If you find your cockles need a little warming this January, the best solution is to strip off.
Then get yourself down to Hoxton’s Banya No. 1, an authentically traditional Russian spa where you can sweat out all your Christmas indulgence in a roasting hot sauna, spring back to life with an ice cold plunge, and feel thoroughly refreshed by the knowledge that as a Nudge Member, you and a guest have saved 35% on the whole encounter.
So what to expect from Banya’s Sauna & Plunge experience? Well, after changing into your swimmers you’ll enter a room that’ll induce Niagara Falls to sweat out of your body, so best to hydrate yourself beforehand. You’ll then be handed a small, felt cap to protect your head from the intense heat, and head into the banya itself.
It’s intensely hot. A cast iron slab in a 700° C oven, regularly doused in water, keeps the room at around 80° C, with humidity levels of around 70%. As we said, expect to get sweaty.
After this, it’s time for an ice bucket challenge-style shower, before a quick dip in a tub full of 8° C water. If you’re not used to it, it can be a relatively alarming sensation, but your body will reap the benefits by all accounts – the hot/cold contrast is said to boost circulation, offer stress relief, detox your system, and thoroughly blast away any cobwebs that might have gathered over the festive season.
You’ll then be led to the lounge area, where you can have a small Russian snack, from borscht and cold kefir soup to salted herring, dumplings and gherkins, and drinks.
Sessions last a leisurely hour and a half, so you can go through this thermal cycle as many times as you like, stopping off for refreshments in the lounge at any point you get peckish or thirsty. And there are even additional treatments you can add on, from mud wraps and massages to full-body honey & salt scrub-downs – not to mention the invigorating powers of Parenie. That’s a traditional treatment in which bundles of fragrant tree branches will be used to pummel your flesh and give your blood circulation a boost. It starts off as a soft brushing before crescendoing into a full-powered drum roll – and if you really want to up the ante, you can opt for the ‘four hands’ package, which’ll double the impact.
And while it might not immediately feel like it, your body is about to feel so much better.
It might just take you a while to twig.
NOTE: Banya No 1 is open daily. Packages start at £30 for the Sauna & Plunge experience. They also offer longer spa packages (up to 3hrs). Towels are included but you might want to bring flip flops and swimwear. You can find out more and book ahead on the Banya No. 1 website.
PERK: Nudge Members +1 are getting 35% off the 1.5 hour Sauna & Plunge session throughout January. Check the ‘35% Off’ banner above for booking details. Not a Nudge Member yet? Sign up for a free 7 day trial.
Banya No 1 | 17 Micawber Street, N1 7TB
Living the sweat life? Check out our guide to London’s best saunas