Heat exposure and cold immersion are the throughlines of Gwyneth Paltrow’s at-home wellness setup. Here is what she actually does in her at-home spa, how long she stays in and what a longevity physician says the evidence supports.
What’s Inside Gwyneth Paltrow’s At-Home Spa?
Paltrow’s spa includes a sauna, hot tub, steam room and cold plunge, and she said she uses it daily. In July 2022, Goop shared a video of the space, where she called her husband, Brad Falchuk, an “obsessive cold plunger.”
Before heat, she dry brushes toward her heart to encourage circulation. She told Architectural Digest the room, modeled on Les Bains du Marais in Paris, is “the most incredible thing in the house” and that the cold plunge is “excellent for circulation.” She soaks in warm water for at least 20 minutes at day’s end, finishing with body butter for an “incredible glow.” An August 2022 video posted by Goop revealed she sometimes drinks celery juice in the sauna.
How Does Gwyneth Paltrow Do Cold Plunges?
She keeps them to about one minute, deliberately rejecting the extended sessions popular online. Paltrow told The Zoe Report that recent findings on ice baths tailored for women support a balanced approach that avoids excessive duration or extreme cold.
Six minutes at 33 degrees is far too extreme for her preference. She opts for a one-minute dunk aimed at a physiological reset, noting a cold shower can offer comparable benefits. “I love to be by a fire,” she told The Zoe Report, adding, “I also love an outdoor hot tub they’re so ’80s to me.”
What’s in Gwyneth Paltrow’s Morning Routine?
She wakes around 6:30 a.m., does 20 minutes of Transcendental Meditation with her husband, has coffee with her son before school and exercises for an hour, she told Harper’s Bazaar in March 2024.
A Tracy Anderson devotee for 17 years, she also does Pilates on heavy reformers twice a week at Studio Lagree. She still practices intermittent fasting, typically a smoothie around 10 a.m. Her Oura ring, which she called “educational,” tracks how a heavy meal or late wine affects sleep, reads body temperature, flags when she might be getting sick and tracks stress, steps and exercise.
Is Contrast Therapy Safe for Everyone?
No. Dr. Mohammed Enayat, longevity physician and founder of HUM2N Longevity Clinic, told Hello! Magazine that some people should consult a medical professional before trying hot and cold therapy.
“Contrast therapy works by deliberately exposing the body to short, controlled doses of thermal stress,” Enayat said. “Heat causes vasodilation, where blood vessels widen and circulation increases, while cold exposure causes vasoconstriction, where blood vessels narrow and stress hormones such as noradrenaline rise.”
Switching between heat and cold trains the cardiovascular and nervous systems through what wellness circles call hormesis, or “good stress.” Enayat cautioned the response must be managed. “People with cardiovascular disease, uncontrolled high blood pressure, arrhythmias, severe Raynaud’s, poorly controlled asthma or a history of fainting episodes should approach contrast therapy cautiously and speak to a medical professional first,” he said. He also warned that piling thermal stress onto an already depleted body can backfire.
