Start here
Starts in your shower.
Honest guides to deliberate cold and sauna, from someone not selling you a tub.
Most guidance about cold plunges and sauna is written by someone selling a five thousand dollar tub, or by a hospital page that only lists the dangers. There is not much in between: an honest account of what these practices do, what they do not do, and how to try one without hurting yourself.
That is what this is. Three short guides, free, no account, nothing to sign up for.
Start with one of these
The short version
You do not need equipment. A cold shower is a complete practice. Sauna has the deepest evidence base of anything here and most people meet it at a gym or a pool.
Thirty seconds counts. The goal on day one is to meet the cold-shock response calmly, not to endure it. Progress shows up as a steadier first breath, not a lower number.
The evidence is uneven, and that matters. Sauna is well studied. Cold immersion is promising for sleep and quality of life, mixed for mood, and oversold nearly everywhere else.
Before any cold water
- Never combine cold with breath-holding or hyperventilation. It can cause a blackout with no warning, and in water that drowns you.
- Never get into cold water alone. Tarmo cannot check on you. A person can.
- Get in slowly, keep your head above water, and let the first gasp pass before anything else.
- Get out if you go numb or start shivering hard.
- Heart condition, blood-pressure trouble, arrhythmia, or pregnancy: talk to a clinician first.
- No alcohol.
There is an app
Tarmo is a field manual of ten heat and cold practices with the evidence graded honestly, plus a private timer and log kept on your device. No account, no subscription. It works fully offline.
It is in open beta right now, and free while it is being tested. These guides are free either way, and they are the same words the app uses.
Written to be useful on its own. If you only ever read these three pages and never open the app, that is a perfectly good outcome.