Banya 5
Yesterday I was feted to a long, luxurious trip to the Seattle urban spa and health facility, Banya 5. Thank you, Luna! (students love 2 for 1 coupons ;)
It has a Russian theme, complete with signs in Russian and a 200°F "parilka," or sauna. MMMMMmmmmmmmm, that's just lovely! I even did the "cold plunge" routine, leaping into a 55°F temp pool immediately after roasting in the parilka for as long as I could stand it. (Incidentally, 55°F is the temperature of Puget Sound.) That's insane!!! I couldn't stay in the cold water longer than 15 seconds. But it sure does wonders for one's circulation, which I could always stand to stimulate. Apparently, an extreme heat followed by extreme cold water routine stimulates a detoxification of the body, as well, and Banya 5 provides unlimited detox'ing tea, as well as other refreshing herbal teas in a rest area upstairs. (We tried out the napping room :) and they have equipment for movement therapy, with a nice, close-in view of downtown skyscrapers.)
We ladies giggled at the male bonding amongst a group of friends, as they performed a ritual of massaging (thrashing) each other with birch branches in the parilka, then leaping into the cold plunge pool for a long soak in the freezing water. I would like to try that some time, I bet it's great, but Luna informed me of the women's tradition of giving each other salt scrubs, mmmmm, sounds good, maybe throw in some honey, and some herbal tonics afterward....my skin does feel really nice right now, even though I did none of that, and only steamed and froze myself. hehe The Turkish steam room is really nice, too, I did enjoy that one.
We made a commitment to make a monthly ritual of a trip to the spa... I'm glad we did this at the end of March, because the next one can come soon ;-) hmmmm, maybe I'll augment the spa ritual with a little something else, maybe some more ritual to set a real intention for each trip. This is actually a tradition in central Europe and the Baltics, (perhaps western Europe, as well???), to take a week-long trip to a spa area for a léčba, a treatment of one's ailments, be they spiritual or physical.
I hope that I will manage to do graduate studies in Czech Republic, and take advantage of the wonderful spas there, before they get the €uro. (**) There are many wonderful mineral springs in the Czech Republic, and lots of curative sites. :-) I have a few favorite places, hell, I'd like to own property in one such area of Moravia. And cross-country skiing!! Ooohh ooohhh yea! :) Little chalets, svařené víno (mulled wine), good friends, fireplaces.....one can hope. Moravia has a great XC ski trail system, and it's beautiful countryside. The Czechs have been the quickest of all the former Soviet bloc countries to move to restore the environment from industrial pollution, and at the grassroots level at least, they know that it is a top priority.
It's so simple an axiom that the health of the land is the health of its people.
(**) Sidenote: The €uro is kicking the US dollar's ass, by the way, in case y'all haven't noticed. Last time I saw a conversion it was at $1.50. Wooo hoooo!!! (This is up from what had been a pretty steady $1.28.) Oh yea, baby, like I said to someone who's an optimist about the formation of the €uropean Union: empirically speaking, treaties increase the likelihood of war, and the more treaties you have, the more likely it is you will see war. I won't get into the whole Iran issue here....blah blah blah... let's think about Life :-) not the Death all around us.
It has a Russian theme, complete with signs in Russian and a 200°F "parilka," or sauna. MMMMMmmmmmmmm, that's just lovely! I even did the "cold plunge" routine, leaping into a 55°F temp pool immediately after roasting in the parilka for as long as I could stand it. (Incidentally, 55°F is the temperature of Puget Sound.) That's insane!!! I couldn't stay in the cold water longer than 15 seconds. But it sure does wonders for one's circulation, which I could always stand to stimulate. Apparently, an extreme heat followed by extreme cold water routine stimulates a detoxification of the body, as well, and Banya 5 provides unlimited detox'ing tea, as well as other refreshing herbal teas in a rest area upstairs. (We tried out the napping room :) and they have equipment for movement therapy, with a nice, close-in view of downtown skyscrapers.)
We ladies giggled at the male bonding amongst a group of friends, as they performed a ritual of massaging (thrashing) each other with birch branches in the parilka, then leaping into the cold plunge pool for a long soak in the freezing water. I would like to try that some time, I bet it's great, but Luna informed me of the women's tradition of giving each other salt scrubs, mmmmm, sounds good, maybe throw in some honey, and some herbal tonics afterward....my skin does feel really nice right now, even though I did none of that, and only steamed and froze myself. hehe The Turkish steam room is really nice, too, I did enjoy that one.
We made a commitment to make a monthly ritual of a trip to the spa... I'm glad we did this at the end of March, because the next one can come soon ;-) hmmmm, maybe I'll augment the spa ritual with a little something else, maybe some more ritual to set a real intention for each trip. This is actually a tradition in central Europe and the Baltics, (perhaps western Europe, as well???), to take a week-long trip to a spa area for a léčba, a treatment of one's ailments, be they spiritual or physical.
I hope that I will manage to do graduate studies in Czech Republic, and take advantage of the wonderful spas there, before they get the €uro. (**) There are many wonderful mineral springs in the Czech Republic, and lots of curative sites. :-) I have a few favorite places, hell, I'd like to own property in one such area of Moravia. And cross-country skiing!! Ooohh ooohhh yea! :) Little chalets, svařené víno (mulled wine), good friends, fireplaces.....one can hope. Moravia has a great XC ski trail system, and it's beautiful countryside. The Czechs have been the quickest of all the former Soviet bloc countries to move to restore the environment from industrial pollution, and at the grassroots level at least, they know that it is a top priority.
It's so simple an axiom that the health of the land is the health of its people.
(**) Sidenote: The €uro is kicking the US dollar's ass, by the way, in case y'all haven't noticed. Last time I saw a conversion it was at $1.50. Wooo hoooo!!! (This is up from what had been a pretty steady $1.28.) Oh yea, baby, like I said to someone who's an optimist about the formation of the €uropean Union: empirically speaking, treaties increase the likelihood of war, and the more treaties you have, the more likely it is you will see war. I won't get into the whole Iran issue here....blah blah blah... let's think about Life :-) not the Death all around us.