EP #137: How Othership is Revolutionizing the Wellness Industry with Robbie Bent, Co-Founder of Othership

Welcome back to another episode of Every Day in Dorfins, a mental health podcast focused on the importance of finding joy and happiness and daily living. I'm your host, Stella Staphanopolis, and this week I am so thrilled to be speaking with one of the co-founders of New York City's newest, coolest sauna cold plunge studio. I guess that's what you could call it. Essentially, other ship is changing the game in the wellness industry and the wellness space. And I am honored to be a part of other ship's community, which I talk about in this interview, but getting to speak with Robbie Bent, who is one of the co-founders of other ship, truly was such a pleasure. We talk about his story, what inspired his trajectory into the health and wellness space, and truly the unique way that other ship developed and how they built their community based in Toronto and then eventually expanding into the US. For those of you who are familiar with other ship, you know how special the space is and how magical the experience is to be in a guided class and to get to build community through going between the hot and the cold. But for those who are new to other ship who haven't been, I am actually hosting a everyday endorphins event at their space on October 21st. We're doing an everyday endorphins wellness event at other ship where we're offering a class for free for those who want to experience what it's like to be in a guided class. So if you're interested in joining, check out the link in my bio and the class is not just for first timers, it's really for anyone who has been to other ship or who wants to experience it. Really the intention is to bring this episode to life and to get you all in the space to experience it for yourself. So check out the link in my bio, message me if you have any questions. Really excited for you all to tune into this episode. Robbie's personal story is fascinating. I am so inspired by how him and his co-founders have built the brand and it's been such a pleasure getting to see how other ship has skyrocketed since officially launching earlier this summer in New York City. So I hope you all enjoy and without further ado, let's get into the episode. Hi, Robbie. Thank you so much for coming on to the podcast today. It's so great to speak with you. Absolutely. I appreciate doing that. I have been an avid other ship fan as you know and as people who follow me know now being a co-pilot ambassador, which is so great. I love getting to bring new people into the space to experience what I got to experience the first time which was pure awe of what you know the power of bringing people together through a guided journey between a sauna and ice bath can look like can feel like immediately captivated me. And as I've done some more research into the founding story of other ship, I've just been amazed seeing the trajectory of what the team's been able to do. So first of all, congratulations on the New York opening and I would love to hear a little bit more your own personal wellness journey. So we'll talk about how other ship came to be, but how did you become interested in health and wellness? How did that inform the start of other ship? Yeah, I had pretty major struggles in my 20s. So big, partier, alcohol, cocaine, drug use, you know, disappear for days and I just love being social. And in my early 20s, it wasn't such a big deal. It was fun, you know, we have our own out. I just love being out at restaurants with people, big groups, building community. And as I turned 30, it started to cause problems with work. So I ended up moving to Israel and I couldn't afford to come home for New Year's one year for the holidays. And so instead I did a, of a positive retreat just sort of by accident, I'd been interested in meditation since high school, but you know, I used calm, I did 10 minutes a day, nothing more serious than that. And over Christmas, I took this, this 10 day meditation retreat. And so it's 10 hours of meditation per day in complete silence. And so it's kind of like two years of meditation and 10 days. And it was during that time for him that I learned about psychedelic medicines. And so I tried. So I've been in I wasca with the intention of quitting alcohol and cocaine use. And so I ended up going to Peru for a, you know, deep guy by wasca retreat over a number of weeks. And when I came back, my girlfriend, we were talking on Instagram and she actually picked me up from the airport. And this was like our first date. And she had said, hey, I listened to Rhonda Patrick. She's into, she's really into health and wellness. Like nutritionist, dietistion and I should my wife now. But our very first date, she said, hey, I heard about this thing on Rhonda Patrick. They were talking about hot and cold. I know you don't drink. Why don't we try to find a local ice bath? It sounds really cool. There's this guy with half, you know. And so this is in 2017 before Andrew, he's been has a podcast. So health and wellness popular, but mental health less so. And so we ended up going to this bathhouse on the outskirts of Toronto traditional Russian, Bonya people beating you with these leaves these vendicles some like, you know, amazing, bush and food and the cold plums there. We sat in it for a minute together. And we had no phones. And instead of that normal first date. I feel really nervous what I'm going to say, you know, instantly it was an incredible date. And so if anyone listening, if you're looking for, you know, your dating, your single and you're looking to do something a bathhouse can be an amazing place to go because the. And I would definitely definitely do the things in your brain make you feel amazing, they help you overcome social anxiety and a healthy way that doesn't require alcohol. So that was their first date. And every week for the next you know seven years we would go to bath houses together. And so that's what we do in social situations. And so that's still now it doesn't bother me, but for the first three years in my sobriety journey, I really wanted to be away from alcohol and so restaurants and night clubs and stuff like that concerts could be triggering so it always go to bath houses. My wife and I moved to San Francisco with them moved to Berlin. And every week that's what we would do. So