Wellness retreats at home
If you want to enjoy relaxation and recovery not only in swimming pools and sauna complexes, which promise exactly that, you also have the option of turning your own bathroom into a true wellness temple. Bathtubs for two in which bubbling air baths can be enjoyed are one alternative. Standard bathtubs can also be retrofitted with special kits to create a massage bath. If you own a sauna, you will want an attractive, well-designed way to shower afterwards. With a spacious cabin and a shower head that offers a wide range of settings, you can not only refresh yourself but also treat individual areas of your body to a massage.
Depending on the space available and your individual priorities, decorations and accessories underline the character of your home shower and bathing temple. Oriental baths can be recreated with matching tiles, evergreen plants suggest a stay at an Ayurveda resort, and, following the example of the Finnish steam bath, a red Falun-painted cabin in the garden creates the ambience of Northern European bathing culture. There are no limits to your creative freedom.
Showering and bathing as spiritual rites
In all major religions, the cleansing power of water is given a symbolic meaning . From Christian baptism to the washing of hands and feet before Islamic prayer towards Mecca, everything points to the religious roots of bathing. For Hindus, bathing in the holy river Ganges promises cleansing from all sinful acts and, beyond that, absolution. Until the beginning of the last century, the Saturday bath before going to church on Sunday and before important holidays was also a fixed ritual in every devout European family.
Bathing, showering and religion form a unity and turn personal hygiene into a moment that seems to remove more than what is visible. Whether out of religious conviction or simply because of its invigorating and pleasant effect, a long bath in a relaxing atmosphere leaves people feeling freer and cleansed in every respect.
Sensual cleansing as a design element
Redesigning your own bathroom, or turning a previously unused basement room into a personal wellness resort, not only increases the actual value of your house or flat. Shower cabins, heat cabins, bidets, accessible showers or freestanding oval bathtubs also create an unexpected emotional depth in your home. In stressful, hectic times, retreating to the bathroom in the evening helps you meet all the demands of daily life in a more relaxed way.
©iStock.com/Anthony Brown
