For a decade I have attended London’s Banya No.1, a spa like no other, where you’re steamed in a sauna, whipped by leaves, dunked in freezing water and then served ice cold beer and dumplings.
If you think that sounds like a form of torture (the beer and dumplings notwithstanding), you’re not alone. The apostle Andrew, one of the 12 disciples, is said to have visited what would become Ukraine and Russia, noting of the banya experience: “I saw the land of the Slavs, and while I was among them, I noticed their wooden bathhouses. They warm them to extreme heat, then undress, and after anointing themselves with tallow, they take young reeds and lash their bodies. They actually lash themselves so violently that they barely escape alive. Then they drench themselves with cold water, and thus are revived. They think nothing of doing this every day, and actually inflict such voluntary torture on themselves. They make of the act not a mere washing but a veritable torment.”
Andrew just didn’t get it. I’ve had dozens of parenie treatments – being whacked by oak leaves in a sauna filled with superheated steam – over the years and I’ve never left feeling anything short of elated. I’ve even visited Banya No.1’s Georgian outpost in Tbilisi, where the icy plunge is taken in the mountains overlooking a waterfall. Not only do you end up feeling euphoric, the rapid changes in body temperature are said to boost your immune system, improve blood circulation and aid muscle recovery.
A parenie treatment at Banya No.1
So after 10 years of participation, I decided to take my parenie game to the next level and learn how to manipulate steam myself, as part of Banya No.1’s contribution to World Wellness Weekend last month. It was strange to be the one standing in the sauna over the prone body of my volunteer as the steam, created under pressure in a special brick oven – rose around me, stinging the skin on my face. I took a bundle of oak leaves – the more traditional birch have less surface area and therefore retain less of the steam – in each hand and, with one of the banya masters standing over my shoulder, raised my arms to infuse the leaves with heat.
Performing a parenie feels a lot like learning to dance: you need to find a rhythm. You must also be aware of the flow of heat around you as you shoo and coax it from the hot ceiling to the cooler areas below. You need to infuse the leaves without scalding your victim, take them to the very edge of pain without crossing the threshold. After an awkward start, I get the hang of it: creating a slow build-up of heat, moving the warm air towards your partner without making contact with the leaves, then allowing the leaves to connect before ending with a crescendo of satisfying thwacks. My session finished with a nod of approval from the banya master, who seemed impressed by my rudimentary skills. Perhaps I have a second career waiting should journalism not work out.
Banya No.1 has a schedule of special events throughout the year – I saw a self-described Latvian “witch” perform a sound-healing event in the private banya over the summer – so keep an eye out; maybe you, too, could become a master of steam.
• Banya No.1 will participate in World Wellness Weekend again next year – for more information on Banya No.1 go to the website here or for more information on World Wellness Weekend visit the website here