If you’ve just got back from far-flung climes, then stepping into a Russian Banya could be the answer to fighting the symptoms of jet lag.

Jet lag can occur any time you travel quickly over two or three time zones and symptoms are likely to include disturbed sleep, daytime tiredness and difficulty concentrating.

It may take a few days to fully recover and the more time zones you’ve crossed while travelling, the worse you’re likely to feel.

Evidence shows that the disorder is worse when you ‘lose time’ travelling west to east.

Taking long walks - ideally in sunlight, having a massage and drinking plenty of water are just some of the things you can do to minimise the negative effects of flight fatigue.

Another effective way that promises to make you feel much better is to relax in a steam room - and making a Russian Banya your steam room of choice will enhance the benefits.

A Banya’s temperature is lower than a conventional sauna - but the humidity is higher. This means you’ll sweat more allowing your whole system to release more toxins.

For extra detoxing, combine a Banya with a Parenie. No, it’s not something out of the Middle Ages. It’s actually an invigorating thermal massage using leafy and fragrant bundles of birch, oak and eucalyptus twigs - performed in the steam room.

Although the process is quite intense the results are worth it.

As you relax in the steam room, a therapist will work the steam around you by waving the fragrant bundles of twigs close by. It will get incredibly warm, so much so, that you’ll feel the need to plunge into freezing water afterwards. Honestly!

The temperature contrast causes release of adrenalin and stress hormones. You’ll feel immensely invigorated afterwards.

The cold water also boosts your blood circulation, as well as relieving tension and stress.

The experience of an authentic steam, intense Parenie and temperature contrast will leave you feeling rejuvenated, reborn and refreshed and ready to face the world again.

By Natasha Harding

Here is what our travelling customers say about beating jet lag at Banya 

“I enjoyed the experience and found it thoroughly relaxing and a great cure for Jet-lag! Im feeling on top of the world!!!”

jonathan moradoff1 via GOOGLE 

“To me having a Banya experience hours before boarding an international flight has resulted in a relaxing and soothing state because it has given me all I need to face such a long flight back home with very little jet lag. No wander the Banya leaves do miracles. The place combined with the therapists make it a truly reconforting treat, everybody should try”

Carlos Dick Naya via TripAdvisor

“I always come to Banya N1 after long-haul flights to cure my jet lag. It works 100% of the time - amazing! I always sleep like a baby after "parenie” treatment, deep relaxation is guaranteed! Highly recommend it to anyone!”

Irina Edwards via GOOGLE 

“And then it happened, the weird but natural high, a mind-expanding, worry-numbing, explosive exhilaration that surges through your being all the way to your core. It’s authentic, unexpected and will leave you buzzing so hard you’ll want to book the whole place for your next birthday party”  

Emma Freud

September 8 2018, 12:01am, The Times  

Read full article here 

The famous painting “Russian Banya” by Sima Vasilieva is now on display at our Banya!

The original version of this artwork was first published in 1988 on the cover of the widely popular magazine Ogon’ok and it made the artist famous in the Soviet nation, but perhaps not in the best sense. Soviet readers were indignant and demanded punishment for the manifestation of pornography and the disrespect for the braces. Because of this work, Sima was forced to leave the USSR and move to London. 

The second picture was painted in 2018 and is now at Banya No.1 and available for purchase. The price is available on application.

About Sima Vasilieva

Sima was born in Ukraine in 1954. A graduate of Moscow State University, she has been painting since 1980 and has participated in numerous prestigious exhibitions. She works in an unusual style, painting on wooden boards creating colour-saturated pictures that combine a great sense of humour, the grotesque and deep lyricism. She has been a London-based artist since 1990. Having moved to the UK, Sima began collaborating with the Scottish sculptor Tim Stead and painted on carved wooden objects from his workshop. Sima used the natural beauty of the ring and grain pattern flowing through the timber to create organic and often abstract pictorial elements arranged in fluid compositions.
Recently, Sima has spent nearly three years living in Malaysia and has also travelled to Japan and China. Her travels and interest in Asiatic cultures are reflected in some of her most recent work. Currently, Sima’s work is reverting back to the Sotz-Art movement to which she once belonged as she has created a gallery of Soviet characters painted on wooden scoops. (The Russian word for
scoop is “Sovok”, which also refers to a “Soviet person” or someone who has retained the old Soviet mentality.)

http://www.artsima.com/