like Friday night we'd get a group and WhatsApp would go to bathhouse and it was such a great experience. Even if the place lack divide just a sauna anyway like some would be, you know, a sauna just on a random beach. And some would be a mobile sauna in the forest and it just was always hot and cold. And we moved back to Toronto about into in 2019 so five years ago now and in the summer we really wanted to create a healthy community. So we had another couple hearing Amanda who you know who are lead guides other ship or co founders and the creators of a lot of the ocean wellness programming. And I'm a farmer who's one of my best friends from university so five of us were obsessed with this idea of creating healthy community using hot and cold. And so we built in a nice bath like just a hortch trough in my backyard with a chiller connected to it. We built it by hand and it was free. And so for the entire summer if you you know lived in the neighborhood or had heard about it, you could just come open the gate, use the ice bath. One of us would be there every night with towels, a fire pit, you know, we'd be playing music and the goal was to just have a neighborhood community and a way to create people also interested in health. It seems you know prior to COVID since COVID there's been like an explosion of health. Podcasts and interested in wellness but at the time finding something to do that didn't revolve around alcohol at night was challenging. So that community grew to around 300 people. We then as it became winter decided like, hey, nobody wanted to take a nice bath just in the back yard in the middle of winter Toronto. So we converted my garage into a sauna ice bath little teaproom and there was just a lock. And so if you got invited to the community, get a download card and you would just open the lock and you would let yourself in and use the space. The community still runs to this day and it's run by the community, which is cool like everybody just you know kind of cleans up after themselves some people volunteer their time to clean up each day. It was called inward and that's where we sort of had the idea for this emotional programming and it just you know that for us when you say, ah, like the idea of these classes and the sauna ice bath like that didn't exist in the world. It's a mixture of you know, tenor so different modalities but we just be in this space and you know at first it was all about inflammation and immune system and all the health benefits and the reality is when you want to go on the ice bath nobody cares about that kind of stuff. It's like, yeah, she have to get it and so people were nervous and scared and 99% of people don't want to do the ice bath. It's like a hate cult. You know when we've had over 250,000 visits now and that's kind of 9 out of 10 will be like, I don't want to do this. I hate the cold and there needs to be some programming to get through a challenging experience. So the very first one on Valentine's Day was the first kind of taste that programming could exist and be amazing and so we were just there three couples and we went around and did a self massage on each other in the sauna and then shared about our first date and then went in the ice bath with some eye gaze and came out and warmed up each other hugging. Then went back in the sauna and then shared a story about what we love most about our partner and then shared a story about what we're struggling with and by the end all three couples are crying and it was just like wow it was really really cool way to spend Valentine's Day without alcohol. A couple weeks later we did something we just called the Desert Storm which was three back to back sonas each one hotter and hotter with the last sauna in the dark and we just had a drum playing the drum, the frame drum and saying like okay what are you struggling with and people would share like hey I'm really struggling with when posture syndrome at work. And there's something about the hot and cold that wears down the part of you that is like all the armor that you're holding onto and so people become really open like you're not on your phone. when you're right in the present moment and you just feel safe. And so people are sharing, "Hey, I'm not seeing my son enough and I feel guilty as a debt." So I'm sharing a really angry, like, okay, it's complete darkness. Let's like scream it up. And so everyone's screaming in the sauna. And I look over and there's people who aren't into this kind of stuff, like normal. I work at 9 to 5. I have three kids. I'm an accountant. I don't do therapy. I'm not into meditation. And they're like sharing and crying. And so I was like, "Wow, this is really something weird that's happening here in this garage. It seems really powerful. It gets changing people's lives." And they're making friends. They're finding romantic partners. They're changing behavioral patterns. So that was kind of the journey. And a lot of the programming that infuses other ship, it comes from experience at rehab, cocaine anonymous, Hoffman process at landmark, using psychedelic medicines, meditation retreats, doing therapy, CBT, group therapy, mens work. So myself and my five co-founders have all been pretty interested in the stuff we're all personal use. And Harry and Amanda, their musicians and artists also. And so during COVID, we were closed and we wanted to do something for our community. So we just started creating these breathwork tracks. And we would host them on Zoom. And at first it was 20 people, and then 100 people, and then 500 people. But the idea was, let's make a Zoom party for people who are at home and will have breathwork. So let's make it to electronic music. So we partnered with this Burning Man DJ flying colors, and we made these one hour sets. And it was like breathwork to music. So it was fun. And I think that's what makes other ship specials, is that it's like, we don't speak too much to the spiritual, we don't speak too much to the science, speak to like, hey, there's a space to reduce stress, have fun with others. And we speak to emotions, which are like very universal acceptance, loving kindness, anger, gratitude, confidence, all these different things that everybody feels. So that's kind of how it started, happy to go more into how we got here, or wherever you want to take it. - I have a lot of questions and a lot of comments, which