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Sarah Simpson Column: Finding paradise on a Thursday night

Nordic spa life is the life for me

If you read my last column, you’ll know a mom-friend and I have been pushing ourselves to seek out new activities to do on a weeknight because in reality, neither of us get out much after dinner and it’s kind of sad.

After our first week of eating too much whipped cheesecake at the Dog House, admittedly within both of our wheelhouses, we opted for a “healthier option” for our second mom’s weeknight out: a little self-care.

Last Mother’s Day my husband and kids were so kind as to give me a punch pass to Nyübu, the west coast Nordic spa tucked away on a quiet wooded street in Shawnigan Lake. I had been hesitant to go alone because it was new to me (and to the community, it’s only been about a year) and I’m anxious that way. So, this was the perfect time to do something new, outside my typical comfort zone but with the support of a friend.

We got there about 15 minutes ahead of our scheduled 7 p.m. time slot and got the rundown from Kara the sauna host, the most relaxed and approachable person I may have ever met. Despite the anxiety that came with the newness of it all, we immediately felt well taken care of.

Once Kara gave us the rundown we began what was the most delightful experience I’ve had in recent memory.

Nordic spas have been around forever but if you aren’t familiar, the goal is to cycle your body through extreme temperatures — a sauna or steam room and then something very cold. In Nyübu’s case, there’s a cold shower, a cold water dump bucket, and two cold plunge tubs.

The health results are said to be great for things like pain relief and immunity and stress relief and all sorts of things — some proven with science, and others anecdotally.

At Nyübu, there’s also a fire pit for a little respite between cycles, warm tea, cold water, a bathroom, and a change room for added convenience.

I thoroughly enjoy saunas and have for years but I’ve always hesitated with the cold aspect of the Nordic spa experience. Even with the cold plunge influencers taking over social media, I haven’t been able to bring myself to take the literal plunge. While the idea sounds good in theory, I’m always afraid I’m going to have a heart attack from the shock. Hey, it could happen!

We got into the sauna for a spell of 10 minutes or so to take the edge off. The sauna itself has a giant window in the back of it that faces into the untouched forest. The real crackling fire and smell of cedar and the night’s rain tapping gently on the sauna roof… it was a real cool vibe. It was bliss.

Being a night to push our boundaries, however, we knew we couldn’t stay in the sauna forever. It was time to get cold. We opted for the dump bucket first with the rationale that it would be the most shocking to the system. It was just like the buckets that fill with water then unexpectedly tip over at the local water parks except it’s not unexpected, you have to pull on a rope. It was a bit tricky to stand directly under the flow of water but that was our introduction to the cold portion of the cycle. Not great, but less awful than anticipated.

After a quick fireside stop, we went back to the warm hug of the sauna, and then to the cold shower. Then back to the fire, the sauna, and then to the plunge tubs.

Those little pools were the most intimidating.

“Come on, we said we were going to get out of our comfort zones,” said my friend.

Darn, she was right.

My friend just bit the bullet and wasted no time getting in. To prevent my own heart attack, I eased in and once submerged, it wasn’t awful. The feeling, however, after getting out —  a whole body tingle — was worth any anxiety I had about it. Ironically the tubs were my favourite.

We did two more cycles over our 90 minute session and I stuck to the plunge tub exclusively after the first time.

The darkness, the rain, the company (it was a community night so aside from my friend and I, there were six other people there too and, coincidentally, of the six, five knew my husband), the forest, and the atmosphere all made for an epic night. The entire drive home we noticed our bodies still tingled from the hot and cold circuits.


All of this to say, so far mom’s weeknight out has been a success. I can’t wait to see what we get up to next. I also can’t wait to get back to Nyübu.