AAVYA RISE · UPPER TAPOVAN · RISHIKESH
तपस्
TAPAS · THE FIRE OF TRANSFORMATION
FIRE&ICE
Rishikesh's first contrast therapy and movement circuit.
Tapas Retreat Dates
We're running a collection of Contrast Therapy Retreats this monsoon, with three dates to choose from. Each one is led by none other than Sadhu — breath and yoga coach, former mountaineer, and the kind of guy who makes ice baths seem surprisingly inviting.
Built for heat and cold, on a hillside above the Ganga.
The sauna and soak pool sit in stone and hand-fired terracotta, open to the valley. The ice bath is carved into the hillside itself — river stone, mud plaster, nothing bought off a shelf. The circuit was built slowly, season by season, because contrast therapy needs a place that feels settled before the body ever steps into the heat.
What a guided session looks like
Sessions run 2 to 2.5 hours. Your facilitator leads the pacing, explains the physiology at each stage, and reads the group. No prior experience required. Only a willingness to stay present.
Movement & Breathwork
Guided joint mobility and light dynamic flow to wake the body up. Then a short breath sequence to settle the nervous system before the heat and cold.
20 MIN
Sauna
Your facilitator walks you through breath regulation as your core temperature rises. Not passive sweating, preparation for what comes next.
12–15 MIN
Ice Bath
Cold immersion to the neck. Your facilitator coaches your breath through the first 30 seconds. After that, the cold becomes information, not threat.
2–3 MIN
Soaking Pool
The warm soak holds what the cold released. Blood rushes back to the surface. The integration phase, where the body processes the contrast.
10 MIN
Rest & Repeat
A short rest, then the cycle repeats 2 to 3 times depending on the group. The second and third rounds go deeper as the body relaxes into the sequence.
2–3 ROUNDS
Close
The session closes in the soaking pool with a short breathwork close. Most guests sit for 20 to 30 minutes after before they feel ready to move again.
FINAL ROUNDYou will feel a lot more alive. Here's what that means.
Muscles that actually feel recovered
- —Flushes metabolic waste
- —Deeper than passive rest
- —Feel it in your legs by evening
A clarity you can't manufacture
- —Out of sympathetic overdrive
- —Not sedated, just quiet
- —No substance gives this
A dopamine spike that lasts hours
- —Up to 250% above baseline
- —Lasts 2 to 4 hours, no crash
- —Quietly, inexplicably good
The best night in a while
- —Resets circadian baseline
- —Fall asleep faster
- —No 3am stirring
A quiet confidence in your body
- —You breathed through it
- —You didn't run
- —Most people walk out taller
A kind of stillness that stays with you.
Long after the heat fades and the cold has worn off, something quieter remains — a softness in the shoulders, a slower breath, a head that finally has space in it. People often linger here without saying much. That, we've come to believe, is the point.
Meet your facilitators
Sadhu
Masters in Yoga · Movement & Fitness Trainer · Expert Mountaineer
A rare blend of yogic discipline and mountain endurance, Sadhu brings strength, precision, and deep presence to every session. With years of experience in yoga, movement training, and high-altitude mountaineering, his approach develops resilience, body awareness, and confidence. Shaped by life in the Himalayas, he guides participants with a calm, grounded energy that connects physical practice with inner steadiness.
Dr. Rucha
MBBS, MD · Certified Yoga Teacher & Holistic Health Expert
Dr. Rucha combines modern medical knowledge with the wisdom of yoga and holistic health. Through personalized consultations and group sessions, she helps participants understand the root causes of stress, fatigue, and lifestyle imbalances. Her practical approach integrates nutrition, movement, breathwork, and emotional well-being, empowering guests to create sustainable habits that support long-term health and vitality.
Shivani Satija
Founder, Yogic Echoes · Breathwork Facilitator · Yoga Teacher · Sound Healing Practitioner
With over eight years of experience in yoga, breathwork, meditation, sound healing, and nervous system regulation, Shivani creates transformative experiences that foster emotional balance and inner connection. Founder of Yogic Echoes, she blends movement, breath, mindfulness, and sound to help participants release stress, cultivate resilience, and reconnect with themselves through deeply restorative and experiential practices.
The science of contrast therapy
Why heat and cold, in sequence, change how the body feels. Notes for retreat organisers thinking about Fire and Ice for their groups.
READ THE ARTICLE→We thought it would cost a few lakhs
The honest, still-unfinished story of how a small summer pool became Tapas, and opened just as the summer ended.
READ THE NOTE→Before we open the doors
What we are still finishing, what we are testing, and what it means to open ready rather than rush.
READ THE NOTE→