it's incredible just to think about the trajectory of building other ship, and where you've drawn inspiration from with your own personal experiences, and the power of starting small to build your community, and really investing in the people around you. It's really inspiring to see how other ship started really in your backyard for fun. And then grew into, wait, like people are craving a space where they can feel connected to others, where they can feel safe, where they can be vulnerable, which is so hard to do, especially now, and we're always on our phones, and constantly comparing ourselves to other people, comparing ourselves to our friends, to our peers. I want to talk a little bit more about, if we backtrack actually, to your time doing the Vapassana retreat, which I can imagine to be really difficult when previously at that point in your life, you had substance abuse issues, and a lot of times we use these substances as coping mechanisms, which distracts us from actually sitting with ourselves, and to do Vapassana is kind of like, the far end of the extreme, to sit with yourself. I don't know if I could ever do it. I would like to try it one day, but I talk a lot. So I think it'd be really hard to be silent for 10 days. Can you share a little bit more about that experience, and what you've learned from doing Vapassana, which now I guess is quite some time ago, but when you think about the learnings that you took from the Vapassana retreat, and kind of how you infuse that into the different classes to other ship and to the way you live your own life and your own wellness practices, how has that carried over to present day? Vapassana is an incredible tool, I think. The easiest way to sum it up is throughout my day, I'll have the same thoughts. So there was a study that there was like 60,000 thoughts on average that go through, I have no idea how they calculated that, but that's the number I've heard on the Andrew Juberman, and the majority, 90% of those are the same negative loops that we use for protection. So it might be, I get out of the way, I have to wake up my son and take him to school. Okay, I've got these three things to do for work. I need to get through my to-do list, I have to check my emails, and there's no time and space for deeper contemplation. So the main thing I got out of Vapassana is just a break from daily life. There's no stimulation coming in, you're not watching TV, you're not talking to anyone, you're just sitting there focused on your breath and your body and the emotions that are arising, and it becomes very clear that we're not in control of our emotions, so we may think, oh, you know, I got this promotion, and I'm happy that that's not actually what's happening. Random emotions are just coming up at will throughout the day. So it was just a very powerful experience to have a break from our normal lives, because I saw that my thoughts are not me, and what I'm thinking about everyday changes if I'm not in the same environment. And so I took that practice, and you kind of opened my eyes to doing something like that once per year. So over the last eight years, I would try and take a week to go off my phone. I've done a dark cave retreat, where I stayed in a cave for eight days. I've done a number of Vapassana retreats, I've done a number of psychedelic medicine retreats. I mentioned the Hoffman process, which is sort of like the Vapassana for group therapy. And so it's a seven day process with, you know, kind of 12 to 13 hours of group therapy per day, and these like amazing exercises, and they all, to me, do the same thing. Atoni Robbins could do it. It's just being in a new environment away from your phone, where some type of state change or discomfort is happening. And it always has created space. So when I get, I actually haven't done one of my sons two years old. We did an eye-wask retreat to call on fatherhood, prior to that. And I'm also not using psychedelic medicine like all the time. I do one kind of every two years, but I haven't done one in the last, since before he was born. So about two years since I've done one of these like, one week things, and I'm starting to spiral, to be honest. So I found having those in my life would be a grounding factor where I could go and like release all the pent-up stresses. And so they were in some ways like a vacation for the mind, like a challenging one, but where I would come back, and the vacation itself was hard, but when I would come back, it would feel like grounded, fresh, new. So I feel my body's craving it, but I've been, you know, for talk about the practices. I used to have a 30 minute a day meditation practice for a long time since I started doing the paus. And then the last year, dealing with being a father moving to New York, opening multiple other ships that should have been way more complicated than I've expected or anticipated. And just been, to be honest, just been struggling so much so that like two days ago, it was just like crying, walking down the street in New York, like I don't know if I can fucking do this. It's a relatable sentiment. It's just, it's hard. Like, you know, one thing, now I'm kind of looking at entrepreneurship as an interesting test that is kind of like one of these, we'll call it the spiritual retreats. And there's just so much conflict all the time that's unavoidable. And so, you know, a thousand people come through our space every day, sometimes more. There's 100 plus employees and just stuff is going wrong. You know, somebody might try to say X. So there's like gossip. And then you're just seeing how people are. And especially in trying to deliver something amazing, you know, a lot of people are so happy, but some are not. And they'll take, you know, it just breaks my heart hearing negative reviews still. And obviously, yes, that's not for everybody. And just it's intense. So in normal life, I was able to, oh, if this friend and I aren't getting along, I can just avoid it. And then business, you're not able to do that. So, yeah, so I would say for one, those practices really help for like a reset. So if anyone's listening, who's, you know, I feel like I want to change or I want to just press pause. Every single time I've done any of those practices, afterwards I'm like, fuck yeah. That was incredible. But at the same time, even after eight years of doing all this stuff, I still