey the pizza, and tell her.
What stuck with me was how he described holding both. Not holding, really, more like dropping, over and over, because each feeling made the other sharper. The fear made the hope more urgent. The hope made the fear more real. Neither one canceled the other out.
Life rarely separates our hardest days from our best ones as cleanly as we'd like. More often they're stacked on top of each other, and the work is staying present for both without needing either to resolve. Something about this kind of regulation makes us more present with everything else in our lives, too: walking the dog, a casual dinner with people you love, a foggy afternoon here in San Francisco. All of it impermanent and changing. The practice is meeting each one like it's the first time you're coming into contact with it.
That's the whole philosophy behind Contrast. When we sit with rising heat or drop into cold water, we're practicing exactly that: staying with something as it changes, instead of reacting before we've actually felt it. Do that enough times on the bench or in the plunge, and that same steadiness starts showing up everywhere else, in a parking lot, in a diagnosis, in a morning that turns out to hold more than you expected. Over and over, we practice getting lost in the reaction and then finding our way back to composure.
Some news of our own
After three years of pop-up at Alchemy Springs and mobile sauna experiences at Aquatic Park — we're now building a permanent home for Contrast here in San Francisco. Grateful to everyone who's supported us along the way. Sauna Sanctuary in Corona Heights stays as our home base while that space comes together… more exciting updates coming soon ✨
We've also heard your feedback and will be offering our unique signature in two distinctive styles:
Spark: Sensory-forward session blending music, essential oils, and breathwork.
Settle: Our signature practice to sharpen focus and clear the mind. No music, no fluff—just you.
Our schedule is live. Use code GOCONTRAST for 25% off packages (expires in 30 days).
We'd love to have you come back and continue the practice with us.
