Please read the Contrast Club Terms & Conditions below carefully before signing up:

Important Note: Contrast Club is strictly for clients 18yrs & above.

Definition: Contrast Club is a discounted membership & valid for 6 weeks (42 days) from the date of the 1st Guided session. A 6-week program consists of 2 sessions per week (12 sessions in total) as follows:

• 1 x 90 minute Guided Group Sauna session (Total of 6 per program) on a specified date & time as shown on the booking page. These Guided sessions are for Contrast Club members only. Unless otherwise stated, a Guided session consists of 50 minutes Group Sauna session followed by 30 minutes Rest & Digest.

• 1 x 50 minute Unguided Sauna Social session (Total of 6 per program). These sessions are shared with clients not partaking in Contrast Club. Important Note: Upon booking, you will be given 6 x voucher codes to book one Unguided Sauna Social session in each week of the 6-week program on a day & time that suits you, subject to our opening hours & availability. We recommend you book these sessions well in advance, & before the start of the program, to avoid any disappointment.

Cancellation & Rescheduling Policy:

• Guided sessions: If you are unable to attend a Guided Group Sauna session it will not be possible to repeat this session nor attend the same session in another round of Contrast Club. Therefore, if you cannot fully commit to attending every Guided session on dates specified on our booking page, we recommend you wait for the next round of Contrast Club.

• Unguided sessions: For Unguided Sauna Social sessions, we require 24hrs notice to reschedule a session. If 24hrs notice is given, your unguided Sauna Social session will be cancelled & the voucher code that was used to book the session will be reinstated & can be used to book a new session, if it remains within the expiry date of the 6-week package (i.e. 42 days from Day 1 of the 6-week program). Important Note: When rescheduling an Unguided Sauna Social session, please be mindful to ensure at least 48hrs between sauna sessions to avoid doing too much too soon. If in doubt, please contact us to seek advice.

• If, for any reason, we need to cancel a Guided or Unguided Sauna session, we will notify you by email & reschedule the session to the next date possible. If you are unable to attend the rescheduled session we will refund you as follows: For a Guided session, you will be refunded 75% of the weekly rate. For an Unguided session, you will be refunded 25% of the weekly rate. The weekly rate is equal to 16.7% of total fee.

Refund Policy:

To obtain a refund you must provide written notice via email to hello@driftwoodsauna.ie as per our refund policy below. Please write 'Cancellation of Contrast Club' in the subject line of the email.

If you give 21 days notice prior to Day 1 of the 6-week program, you will be refunded 100% of the program fees minus a cancellation fee of 10EUR.

If you give 14 days notice prior to Day 1 of the 6-week program, you will be refunded 50% of the program fees minus a cancellation fee of 10EUR.

No refund will be given if the notice given is less than 14 days prior to Day 1 of the 6-week program.

If, for any reason, we need to cancel the 6 week program in it's entirety, then 100% of the program fees will be refunded to you. If, for any reason, we need to cancel the program part-way through, a refund will be given at a rate of 16.7% of the total fee for each week not fulfilled.

Your Health:

Your health & safety is our primary concern. When joining Contrast Club you confirm that you are in good health with no underlying health conditions that might put you at high risk when practicing contrast therapy.

You must not take part in Contrast Club if: you have heart disease, uncontrolled high, low or irregular blood pressure; if you are pregnant; if you are taking any medication that may impact your body's ability to sweat or circulate blood properly (such as antidepressants, antipsychotics, antihistamines, beta blockers and anticholinergics); if you are under the influence of alcohol or recreational drugs. Important Note: Driftwood Sauna operators reserve the right to refuse your use of the sauna & other Driftwood Sauna facilities if they have any reason to believe the above conditions are not met. In cases where these conditions are breached, you will not be refunded for the session(s) from which you have been excluded.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are unsure if it is safe for you to take part in Contrast Club, you should seek medical advice from your doctor BEFORE signing up to Contrast Club and before attempting any kind of hot & cold therapy.

Contrast Club is a 6 week (42 consecutive days) program which includes weekly Guided & Unguided Sauna sessions at Driftwood Sauna. The goal of Contrast Club is to support you in building your contrast therapy habit & to empower you with the knowledge to safely & confidently continue to practice through the winter season. The group size will be a maximum of 6 people to ensure enough time & space for everyone & to create a supportive community in which to enjoy practicing together.

Contrast Therapy, or ‘Hot & Cold Therapy’ as it is also known, is the deliberate exposure of the body to hot & cold temperatures, with repeated immersions alternating between the different temperatures for a set length of time. In practice, this can be done by alternating between the use of a sauna (or steam room or hot bath) & a source of cold water such as the sea, lake or plunge pool. Contrast Therapy is an example of hormetic stress & when practiced safely has a number of proven health benefits, which include improvement in cardiovascular, respiratory & mental health, increased metabolism, reduced inflammation, enhanced cognitive function & pain relief. We will explore the health benefits during our guided sessions so that you can understand the physiological responses in the body which can lead to such improvements & also the undesirable effects if you practice too much.

