Self-led rituals to deepen the benefits of steam
There is an overlap between small (and significant) rituals related to purity and cleanliness with actions that relax and reset us. Whether it’s the cultural washing of feet before prayer or just a hot shower after a long day, sometimes we need to wash away a day, a week, a season.
These kinds of healing practices often mimic nature. Like a walk on the beach, where sand can softly exfoliate your feet and salt water can heal wounds, the hammam can also leave people with the feeling of restoration after ritualistic pause.
While a dry sauna helps us sweat, the key benefit of steam is how quickly it warms the body, allowing us to fully relax tense muscles or ease aching joints. The hammam’s benefits on the skin and body can help hold and carry us through winter.
Pairing water and steam with exfoliation is a rejuvenating practice that has been around for centuries.
Hammams, often referred to as a ‘Turkish bath’, are rooted in Roman bathhouses and Islamic culture and have been a central part of society for more than a thousand years.
In many cultures sweat lodges, steam rooms and hammams are paired with scrubbing for practical reasons – steam naturally softens skin, which helps release dirt and toxins from the body. Ancient Greeks and Romans used a curved bronze tool (called a strigil) to scrape off oil and sweat and cleanse before entering the bathhouse. In modern Korean jjimjilbangs, a bakki (glove) is used to remove dead skin as well as promote blood circulation. Scrubbing is also a key part of the hammam ritual in Türkiye, where bathers can either scour themselves or commonly have an attendant to vigorously exfoliate their body from head to toe, human to human. To scrub the body is also an opportunity for connecting to self. After a long day of working our hands (or in modern cases, sitting idle) we can turn our attention inward as we wash away layers of skin, oil, dirt.
Sense of Self’s self-led rituals have been designed to deepen the experience and encourage connection in the steam room. These are processes that move slowly, take time. Sharing the space can also bring a sense of calm, of shared meditation. Being around others can calm the nervous system through a process known as co-regulation.
The Persian phrase “hava-to daram” literally translates to “I share your weather” or “I have your air”.
This idiom is a loving reminder of how significant it is to breathe with others. How the simple act of sitting side-by-side in warm vapour has given people across cultures numerous social and health benefits for thousands of years.
Like the Turkish baths of old, Sense of Self’s Hammam is a large, communal space that invites you to stretch out, soak in the steam and commune. The space is heated to 46°C with marble sinks and showers to help you cool down mid soak.
Traditional hammams are often adorned with intricate tiles and patterns. Rich, lasting materials to enhance the sense of luxury and ritual. The Hammam at Sense of Self is a Melbourne-take on the Turkish bath, with a central marble platform, Mediterranean colour palette and intricately patterned window which lets natural light trickle through rising steam.
While some start their visit to the bathhouse in The Hammam, others choose to return to it in intervals throughout their experience. We invite you to move between our traditional sauna, mineral pool, cold plunge and steam room in whatever combination feels like medicine to your muscles and pores.
Words by Hannah Bambra.