Josiah: Friends, today I am thrilled to be introducing a new co-host on the show, Susie Arnett. You may remember episodes we’ve recorded together in the past. I’ll link in the show notes to those if you miss them. But Susie is an incredible leader in hospitality with deep expertise in wellness, among other areas. So I encourage you to click the link in the profile, check out her LinkedIn, some of what she’s done over her career. It’s extraordinary. But today we’re going to do something a little bit different. Even the format itself is different because Susie recorded a note sharing a recent hospitality experience that she had that I’d love to share with you. We’d love to share with you. So without further ado, I’ll pass it over to Susie.
Susie: I’ve been thinking a lot about the roots of spa lately because I was recently in Istanbul and visited the Museum of Hammam and discovered something fascinating. Traditional hammam baths were vital social spaces for women where they would arrive in the morning with their mothers, sisters, friends, and children. They’d bring baskets full of food, oils, and beauty preparations. They’d stay for hours socializing, bonding, and even preparing meals together. What we think of as a quick self-care routine was sometimes a day-long community celebration. And it was also true in ancient Greece. The bathhouse wasn’t just somewhere you went to get clean. It was the beating heart of society. Imagine Aristotle debating ethics while someone scrubbed him down with olive oil. Or merchants closing deals between steam sessions. The whole community came together in these spaces. And there’s something about bathing together, about the disrobing and letting your hair down that invites vulnerability and honesty. You can’t hide behind fancy clothes or titles when you’re wrapped in a towel. But look at us now. Today, spas in the U.S. are often quiet spaces shaped by the two American loves of individualism and efficiency. We schedule our spa treatments between meetings, often arriving just in time for our appointment and leaving soon afterward. Self-care has become an experience designed for one, where ancient communal rituals have been transformed into solitary pursuits of escape. Just look at any destination spas website and what do you see? Often, it’s a picture of a woman alone in the sauna or whirlpool. Now I’ll give you a quick history lesson. The concept of relaxation as we understand it today was developed in 1929 when Dr. Edmund Jacobson developed the idea that stress in the mind is connected to tension in the muscles. He wrote a popular book called You Must Relax. which doesn’t sound very relaxing, but it taught people to consciously release tension from their muscles, which would relax them psychologically. For the first time, relaxation became something you practiced, something you did deliberately, and often something you did alone. Now fast forward to 1978 when the phrase alone time first entered our vocabulary. The term emerged during a period when cities were growing more crowded, work was becoming more demanding, and people had lost touch with natural rhythms. People were increasingly seeking escape from what they perceived as the source of their stress, which was other people. And now this was a profound shift because for thousands of years of human history, being alone was the stressor. Isolation from the tribe meant danger, but now suddenly other people became the stressor and solitude became the remedy. And for many, the modern day consequence of this is loneliness. Now, for those of us in the wellness industry, we often ask ourselves, how can we extend the guest stay? How do we get them to do more spa? Because we know it’s so good for them. And maybe the answer isn’t just about better amenities or new technology. Maybe it’s about recapturing what made these spaces magnetic for thousands of years, the social element. As we all think about trends and what’s next for the industry, and the more important underlying question of what do our guests really need right now, maybe we should look backward to move forward. Although there are great innovations in spa technology, the idea of creating spaces where people feel encouraged to come together, to linger, and to connect might be a novel concept. For those of us who live far from family and long-term friendships, there are some new social spa spaces emerging, like Othership in New York City. They’ve done a beautiful job of addressing this by creating large saunas for group experiences guided by facilitators. But you don’t need a massive space to create connection. It’s not about everyone doing everything together, but rather about thinking about ways to promote community in these very intimate spaces. Playing, for example, with music, vibe, and food and beverage, so people feel comfortable talking and laughing and lingering. Or maybe even setting hours for families where, similar to Scandinavian spot culture, sauna is transformed into a social space for all ages. Or if you’re heading to a spa, bring a group of friends. Or if you’re on your own, start up a conversation with a stranger in the steam room. It might feel a little awkward at first, but you never know what kind of fascinating connection you could make. As the ancient bathers knew, true well-being has never been something we achieve alone. Like our ancestors in those steamy hammams, the path to wellness still winds through the simple joy of being together, of talking, laughing, connecting, eating, making the pursuit of health not a solitary appointment but a communal celebration.
