The Power of Hot and Cold. From Sauna to Sea: The Finnish Way to a Happy, Healthy Life

Find out how hot and cold contrast therapy can change your outlook, your wellbeing and your life.

• The secret to how the world’s happiest nation keeps calm and carries on – no matter what life throws at them!
• World English rights sold to Yellow Kite / Hodder & Stoughton for UK publication in November 2024 and US publication in Spring 2025!
• The world’s first international title on Finnish contrast therapy written from an inclusive perspective!
• Inspiration and practical tools for creating a wellness retreat using the Nordic contrast bathing philosophy, wherever you are in the world.
• Unique collaboration by Carita Harju, Finnish sauna experience expert, and Katja Pantzar, author of The Finnish Way, sold to 24 languages!

Step into the world of hot and cold, where contrast therapy – pairing a good steam in a sauna with an icy dip in a lake or the sea – is an essential part of life in Finland. More than a trending pastime, the traditional Finnish practice of alternating hot and cold has a range of health benefits that boost mental and physical wellbeing, which greatly contribute to happiness. It’s also a large part of the reason Finland has been named the World’s Happiest Country for the eighth year in a row.

The sauna, the first Finnish element on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, was recently ranked as the No. 1 global wellness trend by the Global Wellness Summit. Cold-water swimming is also gaining popularity around the world and being proposed as a cure for all manner of things from improving mental health to boosting immunity. But why is being hot good for you, and why is submerging into icy water good for you? And what about alternating between the two? What exactly is hot and cold therapy and why is it so vital for physical and mental health?

This definitive guide by two experts takes readers on a journey into the transformative powers of hot and cold by pairing the sauna, that quintessential hot Finnish steam bath, with a cold-water dip. Along the way, it serves up the inspiration and practical tools for creating a wellness retreat using the Nordic contrast bathing philosophy, wherever you are in the world.

The Finnish hot and cold method boosts happiness by increasing wellbeing and encouraging connection with nature. It’s the secret to how the world’s happiest nation keeps calm and carries on – no matter what life throws at them. Now you too can learn their secrets.