On the surface, this conversation looks like a founder story. Former Marine, chronic pain, found sauna and cold plunge, opened a studio. We've heard versions of this before. But if you listen carefully, Heather Gyos is making a more specific argument than most practitioners do — and it's one that the research consistently underserves.
Her core claim isn't "contrast therapy works." It's that contrast therapy works best when the body is prepared for it. And the preparation she keeps returning to is lymphatic priming. Dry brushing, gentle movement, anything that gets the lymph flowing before you step into the heat. Without that, she argues, you're pushing detox pathways that are still clogged upstream.
The 2023 paper on contrast therapy and soft tissue injury management in the knowledge base reaches similar conclusions — not about lymphatics specifically, but about the importance of sequencing and protocol design. The researchers found that contrast therapy showed real recovery benefits, but noted that standardized protocols are still largely absent from clinical practice. Everyone's doing their own version of hot-cold-hot-cold, with different temperatures, different durations, different starting conditions. The effect sizes vary accordingly.
The 2022 knee study is interesting here too. Participants showed measurable improvement in range of motion and reduced swelling. That's the lymphatic system doing its job — clearing the fluid accumulation that comes with inflammation. Contrast therapy didn't just reduce pain; it moved something. Which supports exactly what Heather is describing.
There's broad agreement that heat and cold each have distinct physiological effects that complement each other. Heat dilates vessels, increases lymphatic flow, raises metabolic activity. Cold constricts, reduces inflammation, recalibrates the nervous system. The oscillation between them creates an effect greater than either alone.
Where the field gets quiet is on preparation. Most contrast therapy protocols start with the protocol. Step one: enter the sauna. Nobody's talking about what you do in the ten minutes before you walk in the door. Heather is. And given that the lymphatic system has no pump — it depends entirely on muscular contraction and movement to circulate — that pre-session window matters more than most practitioners acknowledge.
Before your next contrast session, spend five to ten minutes activating the lymphatic system. Dry brushing toward the heart is the simplest option. Light movement, walking, arm circles — anything that contracts muscles and gets fluid moving. Arrive warm, not sedentary. This isn't mysticism; it's basic physiology applied to sequencing.
Heather's plumbing metaphor is better than it sounds. The lymphatic system is genuinely upstream of a lot of what contrast therapy is trying to accomplish. When people say contrast therapy "didn't work" for them, I'd want to know what their lymphatic system was doing. Were the pathways open? Were they moving beforehand? Were they sitting in an office chair for eight hours and then stepping into a cold plunge expecting a miracle?
The ritual isn't just the hot and the cold. It includes everything you do to arrive ready. That's what Heather built Heat Praxia around — not just the equipment, but the preparation that makes the equipment worth using.