Spa en nature

Get really hot, so hot that you’re dripping sweat from every pore in your body, then step out into the brisk winter air and walk under waterfall that spills from a bank of snow and ice above. Your heart pounds and blood races through your body. It is the epitome of invigorating.

As you might guess, V and I spent several lovely hours at the Nordik ‘spa en nature’ today. This is one of my favourite places in the region – a little paradise I love to visit a few times a year.

For anyone who has not had the luxurious pleasure of visiting Nordik, they use the Nordic techniques of hot and cold baths. For the hot, you can sit in a sauna or a steam room – feeling your pores opening and your muscles relaxing. From there you plunge straight into one of the icy-cold baths.

It’s recommended that after the hot-cold experience, you rest awhile so your body can resume its normal temperature before beginning another sequence. For resting there are plenty of options – whirlpools, fireside seats, hammocks (in the summer), quiet rooms... When you’re ready, you go back into the heat.

This morning I felt like I was coming down with a cold. I hadn’t slept well, was sneezing and had that slightly headachy feeling. But after a few hours of steaming and relaxing – and breathing in plenty of eucalyptus – I’m feeling better than fine.

This was the second time that V has come with me to the Nordik. The first time I think he was a little unsure about going to a ‘spa’ – but he was curious to see what it was I’d been raving about since I first went there as part of a birthday outing for a girlfriend of mine. You’d think I’d just discovered chocolate the way I was carrying on.

It didn’t take him long to appreciate it too – and while the clientele is predominantly women, there are plenty of boyfriends and husbands accompanying their fairer halves. And it was nice to go there together today, to take a few hours to sit and breathe deep. So tonight I’m feeling rested and grateful. It’s been a lovely day.