Cleveland always tops the list of ‘The Most Stressed-Out Cities in the U.S. Sure, Sundays in the fall contribute to that a little (if anyone reading this can kick a football please stop reading and drive straight to Berea), but with the state of the world right now coupled with shorter days around the corner, it’s natural to feel weight on your shoulders. So maybe try something unnatural to help!
The recent surge of cold plunges, or cold therapy, has taken the world by storm and Cleveland is no exception. In the last three years, numerous ‘contrast therapy’ spots have opened around town, including Urban Haven on West 25th, Soul Space in Gordon Square, and the newest outfit, Sweathouz near the West Side Market. Not to mention Elemental Wellness out in Westlake.
Why the uptick in places where you pay money to feel uncomfortable? Well, in an ironic way, the key to dealing with stress might just be mini-stressors. The common benefits associated with sauna and cold plunges include mental clarity, lower inflammation and a drop in cortisol levels – a shockingly hot or cold mental and physical reset if you will.
In full transparency, I am a big believer in both the sauna and cold plunges as an oil change for mind, body and soul. As an older millennial who works remotely, the sauna acts as a nice mini escape when maybe I’ve had too much alone time and need to get out of my head a little.
At the same time, I realize it’s not for everyone and the abundance of places popping up are a direct result of the gentrification of some of Cleveland’s most up and coming areas. Places like Soul Space and Urban Haven are luxuries, and for some, might be out of the price range of where to spend those disposable dollars. Therein lies the conundrum. How do members of the community enjoy the benefits of hot and cold at a price they can afford?
The answer may lie in a return to the past – bathhouses.
The bathhouse movement in Cleveland exploded in the late 1800s and early 1900s with the influx of Eastern European immigrants making their way to the states. The influx of residents, along with the fact many homes didn’t have running water at the time, resulted in city-owned bathhouses where for two or five cents you could get a towel and a bar of soap before you entered the showers (most bathhouses didn’t have actual bathtubs).
At the time, it was believed that bathhouses would help assimilate immigrants into productive citizens of their new country. Since bathing would make people feel better, they would then have the confidence and drive to go to work and contribute to the community. At the Orange Avenue Bathhouse alone, over 113,000 people used the facility in its first year in 1904 according to an article from ClevelandJewishHistory.net.
Could a bathhouse movement make a comeback, especially one with a large sauna and cold plunge pool? It would be a tall order. And to have it be city-owned and operated would probably be even tougher. The historic Cleveland Schvitz in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood has the closest resemblance to the size a bathhouse would need today, with a steam room of about 600 square feet.
It does make you think though. If bathhouses were a place people went in covered in soot and came out clean, could it work with the mental grime most of us are covered in daily? As mentioned, the benefits of hot and cold exposure are the mental clarity you feel afterwards. Clear thinking and confidence can go a long way.
For now, places like Urban Haven and Soul Space will fill that need. But with mental health becoming more of a priority, especially in underserved areas, it would be interesting to see what sweating and shivering could do to a community’s well-being. The stress is real, and so is the huffing and puffing you experience in the sauna, or the bone-chilling shock of the cold plunge.
A small percentage of Clevelanders experience the benefits. Hopefully in the future, the luxury will be affordable and convenient to even more of Northeast Ohio.
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