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00:00My name's Sean and I'm the owner of a company called Balance Wellness Club.
00:05So obviously we're in Wellington Whitewater today.
00:08Obviously not open yet but you're getting closer to it?
00:12Yeah, not open but there's just a couple of logistical things we need to iron out
00:17and then once that's done the place will be fully open.
00:20But you've had a pre-opening weekend, how did that go?
00:23So on the pre-opening weekend we got an email list and obviously social media
00:27we put a notice out to everybody in the area.
00:30We had around about 50 people turn up for coffee and a look around the facility
00:34so we can see that from the numbers that were appearing on that day
00:38and the contact we've had that this business is going to be a great business
00:41for Waterloo and for myself and the other two business owners that are in here with me.
00:48So is it contrast therapy? Is that what the basis of it is?
00:55So contrast therapy, the basis of it all is you use hot and cold
01:00to get a dopamine response from what you do in that hot and cold.
01:05And evidence can suggest that it can help with immunity,
01:08help with longevity and help with health.
01:10Now anecdotally myself I can say that is something I look for in it
01:14and some of the evidence is woolly.
01:16But what I suggest to people is come and try it for yourself
01:19and then you can make a decision instead of somebody with a lack of evidence
01:24or evidence to the contrary to make that decision for you.
01:27Make those decisions by coming up and giving it a go.
01:30So contrast therapy is hot and cold, extreme,
01:34so what have you got here in that conference room to test that?
01:37So we've got four ice plungers and we're going to put the ice plungers
01:40at a temperature of 2, 4, 6 and 8 degrees
01:43so you can pick the temperature you want to go in at.
01:46And then we've also got a Finnish sauna,
01:49imported Finnish wood that's going to be set at about 85 degrees.
01:52Now there are various different ways to use contrast therapy
01:56and lots of people will tell you all these different ways.
01:59For me it's however much you can handle in the cold
02:02to get that little bit of shock.
02:03You don't necessarily need to go for minutes and hours
02:05and it says in the heat.
02:06It's whatever you can handle in the heat until you get that
02:09I just need to get out of the heat thing.
02:11So at first that's what I'd advise people to do.
02:14See what you can do and see what you can handle
02:16and use that as your protocol.
02:18The more you get into it and the more feeling
02:20and the better you feel with it
02:22then we can have a conversation about what may work best for you
02:25as an individual.
02:27I used to talk about the positives a bit.
02:29How does it feel?
02:30Does it just feel more revitalised, rejuvenated?
02:32Is that the idea behind it?
02:34Yeah, so when you do contrast therapy
02:36a couple of things will happen.
02:38There is an increased dopamine response by up to 250%.
02:41So dopamine is a chemical in the brain
02:44and it's called your happy chemical
02:45so it makes you feel alert, fuzzy and having a great time.
02:49The good thing with the contrast therapy is there's no crash.
02:52So you would still get a similar dopamine response
02:54I've heard from alcohol and other aspects
02:58that give us that response
03:00but you always have a crash, the hangover, the feeling miserable.
03:04But with contrast therapy you don't get the crash
03:07and that dopamine response, that happy chemical response
03:10can last up to four hours after a contrast therapy session.
03:13Interesting.
03:14And is there many other places like this?
03:18Around the country?
03:19Yeah, around the UK there is.
03:21There's a fair few spots.
03:22There isn't anything within the local area of here
03:24because I've checked.
03:25Probably the nearest one I've been to is one in Solon 3
03:28which is a small unit, very good.
03:30The guys there are brilliant.
03:31But in this local area there's nothing that does community wellness.
03:35And the reason I say that is you may have a cold plunge and a sauna
03:38and it's a single entity in a club
03:40but we've put together something that is based on the community
03:44of doing a cold plunge and sauna together.
03:47Because what I've noticed when I go around the country and use it
03:50the best ones I've used are the ones that have a larger facility
03:53that enables the community to happen and grow within it
03:56and that's why we've put this one here.
03:59And obviously you've also, as well as the contrast therapy
04:02you've also got a coffee shop next door
04:05so I guess is that kind of tied into the community idea behind it?
04:09Yeah, so again when I've visited lots of these areas
04:13some of them don't have anywhere to have a coffee or a drink afterwards
04:16or anything.
04:18And what we always noticed when we went
04:20we always went hunting for a coffee shop in the morning
04:22or if it was in the afternoon somewhere a smoothie
04:24or even in the evening something like, I don't know
04:27another smoothie in the evening and there isn't anything.
04:30So we decided to make the community even better
04:32why not latch a coffee shop onto the side of it?
04:35And the company's called Balance because that's what life's about.
04:37Life is about balance.
04:39You do the contrast therapy from a health perspective
04:41why not have a coffee and a smoothie and even a beer afterwards
04:44to get that balance back into your life.