Blowing hot and cold
One foot in this old hotel, built in the 1930s, is enough to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Telephones are prohibited and shoes are removed upon entering the locker room. Depending on taste, the sessions are free or guided by a collective ritual of seventy-five minutes, exclusively led by practitioners trained in the SANT ROCH method, which combines breathing, sound immersion, meditation and bodily gestures with the aim of “promoting a state of deep relaxation”.
Today it is Gabriel Seibelsports coach, who guides us. From the first minutes, the group settles into the relaxation area before joining the sauna for a twenty-minute session. The music, particularly loud, envelops the room. Everyone lets themselves be carried by the voice of the expert. And the instructions follow one another: breathe, move the hands, then the arms, the shoulders, to the right and to the left, while enjoying the benefits of aromatherapy, the art of healing with essential oils, here, lemongrass and lavender. Another step? Scream, release bad energies.
Then, it’s time for the cold bath, in pairs, for two minutes flat, before slipping away again into the heat of the sauna for a total disconnection, in the dark. A few extra minutes to rise, wake up and prepare to return to the outside world. But some doubtless wonder what the practice allows. In the long term, it would facilitate recovery after exercise, relieve muscle pain, improve blood circulation, strengthen the immune system, eliminate toxins and reduce the level of cortisol in the body. Hence the enthusiasm among athletes and longevity enthusiasts.
Sant-Roch, 4 rue Saint-Roch (Paris 1), 45 euros for seventy-five guided or free minutes.
