Four Ways To Feel the Glow With Heat Therapy

As someone who grew up in the endless sun of Southern California, I’ve never quite adjusted to the concept of winter. My threshold for “cold” is embarrassingly low – anything below 20°C sends me into survival mode. And living in Sydney now, every time the calendar tips toward June, my instinct kicks in: seek warmth. Any warmth. Immediately.

In years past, my winter ritual involved locking myself in a Bikram yoga studio in Darlinghurst, sweating through 90 minutes of stillness, fire, and surrender.

But this year, the craving ran deeper. I wasn’t just in search of heat; I needed something restorative. Something sun-drenched, soul-soothing, and slightly off-grid. I didn’t just want to survive winter; I wanted to reset.

So, I did what any sun-seeking woman with a wild heart and a family of six might do: I packed our bags and booked a trip to Fiji. What started as a seasonal escape turned into a deep, healing experience centred around one of the most ancient, powerful forces in the world: heat.

The Mud Baths & Thermal Pools: Earth-Generated Magic

There’s something undeniably grounding about smearing warm volcanic mud across your skin in the heart of Fiji. And no, you’re not wading into a bubbling mud pit like some prehistoric spa-goer. Instead, you’re handed the rich, mineral-loaded mud in buckets – thick, cool to the touch, and dark as wet clay—and encouraged to paint it onto your body. It’s part ritual, part play.

My youngest dove in without hesitation, streaking mud across his cheeks like a mini warrior, giggling as the clay dried into a cracking shell. My older kids, on the other hand, stood back at first, clearly hesitant to get dirty.

But the more they watched everyone embracing the mess, the more they softened. One by one, they joined in, eventually laughing and covering themselves head to toe. Later, they admitted they were glad they did it – that it was way more fun (and relaxing) than they’d expected.

Once the mud dries and begins to flake off under the sun, the real magic begins. You move through a series of naturally heated thermal pools, each one warmer than the last. It’s not just about rinsing off – it’s about surrender. The heat seeps into your muscles, quieting your mind, easing your body into stillness. You feel the tension lift, the weight of the everyday loosen.

Barefoot Movement Under the Sun: Grounding Through Heat and Earth

One of the simplest yet most powerful rituals I practised in Fiji was also the most natural—walking barefoot under the sun. No shoes, no schedule. Just me, warm sand, and the soft rhythm of movement.

Each morning or late afternoon, I’d wander along the beach, letting the tropical sun heat my skin and the golden sand press into the soles of my feet. This wasn’t just a walk—it was heat therapy in motion. The sensation of sun-warmed earth beneath me felt primal and deeply grounding. With every step, I could feel my body recalibrating, my nervous system softening, my mind unclenching.

Walking barefoot in a warm climate activates something ancient in us. It combines the benefits of heat, natural reflexology and earthing – a practice that connects your body directly to the electromagnetic frequency of the planet. In wellness circles, it’s believed to reduce inflammation, balance cortisol levels, and even improve sleep.

But I wasn’t thinking about the science at the time. I was just feeling. I was present. I was soaking in the warmth, both from above and below. And in those moments—between steps, between breaths—I felt a kind of wholeness I didn’t know I’d lost.

The Fijian Hot Herbal Poultice: A Tropical Embrace

If you’ve never experienced a hot herbal poultice massage, allow me to set the scene: bundles of freshly picked island herbs—wrapped in cloth, steeped in coconut oil, and steamed until they’re nearly too hot to touch. Then, slowly, rhythmically, they’re pressed into your skin.

It’s not just a massage. It’s a ceremony. The heat from the compresses reaches deep into the muscle tissue, melting away months of stress, while the scent of local botanicals lingers in the air—think ginger, lemongrass, wild mint. I could feel my nervous system recalibrating with each press.

This was the treatment I didn’t know I needed—the one that reminded me what deep exhale feels like. It was luxurious, yes, but also humbling. Rooted in Fijian tradition, the experience felt like being held by the island itself.

Yoga in the Morning Sun: Building the Fire Within

Every morning, while the rest of my family eased into the day, I claimed a quiet corner of the resort gym deck overlooking the ocean. No complex flows, no pressure to “perform”—just me, my mat, and the rising sun.

The warmth on my skin as I moved slowly—stretching, breathing, simply existing—was its own kind of therapy. On some days, I followed a downloaded 20-minute flow; on others, I let my body decide what it needed. But every session had the same goal: to build internal heat. To ignite my energy from the inside out.

That, I realised, is the essence of heat wellness. It’s not always about stepping into something hot. Sometimes, it’s about letting the warmth within you rise up and take over.

Why We Chase the Heat

There’s a reason cultures across the globe have long incorporated heat into their wellness rituals—from Turkish hammams to Finnish saunas to Japanese onsens. Heat cleanses, softens, recalibrates. It strips away layers—literal and emotional—and brings you back to your most essential self.

Physiologically, it improves circulation, reduces inflammation and eases muscle pain. But emotionally, heat provides something even deeper: a sense of surrender. A return to presence. A softness in a world that often feels far too sharp.

For me, Fiji wasn’t just about escaping winter – it was about remembering that heat is medicine. It’s a ritual. It’s connection. And it’s something we can carry with us, even when we return home.

Ben Broca launched a company last December that offers AI tools to entrepreneurs. He’s already added 10,000 paying customers and is on track to bring in $10 million in revenue this year.