struggle at times and some more than others. And it feels like over the last year, there's been a bit of regression because of the level of stress and that requirements on my time and lack of like freedom and tools. So I'm very happy I did all that stuff, but life is life and that's kind of the learning is maybe it's just to accept that. - Yeah, life is life and I think no matter how invested we are with certain wellness practices or into these types of rituals or ways that we can take care of ourselves, like life is always gonna hit us with some sort of challenge. And I think that how quickly we can come back to being grounded into ourselves is like the testament to being able to really navigate life's challenges because they're inevitably going to happen. No matter how many cold plunges we do, how many saunas, how many breathwork retreats, speditations, that's all great. And it's I think important to have the tools in our toolkit. But at the end of the day, we can't predict really what's going to happen to us. So the faster we can come back to ourselves, the more resilient we can be, you know, when facing adversity I think is actually what creates that homeostasis in our brains and our bodies and our lives. And it's funny that you mentioned the Hoffman process because a very close friend of mine has done it and she said to me, it's the best experience of her life. She didn't even want to tell me what she did 'cause she was like, if you ever do it, like I want it to be a surprise, like you need to go in, really not knowing. And in my head I was like, okay, I can imagine it being something like kind of what you described. But maybe that's a ping. from the universe that one day, I'll have to do the Hoffman process. And it's funny because I never felt like I was a very spiritual, quote unquote spiritual person. However, I've practiced yoga since I was nine or ten years old and that practice has actually been very grounding for me and a stable thing that I've done over the course of my life and has always made me feel good. And yoga is a very spiritual practice. You know, taking classes at other ship feels very spiritual to me and I know you mentioned that, you know, you guys don't try to push any of that really onto the people that come, which I think is a good thing because not everyone's going to be receptive to that. I know I wasn't for a long time, but there is something to be said around really learning to just tap into your body and into the power of your breath. And I've noticed for me, now that I've gotten into cold exposure and sauna more recently, like in the past two or three years, previous to that, like yoga was my thing and now like deepening my practice. I also teach yoga. It's become something that's very personal and it makes me feel very connected to myself. So I think it's important to find those practices that that ground you. And I've noticed too, you know, you mentioned earlier our phones distract us. And I am on my phone, I don't feel great, but those instances where I'm in spaces that I'm not on my phone or I'm so relaxed that I don't even feel the need to be on my phone if it's even if it's around me, like certain vacations, for example, can feel really rejuvenating because I'm not tied to that one thing. So I think it's so important for those who are listening out there, like to create routines, environments where you're not directly on your phone. And it's also interesting, you know, you mentioned earlier not wanting to be in like restaurants or bars or clubs because it felt a little triggering with your substance abuse issues in the past. But in all those spaces, we're still on our phones. Like, even if you take away alcohol, drugs, etc., like out to dinner, you see people sitting down, conversing over a meal with their friends and family, but they're literally on their phones. So I don't even, you know, minus the substances that are there, I think a big issue is we're in these spaces that are meant to foster community, but we're not even connecting, which is so unfortunate. And I think that's probably one of the biggest reasons why a city that's very social in New York can actually feel really lonely and isolating at times. I mean, it's a huge, huge problem. There was like the study last year, maybe it was here before on loneliness. It was just saying it's more dangerous than smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Again, I don't know where they get these stats, but that's the headline. People in the US and Canada have less close friends than ever before. It's like a math, like I think it's sub one close friend. And there's discussion that a lot of that is due to cell phone social media is like you can easily get dopamine hit, but you're not getting real connection. I think I really enjoy that sort of came by surprise at other ship, the second sauna, so a general class structure is, you know, meet in the tea room 20 minute performance that's meant to be like a Cirque du Soleil meets therapy, meets breath work that you are participating in. So you're watching like almost a Broadway show, but you're also participating. Then it moves into the cold punch, really gets you into a state where you can be yourself without anxiety. Everyone then moves back into the sauna and for an integration sauna, the second sauna, and there's time to share. And that wasn't in our initial programming. It just started happening. And it's really the most powerful part of the experience for me. Like if I hear a share, I can change my whole day. And when you were saying like, oh, I'm on my phone, I'm on social media, nothing's anything wrong with that. But the difference is like you are seeing, you mentioned at the start of the call, like we're in a compare mindset. And I love seeing humans share vulnerably, which they'll do in the sauna. You're kind of in a group of strangers for the most part. So it's like an anonymous share. Nobody knows either of my not in your name. And so people might share like, hey, I'm going through a really tough time with my boyfriend or girlfriend or partner. And I think they're cheating on me. And I felt like imposter syndrome. And I just really felt that release today. And I feel good about myself and I feel confident. And so most people don't have to share, which is the beauty. There's 64 people, but five people, seven people usually want to share. And