Connecticut’s Only Luxury HydroSpa & Massage Experience!
(Finnish Sauna • Eucalyptus Steam Room • Hot Tub)
The heat phase elevates the body’s core temperature, triggering vasodilation — the widening of blood vessels — which enhances circulation and oxygen delivery to the muscles and tissues. Sweating through the Finnish sauna and eucalyptus steam room helps flush out toxins, improve skin clarity, and relax the muscular and nervous systems.
This deep heat also stimulates the vagus nerve and increases levels of heat shock proteins, which protect cells, reduce inflammation, and support tissue repair — promoting long-term cardiovascular and neurological health.
(Cold Plunge • Ice Fountain • Waterfall Bucket)
Transitioning into the cold phase creates a controlled thermal shock, activating the sympathetic nervous system and stimulating the release of norepinephrine, a hormone that improves focus, mood, and pain tolerance.
The rapid cooling causes vasoconstriction, drawing blood inward toward vital organs. As the body rewarms afterward, vasodilation occurs again — creating a pumping effect that improves lymphatic drainage, reduces inflammation, and enhances muscle recovery. This cyclical process also strengthens immune function and helps reset the body’s stress response system.
(Salt Tepidarium)
Following the cold immersion, your body enters a phase of parasympathetic activation — a state of deep calm where healing truly begins.
In the gentle warmth of the Himalayan Salt Tepidarium, your heart rate normalizes, circulation stabilizes, and endorphins and serotonin are released, generating feelings of balance, mental clarity, and renewal. The soft negative ions emitted from the Himalayan salt also support respiratory health and enhance oxygen exchange.
Repeating this heat–cold–rest rhythm several times during your visit creates a powerful neurovascular workout for your body. This pattern helps:
The result is a full-body recalibration- a state of restorative equilibrium where your mind quiets, your body revitalizes, and your nervous system resets.
The vagus nerve is a remarkable network connecting the gut, heart, and brain – the body’s inner highway of communication. As the longest cranial nerve, it influences nearly every organ and serves as the main power source of the parasympathetic nervous system- the system responsible for calm, balance, and restoration.
When the vagus nerve is activated, it helps slow the heart rate, support healthy digestion, regulate inflammation, and enhance emotional wellbeing. It releases acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that calms the body by dilating blood vessels, relaxing muscles, and easing tension from within.
At Immerse HydroSpa & Massage, our hydrotherapy spa has been carefully and thoughtfully curated with influence from Italian designers and German architects — blending art, science, and wellness to create the perfect circuit for maximizing health and restoration. Each contrast element – from the heat of the Finnish sauna and the icy shock of the cold plunge, to the rhythmic flow of the experience shower – works in harmony to naturally stimulate the vagus nerve, guiding the body into a state of deep parasympathetic activation.
This intentional design promotes balance at every level – where healing begins, the mind quiets, and your body’s natural rhythm is restored.
Immerse yourself in therapies designed to awaken your body’s innate healing intelligence; one breath, one heartbeat, one moment at a time.
Cold Plunges and the Vagus Nerve
Cold plunges are tough at first, but they can greatly improve the function of our vagus nerve. How? The initial shock of the cold water will make you take a short sharp breath in, and you will have an initial reaction to want to get out of there or to tense your muscles.
As you deliberately take a long slow exhale, and relax your muscles, you start to adjust to the cold. When this happens, the sympathetic nervous system slows down, and the parasympathetic system takes over, directly affecting the Vagus nerve.
It’s important to keep your breath steady when being exposed to cold water to keep the parasympathetic system working. This is difficult to do however with practice what you will notice is that other neurochemicals will also be released such as endorphins that will have a lasting positive impact. You don’t have to plunge for very long.
Thirty seconds to 1 minute is ample enough time.
