The saunas of the community conquer the United Kingdom: “It gives you a feeling of euphoria”

It can be winter and the air is frozen, but the men and women who attend This small sauna of oriental London Happiness happily in swimwear. The temperature exceeds 90 degrees and is about to increase even more.

While the blocks of ice with lavender oil melts on hot stones, releasing a fragrant steam, The “Sauna Maestro” Oliver Beryl He puts environmental music and begins to strongly mix an towel with circular movements above his head to spread dry heat waves throughout the room.

“Now he tries to find someone and sit with him with him,” he suggests Beryl. “Or, if you want, Keep visual contact with the person sitting by your side“There is a short break, but most agreed to do it for a few minutes. The bathroom in the Saun Try a new hobby healthier than Pub night and bar.

Sweat in the common spaces to relax, physical or mental therapy and socialize has been for a long time A basic element of many cultures From all over the world, from the Scandinavian saunas and the natives’s sweat cabins to the “onsen” and to the Japanese Turkish baths.

But the most popular saunas now Are those who emphasize the community And the “connection”, or those who offer something new as well as sitting in a hot box. Think of the nights of Sauna with DJ, combined saunas with a “aufguss” poetry or ritual seminar (which means “infusion” in German) such as the one organized by Beryl, an intense session that combines heat therapy, music and aromas.

A place to disconnect

Many centers also offer Outdoor ice bathsNext to saunas, so that people can alternate cold and heat. “I love the feeling of losing you. It is a disconnection of 15 minutes of normal life, “said Jess Carmichael when he left his first” Aupguss “in the Sauna of the community, in Stratford, to the east of London.

He compared the euphoria he tried with the experience of running towards the frozen sea with hundreds of people on New Year’s day. “I think people need it right now: this warmth that comes from the outside e The feeling of sharing an experience With others, “he added.

Charlie Duckworth, Co -Sauna Sauna Community Sauna Sauna, says that everything started in 2022, when he and him Other “crazy from saunas” They installed two small saunas, one of which in a horse box, in a disused car park in the Hackney Fashion neighborhood.

The social company not -Lucro It proved to be so popular This has since expanded four seats in the capital and two others will open. Most of the appeal for many fans is that the saunas act as a meeting place, very similar to a pub or A churchExplica Duckworth.

“The sauna reduces inhibitions and you too gives a feeling of mild euphoria“Not very different from the effects of drinking in company, he said.”

Have a little more

Compared to countries where this practice is rooted in tradition, one of the advantages of The culture of the sauna Be so new in the United Kingdom is that suppliers can “have a little more fun and be more creative,” says Duckworth.

In Peckham Social Sauna, in southern London, on the weekends there are sauna evenings relaxed with DJ and A cocktail bar without alcohol. One of its most popular monthly sessions is the creative sauna, a brief reading of poems followed by a chai tea and a subsequent writing seminar in the room.

“Reading in the sauna was something I had never done before; at the beginning, warmth, sweat and drip on the page I found a challenge“Explains Caroline Druitt, a writer who directs the seminars. Having something to share with other seeds -unknown in the sauna seemed to encourage the participants to be more open when they share their ideas and the writings, Druitt.” Said “

Health benefits

Furthermore Reduce stress And it makes ideas flow, there are those who trust saunas and cold baths Alleviate the inflammation of the joints and improve the health of the heart and sleep. Some studies go further, like the one that suggests a relationship between going to the sauna at least four times a week and a reduction in the risk of psychosis between medium -sized Finnish men.

“The real sauna done well It should be common as the gymAnd doing it regularly is what offers the health benefits of those who are registered “, says Gabrielle Ragione, secretary of the British Sauna Society.

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Even if those health benefits They are not yet well consolidated and those who suffer from hypertension or cardiac condition should consult their doctors before going to a sauna or entering a frozen bath -converted to be converted They return regularly from the mood of mood This produces them.

“The brain is restored in a really pleasant way,” says Callum Heinrich, immersed in a barrel of frozen water, with still skin that smoked from the sauna. He says he goes twice a week when he can. “For mental health, it is the best in the world“.