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A favourite past-time might be the answer to your modern woes

If religion is a cultural system of designated behaviours and practices (as per Wiki), then self-care surely fits the bill. Each Sunday sees thousands of us devout followers (at the time of writing, there were 519K photos tagged #SelfCareSunday on Instagram) retreat to our consecrated spaces (bathrooms) to worship at an altar (the bathroom cabinet). Sometimes we submerge in water. There are usually candles, and wine. Solange even penned the hymn “Borderline (An Ode To Self Care)” on her album A Seat At The Table.

While plenty has been said of the benefits of taking time out for ourselves in this way, not enough is made of the importance of social interaction for our wellbeing. As Melissa Dahl, senior health and science editor at The Cut, has said: “A lot of the things you read about are like, ‘Cancel your plans, stay in, do a sheet mask.’ [But]... connecting with other people is part of self-care that [we] don’t think about enough.”

Filmmaker Mary Minas and botanist Freya Berwick agree. As the founders of Sense Of Self, an upcoming bathhouse and wellness space in Melbourne’s Collingwood, they understand the importance of

interaction in our overall health. “We saw the impact that communion and relaxation [in bathhouses] had on people around the world,” explains Berwick. “We want to create a space and a culture where people will be able to feel more connected and accepting of themselves. Sense Of Self [will focus] on three things: social connection, life balance and a more positive relationship with ourselves, which includes our bodies. All of these things impact our health.”

Taking design and philosophy cues from Japanese onsens and Turkish hammams, Sense Of Self is intended to be a serene space for bathing, steaming and sauna-ing, with mindfulness areas (including napping spaces), massages and DIY mud and scrub experiences (a crying room was proposed on Instagram, presumably as a joke, but Minas says with a laugh that it’s “to be determined”). The idea is to make a visit a regular occurrence rather than a one-off treat and, as such, memberships are available. Think of it like an anti-gym membership, in that it involves sitting for periods – so you might actually use it.

But the question remains: bathers on or off? “For the most part it will be bathers on,” says Minas. “But we don’t want to deprive those who know the liberty of nude bathing, so we’ll allocate times when bathers are off.” Sense Of Self is set to open by the end of 2019; sos-senseofself.com

This story originally appeared in the September 2019 issue of ELLE magazine. Main image: Christopher Ferguson.