personally, if I hear three things, it's moving. It's like seeing a human being in a vulnerable state, which we almost never get. It gets very rare and work for someone to do. You might get that with your friends. But even your friends might be embarrassed to tell you something super deep. So that part for me, it's kind of like the anti social media. It's like so, I just love seeing if I'm having a shitty day now. My practices have slipped, but I'll go into other ship probably like four or five times a week. And when I see that, it just makes me happy every time. I noticed that too. Actually, the first. So the first class that I went to, I didn't know anyone. And it felt very much like a safe space because I was, I just went alone. And I remember hearing people at the end do the share out. And I kind of started to tear up with, you know, when someone shared something that was very vulnerable to them. And it was kind of like, I felt proud for them that they had the courage to share that. But I also could relate to an extent from what they shared. And it's really special. It fosters like a very immediate connection to someone that you don't even know. And that's so powerful. Now I've been ringing friends. But even getting to see some of my friends, in particular, like my male friends come and be open and sharing, I'll give you an example. So Becca, who's a guide, she's fantastic, friend of mine from college. No, no way. Yeah. Which is really full circle because she had actually, I think, told me about other ship a few years ago. And I remember like looking on Instagram and I was like, oh, this looks cool. And then fast forward like years later, I'm walking around Williamsburg and I see like sign scaffolding that says other ship. And I'm like, why does this ring a bell? And then I look again and I'm like, oh my god, they're coming to New York. And then fast forward like months later, a different friend from college invited me to come to one of the pre-opening classes. And I couldn't make it that night. So I sign up for a different class. And ever since then, I was like addicted. Anyways, Becca is now a guide. This is the full circle. And she taught her like second-ever other ship class last week. And I brought three close friends from elementary school and then one of them brought a few of his friends. And her class, the theme was journey through the elements. And at the end of the class, we did the share out and we ended with like the ether. That was the theme for the integration. And I literally was not expecting any of my friends to participate. But my friend shares out and he was like, you know, like this was amazing. I really loved it. And you know, like my boys here, like they're my ether. And he turns to like the whole group that we are sitting with. And he was like, like, this is my ether. And Becca was like, oh, can you share out the names of your friends? Any proceeds to just go in the circle and was like, that's Stella and that's Dana and that's Andrew. And it was like a beautiful moment of just seeing my friend express gratitude for all of us being in the same space together. And it was kind of silly, like lighthearted, very much like his character. But it brought me so much joy. And other people would share like, oh, you know, like I'm here with my partner. And like this was just amazing. And to see people feel so receptive to the experience makes you feel good too. And the journey through the elements class was really interesting. I don't want to give too much away because I want my listeners to go and actually experience it themselves. But I would love to talk a little bit more about how like the different classes are structured. And when all of you kind of came together to think about how we're going to build the programming and think about like the different types of classes that up versus down versus free flow structure, what was the thought process behind that? Can you share a little bit about the differences between those two formats and kind of more generally like how they're structured, what people can expect? Yeah. So the classes are what we're most proud of. They did not exist in the world before this. It just came from testing in our backyards and like trialing stuff over and over like thousands of times and like listening to what customers were asking for. And it's really Harry and Amanda's attention to detail around like you should have back. You should get Harry on and definitely back on the training itself is 150 hours. It's like a yoga teacher training and we're training like hospitality, how to hold space, how to encourage sharing, how to talk to the journeyers, the scripts for the classes, the playlists are created like each class takes hundreds of hours to create. And an example we're coming out with a new one. We kind of look at them like albums, you know, like you're dropping a new release. And so we're dropping gratitude relatively soon. It's next on the list and it's just people talking about like we sell these journals at the front like five minute journal and people are like, oh we love the journal. I go, my god, how have we not done a gratitude class? Like that is the that's the ultimate. And so Harry writes this class and there's a ton of research involved. So reading a psychology paper is listening to meditations thinking about like how does gratitude actually work? And so he writes this entire gratitude class and usually there's a theme and then the class is written and then you pick the music and then within the music there's activity. So it might be breath work. It might be some type of vocalization. It might be humming. It might be singing. It might be a partner exercise like an eye gaze. Then there's like the smell element. So for gratitude, you know, it might be in more uplifting smells like Juniper or Yelang Yelang or citrus. There's, you know, hundreds of smells to choose from. And so every class is written in that way, segments. And how much he cares. He spent so much time writing this class, and then listened to the Sandra Huberman podcast, three hours long on gratitude and the actual science of what makes you feel grateful. And I was like, oh, fuck, I have to change the whole class. And so we're really trying to go into the science of how these emotions are created and what other modalities use. So we have one called the nervous system reset. And again, I'm