Loneliness Is an Epidemic – FlowHaus Is a Response
Born from breathwork, ice and real human connection, Utah’s FlowHaus offers a multi-sensory, high-vibration sauna and cold bath experience for collective healing
They say everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth happen while you’re climbing it. It’s a lovely sentiment—but harder to remember when you’re halfway up a mountain in Poland, hours deep into a “half-naked” snow hike in negative temperatures.
Yet that’s exactly where Mitch Mathews, former NFL wide receiver and FlowHaus founder, found himself five years ago when he and his friends visited Wim Hof in Poland.
And if anyone knows cold, it’s Hof.
Known affectionately as The Iceman, the 65-year-old Dutch motivational speaker and athlete has broken records for swimming under ice, pulling off barefoot half marathons on snow and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in shorts. In addition to his numerous adventures in the wild, he’s created the “Wim Hof Method,” a combination of breathing, cold therapy and commitment.
“He’s an amazing human, a unique character and singular!” Mathews says of his visit to see Hof. “The only way to describe this experience was like going to meet Yoda out in the woods. Every day was breathwork, meditation and a lot of cold bathing.”
But the crowning event of the week was the four-hour snow hike— a limit-testing experience that Mathews describes as transformational.
“It was shorts only, no shirt, beanie and gloves only, and you’re hiking in negative temperatures to the top of this mountain in Poland, using his techniques to stay alive,” Mathews says. “But it was special, and I remember feeling like I had never felt before, that sort of superhuman feel, that appreciation for life feel, and that healing feeling.”
Serial entrepreneur and ultramarathoner runner Jesse Itzler was also in attendance on the trip.
“I remember asking him [Itzler], ‘Why did it take ten Americans to come all the way from the United States to Poland just to feel this good? And the follow-up to that question was, ‘How do we bring this back to our people where we live in the United States? The sauna, the cold, breath, and meditation—and recreate this Wim Hof experience?” Mathews recalls.
For the last two years, Mathews and his team have been dialing in that vision, inspired by his own experience and wanting to share it with others.
In his circle is co-founder and chief operating officer Zach Nyborg, who oversaw operations at Brigham Young University during Mathews’ time on the football team. As fate would have it, Nyborg’s roots are also deeply intertwined with wellness, thanks to a Finnish grandmother who instilled in him a lasting appreciation for sauna rituals.
His grandfather was appointed an ambassador under President Reagan in the 1980s—a role that took the family’s sauna traditions to another level in the States.
“It was like one of Finland’s daughters returning with this American cowboy–because my Grandpa was a rancher, he was not a diplomat, and so they became like this celebrity couple and came back to the ranch in Idaho and built a sauna right on the creek,” Nyborg shares. “I grew up from four years old practicing the sauna ritual.”
He recalls fondly the memories of going into the sauna with his family members in the winter and having to chop a hole in the ice in the creek to create a cold plunge.
Now, Mathews and Nyborg are ready to share their social wellness concept with the world—starting in Pleasant Grove, Utah, with the launch of FlowHaus.
“FlowHaus is a multi-sensory guided sauna and cold bath experience,” Nyborg says. “We infuse every moment and every Flow — intentionally — with our own take on the elevated sauna ritual Aufguss. Through hot and cold contrast, aromatics, music, lighting and towel movement, each Flow becomes a vibration-raising experience. Whether it’s a social flow with a group of people or something more internally focused, the FlowHaus experience is deep fun that will leave you feeling like you’ve never felt before.”
Intentional is the key word behind everything at FlowHaus—from the custom 13-foot drapes and signature fireplace to the glowing salt-tile wall and 50-person sauna, complete with uplighting and a starry sky overhead.
Here’s the thing—while FlowHaus is the kind of place made for social media (dreamy, serene aesthetics that scream good vibes and “you had to be there”), the real intent is something quieter: to create an experience that’s approachable, welcoming and healing.
“Elegant but accessible, modern but not stuffy,” as Nyborg describes.
FlowHaus guests can expect guided experiences that flow between 15-20 minutes in the sauna and 3-5 minutes in the cold plunge—which are repeated. Classes run all day, each with a different feel – among them Mobility Soul Flow, a Sonic Renewal Sound Flow and The Calm Code – Yoga & Flow for Resilience. Single flow drop-in classes run $38 per session and there are introduction offers, flow packs and limited-time founding membership specials. Sessions typically last about an hour and emphasize social connection.
“As deeply as we can say, the reason we’re doing this is because the world is struggling right now,” Mathews says. “Isolation is at an all-time high—chronic stress, depression and anxiety are at all-time highs. Jesse and I’s conversations have led us to ‘find something that bugs you and go fix it with something that you love.’ Sauna, cold bathing, classes, music…and we can offer the public healing that we know all communities need. We’re going after ‘real community good.'”
Itzler, a co-owner of FlowHaus, took to Instagram this week to highlight the grand opening of the new social wellness experience, reflecting on meeting Mathews on the 2020 trip to Wim Hof’s house in Poland.
“Ever since, Mitch has been working hard to bring this community space of saunas and cold plunges to life. He cares the most, and you can feel it,” he wrote.
With the business of wellness showing no signs of slowing, it’s little surprise that several people have expressed interest in franchising the concept—an idea that’s not off the table.
“We’re being very cognizant—we won’t compromise the brand or dilute the experience,” Nyborg says. “We do plan to expand, but we’ll maintain a certain number of owner-operated locations to ensure the model stays scalable, rooted and aligned with our vision.”
FlowHaus is also open to exploring partnerships, leaning into the same spirit of connection it encourages within the walls of its multi-sensory wellness centers.
“Partnership is deeply embedded in our brand ethos—All health brands, all aligned brands…finding other brands that are on the same thread as us, as often as possible,” Mathews says. “Partnership is everything.”
The team is already eyeing expansion to Portland, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, Scottsdale and Atlanta — eager to spread its high vibrations and help solve feelings of isolation and chronic stress.
“We’re as real as it gets, trying to do real good,” Mathews says.