Many people are used to taking advantage of delivery services like Instacart, Uber Eats, and Postmates for everything from groceries to foodstuffs dropped right at your door. Imagine placing an order for a sauna and cold plunge extravaganza to wow guests at your next gathering, or renting the gear for a private camping trip. Yes, it’s possible.

Enter Sauna Plunge RVA, the lovechild of locals Josh Crowley and Liz Bowden.

The pair met at a stand-up paddle board (SUP) yoga and breathwork class and quickly bonded over a shared love of the outdoors, meditation, and building community connections, especially those related to wellness.

“I grew up around saunas and love traveling and visiting saunas around the world,” Crowley says, admitting that his own health journey started after being on tour playing sax with his group, the Shack Band. On the road, he was treating his body “like an amusement park,” he says, and needed “to fix and repair myself a little.”

He always wished there was a concept like this in Richmond, he says, but it just didn’t exist. While a brick-and-mortar operation seemed like too big an endeavor to tackle right now, he had faith in the mobile concept. “I also wanted to create something at a price point where normal folks could come do this regularly, because that’s when you really see the health benefits,” he adds.

After about a year of kicking the idea around and telling a few folks about it, Crowley got the nudge he needed from Bowden.

“I had just quit a corporate sales job out of DC and was on the verge of accepting an offer here in town from CoStar,” he says. “I told Liz about this project, and she was like, ‘Yes, I want to do something like this, too. Don’t accept the job. Let’s do this, I’m pretty sure we can do it.” Put simply, he says that she “kinda kicked my butt” and from there, the wheels got put into motion, and the pair started building the mobile spa.

“I’m not the most handy person, so that’s been a little bit of a challenge,” Crowley says. “This is a very physical business that has involved me building things and figuring that out. But the reward of seeing an idea come to fruition has been so satisfying.”

And the result? A cozy wood-fired sauna that looks like a whiskey barrel with a smokestack that seats six, with two standalone plunge tanks stocked nearby with fresh water daily. The experience usually involves 15 to 20 minutes in the sauna, followed by a 2-to-3-minute cold plunge, repeated about three times. “We’re calling it the hero’s journey. It’s a little bit relaxing and a little scary. It’s supposed to push you a bit,” says Crowley. He quickly notes that everyone can take it at their own pace, staying in the sauna as long as it’s comfortable and taking breaks to catch your breath as needed. “Watching people cheer each other on in a group setting is amazing,” says Crowley.

The benefits of these types of experiences are well documented and known to improve blood flow, reduce inflammation, and even boost mood, which helps anxiety and depression symptoms, among other advantages. “From personal experience, [the] process makes you feel wonderful and sleep like a baby. You feel really refreshed and relaxed,” he says.

While many folks folks might agree that the sauna sounds delightful, the polar plunge? Maybe not so much. Crowley offers up a little nudge. “Just like so many things in life, after being briefly uncomfortable, it leads to some wonderful benefits,” he says. A lot of athletes use cold water immersion to reduce inflammation after “exercise-induced muscle damage,”  and according to the Mayo Clinic Health System the process can be beneficial.

Looking forward, Sauna Plunge RVA plans to keep rolling with a handful of pop-ups in addition to private events. Also it is currently building its second sauna, so it’s safe to say they’re getting more comfortable with the operation. Crowley says he’d love to do bigger events like marathons and music festivals as well.

“We’re going to be building out loud and sharing with people how we are expanding this business,” he says. “We’re going to find some fun stuff to do. I’m not sure what that is yet, but I’m open to it.”

For more information, upcoming events, and booking details, check out saunaplungerva.com