Important Note: Contrast Club is strictly 18yrs & above

• New to all this? ~ If you have never tried Contrast Therapy or done it only once or twice, then this is absolutely a great way to get started at practicing regularly with other like-minded souls!

• Already enjoy using a sauna & dipping in cold water fairly often? ~ If you love the way it makes you feel & are curious to understand why, then Contrast Club is a great way to learn about the science & also learn ways to deepen your sauna experience.

• Fallen out of the habit or never practiced during autumn & winter? ~ You want to get started again but are feeling anxious with the changing temperatures? Contrast Club is the perfect way to get restarted! You will learn how to safely adapt your practice to changing outdoor temperatures & have fun doing it!

If you are in feeling well & without any health issues affecting your heart & blood circulation then you should be able to practice contrast therapy safely. However, contrast therapy is not safe for everyone. Those with heart disease, uncontrolled high, low or irregular blood pressure are at high risk of complications & therefore should not take part in Contrast Club. The same applies if you are pregnant. If you are taking any medication that can impact your body's ability to sweat or circulate blood properly (such as antidepressants, antipsychotics, antihistamines, beta blockers and anticholinergics) & therefore impair your body's ability to self-regulate its temperature, or you are unsure about any other medication you are taking, then you should also seek medical advice from your doctor. Anyone in doubt, should always take extra precaution & seek medical advice before attempting any kind of hot & cold therapy.

Contrast Club is for those who are serious & ready to commit to building their contrast therapy habit. Whatever your ‘Why’ for starting (or restarting) this journey, the best way to get fully adapted & to reap the full health benefits is consistent practice with ‘a little & often approach’.

For those of you already adapted but curious to learn about the science, the best approach to Contrast Club is to come with a 'Beginners Mind'.

Please be sure you can attend 2 sessions per week for the 6 week program before signing up. If you cannot commit to this then please register your interest for the next round of Contrast Club by sending an email to us at hello@driftwoodsauna.ie

The goal of Contrast Club is to help you build your contrast therapy habit safely through gradual & consistent hot & cold exposure. It is therefore important to attend both the Guided & Unguided sessions each week.

If, for any reason, you miss a Guided Group Sauna session, it will not be possible to repeat this nor attend the same session in another round of Contrast Club.

If, for any reason, you cannot attend an Unguided Sauna Social session, it may be possible to reschedule this session if enough notice is given. Please refer to the Contrast Club Terms & Conditions for further details. Important Note: When rescheduling an Unguided Sauna Social session, please be mindful to ensure at least 48hrs between sauna sessions to avoid doing too much too soon. If in doubt, please contact us to seek advice.

You will be guided on techniques to continue adaptation from home, which can be used in case you have to miss a session but we would encourage you to wait until the next round of Contrast Club if you cannot commit to the 2 sessions per week for the entirety of the 6 week program.

The Guided Group Sauna sessions are for Contrast Club members only.

During each 90 minute Guided Group Sauna session, Monique (certified Thermalist® Master Instructor & Sauna Master Thermal Leaf Whisking) will guide you on how to safely get hot & cold adapted & how best to practice to get the full health benefits. Monique will simplify & explain the current scientific research behind contrast therapy protocols so that you can fully understand why contrast therapy is a powerful tool to use as part of your preventative healthcare regimen.

The first 60 mins of each Guided Group Sauna session will be spent practicing contrast therapy & the last 30 mins will be 'Rest & Digest', allowing time for the body to rebalance & opportunity for a Q&A session. Complimentary refreshments will be provided.

Each week you will have one unguided 50 minute Sauna Social session which you can book on a day & time that suits you (subject to our opening times & availability). This gives you the flexibility to continue to practice each week when works best for you.

It is really important that you don't miss this session as the key to adaptation & habit forming is consistency.

The idea of this session is for you to practice what you have learnt in the guided session & continue your journey to adaptation.

Please note: Sauna Social sessions are our regular sessions open to non-members of Contrast Club

Not at all! We will discuss the science (but don’t worry if you don’t have a science background we won't go into heavy detail) to deepen your understanding of why contrast therapy is so beneficial for the body & mind & this will help guide you on how to best practice yourself.

In addition to this, we will also explore holistic approaches to deepen your sauna practice & nature connection, including thermal leaf whisking!

Monique has always been inspired by nature & science, with a BSc in Zoology (the study of animals & their behaviour) & MSc in Applied Entomology (the study of insects!). Before co-founding Driftwood Sauna, Monique spent 15yrs leading the conduct of clinical research studies for the treatment of various cancers & Multiple Sclerosis, where she often had to translate the science into more understandable language for patients. This journey led her to the realisation that more should be done to help people take control of their preventative healthcare & both she & Edward believe contrast therapy to be a powerful tool to improve physical, mental & spiritual fitness. As a Thermalist® Master Instructor & Sauna Master (International Bath Academy), Monique is eager to not only share the science with you but to also share the holistic power of Thermal Leaf Whisking!