A few weeks back I was at Banya5 in Seattle in the parilka (similar to a sauna but with lots of bricks which creates a radiant heat). On Tuesdays and Sundays they provide oak leaf "veniks" and you can usually convince one of the regulars to give you a "platza", a treatment that tones the skin and stimulates circulation. What is it like receiving a platza? Well first you go up to the very top level of the sauna and lay on your tummy on top of your towel. Then the regular (every time I've gone this has always been a guy) dips the oak leaf veniks into cold water and climbs up to the top of the sauna. He shakes the wet leaves above your body, and you feel like there is burning water falling down on you. I find it very painful to start with, but eventually it mellows out. Next he takes the leaves and drags them from the top of your head to the bottoms of your feet and then back up again. Then he starts hitting you with these leaves. Some of these strokes are excruciatingly painful and I want to cry out, others are not as hard and almost soothing like a massage. Then he does something to somehow bring down the hot air from the very top of the sauna down onto me, it's so hot it's hard to breathe and the air burns. Then you flip onto your back and he runs out to put more cold water on the leaves. More patting of the leaves on your body, sometimes lightly other times much harder. Then the patting turns into hitting, and just when you think you can't take it anymore, it's too hot, it's too painful, you want to scream despite that there are probably at least 10 other people in the parilka watching this take place, you are just about ready to scream out "No, I can't take it anymore!", but just then, the intensity dies down and it becomes relaxing, and so soothing, and feels soooo good. And then it's over and after about 10-15 minutes of having been in the parilka, you are more than ready to escape, as you make your way almost running to jump into the cold plunge,
I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience with the veniks, and if you have ever been spanked you will notice many of the parallels between receiving a venik treatment and receiving a spanking.
I do love Banya5 so if you'd ever like to get me a gift, I really like the Mud Wrap. It feels like getting massaged with mud, and my skin always feels so soft like a baby's butt afterwards. Also, they require a paid admission into the Banya prior to the Mud Wrap.
Curious about the funny hats? Due to the fact that the parilka is hotter than a regular sauna, people wear hats like these to protect their heads from direct heat so they can stay & sweat in the sauna for longer periods of time.
No, this is not me. But will give you an idea of what a Platza is like.
Also, just a reminder that starting in about a week I will stop taking new clients till right before Thanksgiving. New clients can still reach me for phone or email sessions.
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