Fast Company: Picking up steam: How sweating with your friends became the hot new wellness trend

‘It’s a healthy form of dopamine, and we’re all dopamine fiends now.’

Credit: Sauna House

By Patrick Sisson

Thermal pools, hammams, banyas, onsens, shvitzes, cold plunges, steam rooms, and saunas: Hot and cold water, and the communal experience of steam and sweat, has been a pillar of social and wellness cultures across millennia. Now a new crop of brighter and busier spaces known as social bathhouses seek to re-create the benefits of communal bathing with a callout to today’s overstressed, always-connected culture.

As one bathhouse owner says, “You’re half naked, your phone’s in the locker, everyone’s going through something together.” 

There isn’t a comprehensive count of social bathhouse openings, but there’s a sense that it’s a nascent category in American fitness culture that is ripe for expansion. Market research firm Technavio predicts the sauna market in the U.S. will grow from $390 million in annual sales in 2023 to $526 million by 2028, with similar growth trends predicted for cold-plunge tubs. New spaces from Maine to Seattle are opening to offer modern twists on traditional bathing culture alongside social events, DJ nights, and coffee tastings.

Read the full article at Fast Company here: https://www.fastcompany.com/91315412/picking-up-steam-how-social-bathhouses-became-the-new-big-wellness-trend