I had strictly adhered to the unwritten rules of British sauna etiquette: don’t get too close to anyone, don’t undress, don’t look at anyone, don’t sweat on anyone, and, of course, don’t talk to anyone. But as I sat thigh to thigh in the country’s largest sauna with nearly 50 half-naked men and women on a Monday morning, my defenses were not only being tested, they were starting to wear thin.
I’m at Arc, London’s hottest wellness centre, which opened this week. Situated on the ground floor of Canary Wharf shopping centre, the studio is a temple to ‘contrast therapy’. Contrast therapy is the latest buzzword among health fanatics, and in non-gym terms it means switching between a sauna and an ice bath, of which Arc has eight, each