On Saturday, April 11, East Austin's Bathe Bathhouse, which specializes in contrast therapy, officially launched its newest space: the Lumen Room, an intimate infrared studio designed for yoga, Pilates, and sound bath sessions.

The Finnish-inspired wellness destination has been growing slowly and steadily since a soft opening around South By Southwest in 2025, according to Brooke Blodgett, Bathe's director of marketing, partnerships, and programming. Now, the bathhouse is entering into a new phase of rapid expansion with more programming and spaces.

The Lumen Room is named for its quality of light. The space uses red light therapy panels to deliver the benefits of infrared light during class. Sessions are intentionally capped at 20 people, a choice rooted in pedagogy as much as ambiance.

"A lot of times when I go to larger classes, I'm not able to get that [individualized] touchpoint, which is actually pretty essential when you're kind of starting to do yoga or Pilates," says Blodgett. "There's a lot of that one-on-one tweaking — a slight little adjustment — that's pretty essential to making sure you're doing the practice properly."

Blodgett adds that the new studio is fully outfitted with equipment by Stakt, a female-founded brand that makes premium mats, resistance bands, and Pilates props, making Saturday's launch a co-branded celebration between the two wellness companies.

Every experience at the bathhouse, including classes and events like this one, include full access to heat contrast experiences, like their cold plunge, sauna, and soak.

"Nervous system optimization is obviously the foundation of everything we do here," Blodgett says. "We want anything that we're doing at Bathe to have that integration."

Bathe's expansion doesn't stop with the Lumen Room. Later in April, Bathe is expected to launch a 45-person event sauna in partnership with Sweat Pals, an Austin-founded wellness ticketing platform. The sauna will feature daily Aufguss rituals: a traditional Finnish and German practice involving the artful wafting of aromatherapy steam with a towel. There are even world competitions for practicing Aufguss, says Blodgett, and Bathe is bringing an authentic version to Austin.

The bathhouse also recently expanded its hours to 8 am to 10 pm daily, so people can come in before or after work just like they would at a gym. Day passes start at $33 and go up to $250 with add-ons like massages, and Austinites can also apply for monthly memberships online.

"There are other places kind of popping up in town and their pricing is pretty expensive, which is fine, but that's something that's very important to us. To not raise our pricing or even have anything priced at a rate that's not actually accessible for people that live in Austin," Blodgett says.

Though the bathhouse's full extent, including pools, remains under construction until later this year, the launch of the Lumen room, extended hours, and soon, a large event sauna space, are a great start.

Bathe is located at 2922 E. Cesar Chavez St.