using things like the physiological side, tapping different mental visualization exercises to move the nervous system from sympathetic to parasympathetic. And so the types of classes, they're 28. So they really roll into three different buckets. There's the down classes, which I just mentioned. So you know, unwind, nervous system reset, sound immersion, where a guy is playing 5 or 6 different instruments and you're just receiving sound. There's one called senses where a lot of it is in, yeah, a lot of it is in darkness. And it's learning to really fall into the sense of smell, taste, touch through the hot and cold. It's a beautiful performance. There's pure presence, which is an intro to meditation. So for those thinking, oh, I think you can do it for a person. I don't exactly think you talk too much, but I think you can do it. It is a really nice intro to meditation. Then there are up classes. So up classes like, hey, you know what, it's after work, I really want to get into it. Like I'm not here to relax. I'm not by myself. I'm with friends. And so you might have an 80s dance party. You might have call-in response where people are like, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, everyone's getting into it. And then it's kind of silly, kind of fun, but it's just meant to get you. A lot of these things come from the Hoffman process where it's discomforting. It makes you feel like a child, it makes you feel a bit cheesy, but it's fun. It gets you out of your shell. We have a class called Arctic Tundra where it's multiple ice baths. So it's like four or five ice baths, but you're in groups. And there's a lot of partner activity. So you end up meeting four or five people. I was there last night, and I always try to talk to as many people as possible. And a woman was saying, you know, a young person, probably 22, she was like, I'm an introvert, and I'm really wanting to work on it, but I don't know how to have conversations. And in this class, there's conversation prompts where it's like, hey, turn on the person beside you and just share something you're working on. And she's like, it's so helpful for me to have these, I feel comfortable talking, but I don't know what to say. And so in these questions, I feel coming to say, well, that's so cool. I've never heard anyone come here to like work on their conversation skills. So the up classes are more that vibe. And then my favorite, and I think what we're really known for, and they're polarizing, they're not for everybody, as these all around classes. And their classes built to help you feel into your emotions in a safe space. And this is where you hear the big shares oftentimes. So there's one on inner power, which is like feeling into your own confidence. There's a loving kindness class, which does have an eye gaze, which people in Toronto, when we open, we're like, oh, is that that weird thing with the eye gaze? If I don't want to go to that one, then they're nervous. And so you can see on the schedule, we'd label the classes, like the downside for deep stretch, totally relaxed, don't need to talk to anybody on the all around side. Probably the deepest one is called acceptance. And it's really about facing other things you want to let go. There's one called release, which is again, around releasing things from your body and mind, using a whole bunch of different modalities. But the whole point is to face your emotions and feel them. And those are my favorite. And those are the ones that people that, like, the emotional classes develop the sort of cult following, I'm like, passion, because there is no space really where you can do that in a group. And those juniors have the deepest, deepest connection. So those are the 28 classes. And then the free flow was what we had initially intended. It was just using the space on your own. So there's always a guide if you need help with the ice bath. Free flow is actually great. If you're like, I'm really struggling with the ice bath, I want some private coaching. And they're always tending to the sauna. So sometimes I'll go for free flows. If I'm with a friend and I want to catch up, I want to one yesterday morning. And I was just like a business meeting. And we were hanging out, chatting and sharing. And it was awesome. It was a great way to start the day at 8 a.m. And then on the flip side, we have socials. And this is where, you know, from garage to New York, things have like significantly changed. So the spaces are getting bigger and bigger. The production quality is getting better and better. And so the sound system, you know, there's subwoofers in the benches of the tea room. And subwoofers in the benches of the sauna. So they'll like rumble your bones. And we'll have DJs come in and do these massive socials. And we did one with a partner and daybreaker, who stands for the same. I was there at the daybreaker on. Amazing. So it's just like mind blowing. It was insane and packed for the brim. I never even thought that could happen in our space and like have no idea. And even when they were like, hey, we're going to bring this many people, it was just like, like nervous. Yeah. Because it's going to work. But like, OK, and you know, they're like, we really foresee people standing on the tea room. Kind of like it's a nightclub. We have a stadium seating tea room, which is very unique to us around this orblight. And so you can have very in-depth conversations with many people, like even eight, ten people can all kind of talk together. And we see people standing on each other. Like, how's that going to be safe? Is that OK? And you know, sure enough, the party starts. And I look around and there's two people playing saxophone. Someone playing a trombone. Someone playing the piano. A DJ. There's like, you know, and like-- Yeah, I literally felt like I was clubbing like, sober at seven in the morning on Wednesday. Like, you know, there's 60-year-old, 70-year-olds, everyone smiling. And I saw people like, believing in this look of confusion on their face. I was like, smiling, but it's kind of like, I feel like I left a rave. And I have that feeling of just like euphoria, but I'm also sober. And it's also Wednesday morning, like, what the fuck is happening? And so that like blew my mind. I mean, I've never really seen anything like that. And I started to feel like it's always been very clear that classes are