Slavic Whisking Ritual

Feel the heat and steam together with the sensation of the leafy bouquet drifting across your skin

Come experience the ancient healing practice of whisking!

It’s something you must experience to fully understand.

Performed inside the sauna room while you are laying flat across the benches, an expert sauna medium channels the steam using water of various temperatures and welding two leafy bouquets, which have been steeping and rehydrating organic compounds of the plant tissue.

The whisks themselves are bundled-up bouquets of small tree branches and their leaves made from oak, birch and eucalyptus. These are also known as a vihta or a vasta or a venik.

The ritual itself is called parenie or platza — the medium uses the leaves to stimulate one’s skin. Both looking up and face down you will feel the rhythmic motions of brushing, tapping, and whipping the skin, all while being sprinkled with droplets of botanical moisture.

It's a perfect salve for the stress of life, great for both body and mind. Meet practitioner Dustin Efraimson, and learn about his passion for this reemerging sauna ritual.

$65 per person • $55 members.