One thing he hasn’t added: any other employees.

The 40-year-old is part of a class of entrepreneurs who are launching, and then often running, new companies on their own. Artificial intelligence tools answer Broca’s emails, help write and debug code, field requests from customers, sign up new subscribers and grant refunds when issues arise.

Broca relishes his ability to make whatever decisions he wants on his own, often from his sun-drenched Sausalito, Calif., living room. “I think compromises make lukewarm results,” he said.

Once upon a time, running a business of a certain size required a team. AI is turning that assumption upside down, and more aspiring entrepreneurs are going it alone.

Ben Broca sitting in his home office. — Tech has seen an explosion of solo founders in the past year. Broca said he likes being able to work at his own speed, unencumbered by a team. Jonah Reenders for WSJ

An analysis by the payments company Stripe shows there are thousands of solo operators on the company’s platform that are generating over $1 million in revenue, with their ranks doubling between 2023 and 2025. The number of solo operators crossing the $10 million threshold nearly tripled in that same span.

In the past, people without business contacts or particular savvy might not have known how to get their ideas off the ground, said Ernie Tedeschi, Stripe’s chief economist. “Now, AI can be a built-in business partner,” he said.

AI’s ability to handle various administrative tasks makes it potentially useful for launching solo businesses in many fields. But the technology’s ability to also handle key tasks in tech, like coding, make that field a particular hot spot.

Analyzing Census Bureau data, Bank of America Institute economist Taylor Bowley found that among all industries, new business applications in the information sector have seen the biggest percentage increase—nearly 45%—over the past year. At the same time, the rate of information-sector applicants saying they plan to hire workers has experienced the sharpest decline of any measured industry.

This Census dataset doesn’t track solo-operated businesses. But the numbers broadly show—in tech and beyond—that applications are flat among businesses likely to hire workers, but generally rising elsewhere. Economists say that’s a strong sign that solo operators are on the upswing.

“The bar for getting started has never been lower,” said Julian Weisser, who runs a San Francisco-based accelerator for solo founders working in tech. The accelerator—which offers founders seed money and mentorship in exchange for an equity stake—attracted 4,500 applicants for 10 slots made available in its most recent cycle, nearly five times the number it drew when it launched last May.

Going it alone with AI can still be surprisingly expensive. Broca said he was losing money on many customers’ accounts while paying to access Anthropic’s Claude to run his clients’ requests—that AI company, as well as others, charges based on usage. He has since switched to free open-source AI models from China.

Broca said he has raised $30 million from investors and, at the same time, has saved millions in salary since he hasn’t needed a team of software engineers.

Another risk: If it’s easy for one entrepreneur to launch an AI-assisted business, copying them can be easy, too. This creates anxiety for founders like Troy Johnston, who runs an AI-assisted business alone in Orlando, Fla.

“Everybody has the sword and we all have the ability to unsheathe Excalibur now,” said Johnston, 40, who used AI to code an app that helps people get the most out of credit card benefits. The company makes around $3,000 a month in profit, with no employees, and is continuing to grow.

Troy Johnston said AI’s power and ease of use is an incredible boon for entrepreneurs like him—and also a double-edged sword. Luann Koerper

What one-person businesses will mean for the labor market remains to be seen. Polling has shown Americans are worried that AI will replace jobs, and top economists are wrestling with that possibility, too. But AI is also creating lots of new jobs, and the go-it-alone entrepreneurs show how the technology can both open doors and limit employment opportunities.

“If everyone’s hiring less, but you get four times more firms, what does that do to head count?” said Rembrand Koning, an associate professor at Harvard Business School who studies entrepreneurship. He co-authored a recent study that found that among 50,000 startups the researchers examined, those focused on AI tended to operate with 25% fewer employees.

Koning also believes a soft hiring environment that’s left some people mired in long job searches has encouraged more to try their hand at launching businesses.

Some founders cite different motives. “It’s a perfect storm of post-pandemic burnout and a re-evaluation of one’s priorities, and also booming AI and a sense of what’s possible,” said Samir Ahmad, 39, who lives in Breinigsville, Pa.

Two years ago, Ahmad decided to leave the corporate job he had worked at Verizon for almost two decades to start a solo coaching and consulting business. He had been seeing social-media posts touting the ease and virtues of AI, which he used to chart a business plan and help with marketing. “It was like my chief of staff, a second in command,” he said.

The business ultimately petered out within months, though, and Ahmad is now back to a full-time corporate role with a utility company.

For Claire Vo, 41, AI helped her turn a passing impulse into a business. She was working full-time as a tech executive when she tapped AI in late 2023 to help code an app that would help her manage documentation and design for new products, with customers ranging from financial services to healthcare firms.

“I was copying and pasting from ChatGPT,” said Vo, who lives in San Francisco.

Claire Vo smiling into the camera while recording a podcast. — Claire Vo used AI to code an app that’s on track to make seven figures in profit this year. Claire Vo

She put the app online for $1 a month, and within weeks people downloaded it thousands of times. Nearly three years later, Vo’s company—which she ran solo for nine months before hiring an engineer—now has 100,000 users and is on track to make seven figures in profit this year. AI handles the company’s marketing, sales and customer support.

While AI is a shortcut, Vo said her network and credibility in the industry were key. “I think people over-index on how easy AI is and under-index on how much I did to get to this point,” she said.