a huge draw on the free flow and the hot and cold. But it was the first time I started to think, wow, this can be disruptive to nightlife and nightclubs. And this could be something that people think, hey, Friday night, we have socials in Toronto and they're fun. But they're not parties in the same way. I just would love a world where people-- oh, what are we going to do in New Year's? So what we're going to do at another ship? Like, what am I going to do for my birthday? I'm going to do it there. So that is really new. And then another new thing I'm super excited about. You mentioned, hey, you're in restaurants, you're still on your phone. We went to the comedy seller. I go all the time. I get to like one of my favorite things. To do is just to laugh in a group makes me feel so good. And it's open late. So I'll go off after our other ship. I've probably been six times this summer. But I went before we moved here. We were celebrating like the signage in Williamsburg you referenced. And the girl behind me is just wasted. And I'm trying to like listen to comic. And she's chatting her own thing up. And I'm like, what is happening here? You know, and it's kind of like a bit the NG, the servant burgers. And I love it. But I was like, oh, I wonder if we could do this in a different environment. And so we went back to Toronto. We found three pro comics. And like, hey, can you guys come into a comedy show? And they're like, what? Why? And the son of that's crazy, no way. And so then they decided that like, hey, you know what? We'll come and we'll do it. And so we started on the ice bath. Move into the sauna. And it's a heat's down a bit. But if they do two sets of 10 minute shows, ice bath, intermission, and two more sets. So you're getting four comics. You're getting the health benefits of the hot cold. And it's like electric. The vibe because you're coming out of the cold plunge. Like so fired up with all these people that sort of believe in the same values. And so that's something I'm super excited about bringing to New York our first shows in September, the first comedy show, and then same with like live music. All these new ideas are coming from, you know, that are different from the garage. And just being here and watching people. And like, oh, fuck yeah. Like we had a team in a journal series and a separate series. I don't do that. Yeah, I know the founders. I'm really good friends with Orin who led that journal series at other ship. So I mean, the wellness entrepreneurial world was like super small, especially in New York. And that event looked fantastic. Yeah, it was amazing. And another way of like, oh, I never had the idea where you could activate this space like that. And somebody pitches it, we're like, yeah, let's try it. And so people are journaling. What a space to journal. Like you go in, your emotions are wide open. And then you start writing things down. So that was mind blowing. We had somebody the other week do a tea tasting during a quiet free flow. So the idea is like, you come in. It's more of a meditative vibe. It says quiet free flow on the schedule. You're using the space that you're on pace. Most people are solo or with one friend whispering. And there's a violinist. And then a giant tea bar. And so you come to the tea bar and say, like, hey, I want to feel relaxed. And so they'll put in some Ashwaganda and some Camamyle and a bunch of different elements to make a herbal potion. So that was really cool. So I feel we're just scratching the surface of what can be done in the New York vibe. It's so strong. People in Toronto are a little more reserved. And it takes time to break them out of their shell, especially you come to this thing. You're nervous already. You don't want to do the cold. And all of a sudden, there's a group scream and people-- [LAUGHS] New York is a lot of pent up stress here. And I think this is why other ship is just going to be so amazing here, because people literally need an escape. New Yorkers, we are just moving a million miles a second. And the ability to slow down, but also to release-- it's hard to come by in New York. But really what I do love, even as you've described the different classes and the different types of activations in the space is that it curates to really such a wide audience, to the people who are really into, let me do this loving, kindness, deep exploration, spiritual work on my emotions type of class and release. And then there's the other folks that are just-- they just want to come and see a comedy show. And they want to have a good time, but they like doing sauna cold punches. It doesn't have to be binary. You can love both. You can only want one. And to have a space that curates really to everyone, I think makes it really inclusive, and also creates more of an appeal to be a part of the community. When I went to the first opening class, pre-opening class, And one of the guides was talking about like different types of offerings she mentioned comedy shows. And that really peaked my interest 'cause I was like, okay, I have a few friends who definitely don't wanna do the like screaming chanting whatever, but love comedy and we'll show up for that. And I was like, okay, I can bring them. And I also would love to experience that in an Asana and an Ice Bat. They think, you know, laughing releases in Dorfans. So it's a big in Dorfan like overload, I feel like for that kind of experience. But speaking of in Dorfans, speaking of joy and happiness, which is what this podcast is about, I'd love to hear from you, Robbie, how do you define happiness and cultivating joy in your life? It's kind of a big question, but what would you say is your definition of happiness? - I think there's like moments in my life where I feel like a kid that just feels so pure and like fleeting right now. I would just mention the last year has been like quite a struggle, but two that come to mind, one, I didn't know this, but I love magic, like love it to like a nerdy extent. And I had seen, we had a magician in to our space for my 40th birthday as a surprise and it like blew my mind, but a friend like knew that and brought me out to the creators of this thing called Sleep No More, so an immersive group and. - Oh, at the McKincher Hotel that I've been wanting to go to that for years. - Yeah, it's incredible. It's actually closing soon. So you gotta go, but they opened