Breath & Exposure STL
1530 S Kingshighway Blvd, St. Louis, MO
Breath & Exposure STL is a coached fire-and-ice practice run out of the back of a low-key south city building on Kingshighway that it shares with a gym, a CrossFit box and a Pilates studio. You walk in through an open cargo bay to a DIY yard with a wood-fired barrel sauna running near 200°F and a pair of 100-gallon ice tubs. Founder Josh Hildebrand, a Marine combat veteran and St. Louis firefighter who turned to cold exposure and breathwork to manage PTSD, built it to share those tools, especially with first responders, veterans and other high-stress workers. The signature Fire & Ice session opens with about 30 minutes of guided breathwork, then cycles a three-minute plunge and a 15-minute sauna round three times, roughly 60-90 minutes in all. Other classes on the schedule include Breathe & Leave, Breath & Ice, Full Moon sessions and an XPT swim session, plus an unlimited cold plunge membership. Everything is booked in advance through the online scheduler. Private group sessions take up to 10 people per round (14 across two rounds) at $40 a person with a $200 minimum. Bring a swimsuit, comfortable clothes, a towel or two, a water bottle and a dry change of clothes. It is outdoors, hands-on and community-minded, more backyard sauna club than spa, and first-timers are coached through every plunge. Hildebrand also runs a Rewild & Restore retreat away from the city.
Quick facts
- Type
- Community Sauna
- Heat
- Traditional sauna
- Cold
- Cold plunge tub
- Temperatures
- Sauna 190–200°F
- Booking
- Reservation required
- Session style
- Guided sessions
- Gender
- Co-ed
- Clothing
- Clothing required
Last updated November 2026.