Regina Rocke has been teaching New Yorkers how to live more comfortably in their bodies for more than 20 years: She’s a certified personal trainer, a yoga and group fitness instructor, an ayurveda wellness counselor and a certified breathwork facilitator.
This spring, she added another offering to her wellness menu when she climbed aboard the Othership, a social ice bath and sauna studio. Ms. Rocke, 42, is among 16 guides at the studio, which plans to open a new location this month in the Flatiron district. Guides lead visitors, whom they call “journeyers,” through 75 minutes of cold plunges, sauna meditations, breathwork lessons and aromatherapy.
“I do this work because connecting to my body this way can be incredibly healing,” she said. “I enjoy leading people through the same experiences.”
Ms. Rocke lives in East Harlem with her fiancée, Kirsten Huber, 35, a graphic designer, and their two cats, Bossy and Buffy.
DOUGH FIRST, BREAD SECOND I have a morning routine I do not diverge from. Upon waking, at 6:30 or 7:30, I have a little snuggle session with Bossy. She usually comes and sits on me, makes dough on me, and I pet her and then she makes it clear she’s done. When she’s done, she’s done.
Before I get in the shower, I turn on the stove and get the kettle ready for pour-over coffee. After I’m showered and moisturized, it’s time to feed both cats. They’re equally begging by then. While I have my coffee, it’s playtime for Buffy. I’ll wave a string around, and she’ll go after it. It gets pretty rowdy. She’ll start banging into furniture and stuff. Breakfast is bread with almond butter. Then it’s time to go.
KEEP IT MOVING I like to start my day with movement, and I like a wide variety of classes. I won’t go to the same place, always doing the same class. What I decide to do on a Sunday morning is very much mood based. If I want something low impact, I might do mat Pilates at East River Pilates. I like the space. Or maybe I’ll do Solidcore. But I pretty much visit places where I have friends who teach. The fitness and yoga world can be pretty small, and a lot of people work at multiple places. One of my friends teaches at Aarmy in SoHo. If my body is up for it, I’ll take her class.
SNACK MIX Starting my day with movement helps me teach a better class. Before I go to teach at Othership, I’ll definitely grab a snack. Usually I bring food with me. I don’t spend a lot of money eating restaurant food. My snacks are a big mix, because I get bored easily. I like this one brand of pretzels with almond butter inside. Sometimes it’s a grass-fed beef stick or a protein bar.
SNOWBALLS I get the subway to Union Square to teach. There’s a whole routine at Othership, a way we prepare for class. We have a uniform — a swimsuit and a little sarong we tie around our waist. Most of us take a shower or a quick dip in the cold bath to prepare ourselves. We make snowballs mixed with essential oils for the sauna. The scent is going along with the theme of the class. Some classes are relaxing, some are more energizing. If it’s a deep stretch class, there may be grounding scents, like various pines and cedar and eucalyptus. We might start the class with those, and then at the end of class it might be floral scents, like geranium or rose. The snowballs are dripped onto the hot rocks in the sauna, and the smell really permeates.
TOWEL DANCE During the interview or audition process for Othership, they talked a lot about towel waving. I was thinking you wave a towel around, that it’s pretty straightforward. But it’s very different. The towel is heavy; it’s a weighted material. We’ve learned different techniques. Some are performative, like putting on a show. Some of the function of it is to get a sense of the heat in the sauna for the journeyers in the class. It’s a very serious thing. Learning more advanced moves has been a huge part of the training. It’s very fun — I’ve started to experiment with choreographing a towel dance.
HOT AND COLD Then it’s time to meet the journeyers and start class. When enough people have accumulated, you greet them and give them a rundown of class safety tips. Journeyers do 20 or 25 minutes in the sauna and spend two minutes max in the cold bath. There’s a small component of teaching in the cold bath, instructing people to take slow, deep breaths. And after, you can go back in the sauna as much as you like.
Q. AND A. After class, people are given the option to stay a little longer or go. I’ll hang out in the commons area for questions or comments. It’s up to me if I want to stay and do a sauna or an ice bath on my own. What I hear most from people when I tell them I’m a guide is, “I need to try that.”
NO SURPRISES When I’m done at Othership, I might meet up with Kirsten and we’ll go to dinner or maybe it’s just, let’s enjoy a Sunday evening at home. If we’re going out, we’ll go to the famous Red Rooster, Marcus Samuelsson’s restaurant, or this other place called Clay on the West Side. Kirsten and I text a lot during the day. A lot, lot, lot. Once I meet up with her, she already knows everything that happened that day.
BUENAS NOCHES At home, we have our me time. Kirsten’s more of a night owl, and I’m more of a morning person. For me, anything past 6 p.m. requires a lot of concentration. So I’ll go into the bedroom and do my Duolingo or read a mystery. I’m trying to turn my brain off. By 9 or 10 o’clock, I’m falling asleep.