a new one called Love and Trust or Life and Trust in the Financial District that's very similar, but they also have a secret magic show. And so I'm gonna talk too much about it X, I don't wanna ruin it, but a friend of mine brought me to this thing and there's 10 of us there was my first, one of my first nights in New York and he was introducing me to New York and so he brought all these people I didn't know and just watching these magicians, like right in front of us doing the most amazing tricks. And so I brought our team last night as a thank you for like an acceleration for getting New York open. So it was all our co-founders and there was like six of us in total. And to just see the look on their faces is people do these tricks that make you feel like they're actually magic. Like there was a mentalist and he's like, hey, think about your first question, one of my amandas, like gets the name, writes it down. And he's like, I'm seeing it's like four letters, like is it Ryan and it was Ryan. And like I have no idea how, I mean, it's obviously a trick, but it was like just mine blown. It was so much fun and the magicians are kind of comedians who are all laughing. And so I think this happiness comes from just connecting with people the same way you would with like your school friends at recess when you're a little kid. That was one and then the second is just creating. So if I'm making something, which also doesn't happen now because I'm always doing email and like looking at leases and arguing offenders and all the joyous of a business. But like thinking about a new class or a new class idea, like thinking about that day breaker party and how it was going to exist and creating something, that's also when I feel like I'm a child, like the art, it could be anything. It's just like making something that you're gonna give as a present to somebody or making something that you're gonna sell or just making something for the art of making it. Those two things for me are really moments. And I can't access them all the time, but when they happen, it's just like, wow, fucking life, it's amazing. Totally. It's funny you bring up magic because I was sitting at, one of my favorite coffee shops yesterday. I don't know if you're familiar with Luria and Soho, Cafe Luria. - I love coffee, like I love coffee. So. - Yeah, you gotta add it to your list. It's great. I'm assuming you've moved to New York recently. So adding up all your, compiling your list of recommendations, but it's great. And I was just sitting on the corner with a friend and this guy comes off to us and he's like, I'm a magician, like I'm here on tour. Can I do a trick on you? And my mind was bloat, like I guess magic's real? I don't know. He pulled out the right, like I couldn't even describe it to you. So I can completely relate to that feeling 'cause this happened literally yesterday and I was like blown away. It brings like an incremental little spark of joy, like a little bit of happiness, sense of awe and wonder. So I love how your response is rooted in connection. So I really think that is something that fuels joy in our lives. And again, back to other ship, it's a space to connect. And it's really hard, I think, especially in the stage for people to feel, like they can have a genuine authentic connection with other people. The last question I'll leave you with Robbie is you might have kind of already answered it in this previous one, but it's a question I ask every guest on the podcast. And that question is what is something that brings you endorphins every day? Yeah, I think this one is unfortunately only available to parents, but every morning my son is up before me. And I just hear him giggling away, saying he says this where he just goes, "Boop!" and he's, but then he'll say his own name, so his name's Anik, so I'll just say, "On the boop!" "Dad, dad, boop!" And I just hear him like, like, pattering beside me and he's, every day, I'm like, "Fuck, I want to sleep in." And like, "God, it's early." But I like, open an eye and he's smiling and like, kind of hitting me. It's just so, apparently he's also challenging a different way if he's screaming, but there's moments every day where it's like these feelings of just holy shit. This, like, little being is so cute. So I think probably the most happiness comes from just, like, watching him laugh. I love that. What a beautiful answer. Well, thank you so much, Robbie. It was such a pleasure having you come onto the podcast. Where can my listeners connect with you? Where can they go see the space? And for any first timers, little quick plug, go to my Instagram bio, 'cause I have a free class available. And then if you wanna come back, you can use the code indoor fence to get a discount on future classes and class facts. So that's my quick plug, but where can people connect with you and actually go visit other ship? We didn't even talk about the breathwork app also. Where can they download that and do the practice on their own? - Yeah, that's on the App Store, Google Appalachist, other ship, I think it's called "Leadership Breathing app," but if you type in "Othership," you can find it. And then we have spaces in Toronto, two spaces in New York, one on 20th Street, in between fifth and sixth and flat iron. And the other is in Williamsburg, but we'll be open next year. So come find us and flat iron, check it out. It's open at 6 a.m. until 1 a.m. every day, dropping for a class or a free flow. And then I'm on Twitter and Instagram, just Robbie Bent. - Amazing, thank you so much. It was such a pleasure. - Thank you. (upbeat music) - Thanks for tuning into this episode of "Everyday in Doorfans." If you liked what you heard and you wanna continue to follow along, make sure to like, rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on which ever listening platform you prefer. If you wanna stay plugged into "Everyday in Doorfans" outside of the podcast, I'm on Instagram, I'm on TikTok, and you can also drop your email to subscribe to my newsletter. It's the "Everyday in Doorfans" sub-stack where I talk about the interviews that I've done that month, any events happening in New York that I've hosted, and just a stream of consciousness of my thoughts. Thanks again for tuning in and reminder to keep spreading in doorfans and finding the things in life that bring you joy. Until next time. (upbeat music)