Herrje, where to go first?! In the clay or Finnish sauna, in the Watsu pool or in the salt cave, in the chromotherapy steam bath or in the ice room? And where did you put the beach bag again – was that in the energy relaxation room with the infrared massage chairs or in the organic lounge, where there is herbal tea and dried fruit?
If you are currently planning a wellness holiday, you can be prepared not to just go to the sauna or spa. No: As a holidaymaker, you have to struggle to find your way around the thousands of square meters of wellness departments with umpteen saunas, steam baths and special therapy rooms, the meaning and purpose of which you first have to laboriously research on the hotel website in the long “spa menu”.
Everything is actually praised as a “benefit for all senses”, as a “ritual that cleanses mind and soul”, as a “wake-up call for more life energy” – just stupid if you have asthma in the hay bath or are allergic to any of the elixirs or any of the miracle ingredients reacted.
The guests wander between the offers in the hotel
The wellness hotel industry has spiraled into a gigantomania that only rising energy prices will likely stop. But there is still no sign of restraint, the hotels from four stars superior and upwards are literally falling over themselves in superlatives: the largest sauna in the Alps! 4000, no 5000, no 6000 square meters of wellness oasis!
Nine brand new saunas, three steam baths from the future, all awarded the Super Duper Mega Top of the Top Wellness Prize! Because without awards and certificates, which confirm to the vacationer that only the biggest, greatest, best is offered here that the wellness industry can come up with, it obviously doesn’t work.
Wooden huts were yesterday: saunas with sophisticated architecture
Quelle: Atlantide Phototravel/TIB/Getty Images
And so guests who want to relax wander back and forth between the steam bath event, oil stamp massage and sky sauna as long as they have the strength – some because they are overwhelmed, others who have booked packages to really use the entire offer, After all, such a wellness holiday is not exactly cheap.
So you sweat, have a shock-freezing bath, breathe salt air, have yourself peeled and massaged, only to end up snoring away completely exhausted in the relaxation room (if you can get a free lounger there, because strangely enough, despite all the generosity of wellness, they are always in short supply).
Seriously: How much can and does a wellness vacationer actually cope with? If you actually take the theory of relaxation seriously, then a health-promoting design of the wellness day is actually about one thing above all: time. Enough time to get used to the sauna heat, enough time to cool down the body again, enough time not to stress the body with too many relaxation treatments.
But how is that supposed to work when you’re panicking because you haven’t even been to the wine barrel sauna or to yoga with a view of the sea – and you’ve also forgotten where your bathrobe is hanging?
If so, then yes: yoga hall with sea view
Quelle: E+/Getty Images
The maximalism in wellness departments is outdated. Not only because it is currently unclear whether, for example, energy guzzlers such as saunas can still be operated at reasonable prices. But also because holidays should be a time when you make life a little easier. Leisure time stress in the wellness area really doesn’t have to be.
Perhaps a look at Finland or Norway will help, where taking a sauna is a natural part of everyday life: sweating in a simple hut, cooling off in the snow or in the fjord, next round, done. That’s all it takes for a good rest. And the view of the great outdoors replaces any color therapy, I promise.
Regular sauna bathing can protect against Alzheimer’s
Regular visits to the sauna have a positive effect on the immune system. That’s proven. According to a study from Finland, healthy sweating should also reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s – where else?