Talking ‘Wellness at Home’ with Erin Lee
It has been an interesting year for health and wellbeing. Since the pandemic took hold at the start of the year, people globally have started to re-assess their relationship with how they look after themselves, and with spas and gyms having to close, they have started to look at how they can bring wellness into their homes instead.
The good news is that it is very simple to create your own thermal wellbeing room in your home. It doesn’t have to be overly expensive and you don’t need much space.
Thermal rooms such as saunas and steam rooms are no longer considered as just luxury items. They are becoming more commonplace as they become part of a daily routine to restore vitality and health in these unprecedented times.
Recently we have been receiving more enquiries than usual about installing saunas and steam rooms into residential properties and have outlined below some of the more common questions we have been asked:
- I don’t have much space. Can I still install a sauna and/or steam room?
It is very simple to convert your existing shower into a steam shower by enclosing the shower stall. The steam generator can be concealed in small cupboards or under the sink without the need for huge plant rooms. Alternatively, add a steam column which has the generator built in. Freestanding, or built in, seating can also be added if required.
Saunas are easily fitted into small spaces. As long as you have a space approximately 1m2 you can install a sauna!
Infrared saunas also come in a variety of sizes and are simply plug and play – plug into a normal socket and start enjoying the radiant heat.
Most rooms should be a minimum of 2m high.
Another option, if you don’t have room inside, is to incorporate a sauna into an outbuilding, such as a shed. Barrel saunas are also readily available and can be easily assembled. These come in various designs and can be a beautiful addition to your garden or outside space.
- Are there any other experiences I could have as well, or instead?
Heated loungers are a great way to relax with the heat slowly warming the body, reinvigorating it, improving circulation, soothing muscles and helping alleviate joint pain as it is absorbed.
The beauty of heated loungers, and infra cabins, are that they can be easily moved so you don’t have to leave them behind if you move house. Your thermal experience can move with you!
Halotherapy is fast becoming the must-have wellness trend, due to it relieving respiratory ailments, which is uppermost in people’s minds in the current climate. It is also a 100% natural therapy and safe for all ages. It is quite simple to add a salt machine into an infra sauna, or you can buy a salt machine that comes with a portable tent.
You could also install a wall made of app salt bricks beside your lounger and have it backlit to match your existing decor!
Whilst not being a thermal room, ice bowls and plunge pools are an integral part of the thermal wellbeing journey and can easily be installed as stand alone features.
- What are the advantages of having my own thermal room?
The main benefits of having your own personal thermal room is that the whole family can enjoy it. Most spas exclude children – mainly because the adults want some peace and quiet – but children should not be discouraged from experiencing and benefiting from wellness, and should be introduced to it safely from an early age.
You can also set the temperature to your personal preference rather than the one size fits all that you get in gyms and spas. It is worth remembering that the bottom benches in a sauna are cooler than the top benches (often by about 20°C) so children may prefer to sit on the lower benches, while the adults enjoy the hotter temperatures on the higher seating.
Another advantage of a home spa is that you can choose a fragrance to personally suit your mood – essential oils promote physical and psychological wellbeing so you can koora extra choose your aroma to match the mood you want to enhance. You can also listen to your own music, or even combine colour changing lighting with a particular sound frequency to activate and/or heal specific Chakras within your body.
It is important to bring in a specialist company to help with all the M&E requirements that go with installing a thermal wellbeing room. Dröm UK can help at every step of the way, from conception to completion. Our unique Showroom in Byfleet, Surrey is full of inspiration, helping you to choose the practicalities of your room, as well as a large, varied selection of finishes such as timber, tiles, stone, mosaics and accessories to truly personalise your space.
It is essential that we all stay healthy and safe in the current climate, and wellbeing at home is an easy and enjoyable way to start your wellness journey.
Erin Lee is Projects Director with Dröm UK Ltd and founder of the UK Halotherapy Network.
