I have always been a little intimidated by steam rooms and saunas. Little rooms, full of half naked strangers, that you can’t really see into from outside. Rules and etiquette that I don’t know anything about. So, I stick to the warm spa pool after a swim.
On the weekend we took the kids “off island” for a family fun day. My husband had offered to take the kids back to the island at the end of the day and leave me in town for a little ‘me-time’, which has been lacking recently.
My favourite thing to do in the city is … nope, not go shopping, … to go for a swim. Sounds crazy right? But I really love to swim, I find it very calming. We don’t have a swimming pool on Waiheke Island (that is crazy) and the ocean is a bit cold in winter for me. So I dropped my family back at the ferry and headed over to the pool.
After a lovely 30 minute swim I went to jump in the spa pool for some relaxation, only it was closed for maintenance. My heart sank. I had 25 minutes before I had to leave for my ferry and I had been looking forward to that spa so much.
I stood and looked at the entrance to the sauna and steam rooms. People went in, they went out. I wondered what it was like in there. I remember going into a sauna once, many years ago, and finding it very claustrophobic … suffocating. I wondered if a Steam Room was similar. I decided to find out.
I went into the Steam Room and sat in the first space I could see. I wondered what the etiquette was for where to sit? I closed my eyes and concentrated on the sensation of the hot, wet air on my body. I had to slow my breathing right down to cope with the heat filling my lungs. It was definitely a nicer feeling than I recall a sauna being.
Breathe in, breathe out. Feeling my mind slow down.
People came, people went. I wondered if they were steam room regulars or newbies like me. Did anyone else care? I doubt it.
I quite enjoyed my first steam room experience. It was more relaxing than I expected. I would go again.
Do you go to steam rooms? Can you enlighten me to the “rules”, the etiquette? I am sure this would make me feel much more comfortable next time..
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1 Comment. Leave new
I’m not sure whether you were clothed in there but especially as I’ve got older and wobblier I’ve found public nudity a hard thing to do. I’m pretty modest at the best of times so in company, I find it hard to relax in the nude with people I don’t know very well! Have saunaed in Finland with John and it was great, but passed on going in with his sister and mother in law. Just my personal comfort levels. I also can’t stay in hot steam for long before I get a migraine so it’s hit and miss for me. Good on you for trying something new and getting out of your comfort zone!