Don’t ask me why, but I keep a list in my head of inane and avoidable ways I might meet an untimely end. When I lived in New York and used a bike-share to get everywhere, crashing into a halal food truck while swerving to avoid a low-flying pigeon was at the top of that list. Either that or tripping over my small and erratic dog.
When I moved to a house in Philadelphia, falling down the stairs while carrying my laptop in one hand and half-drunk coffee cups in the other usurped those scenarios to take the top spot. As of a few weeks ago, however, a new No 1 has emerged: passing out in the sauna or getting infected with a brain-eating amoeba after spending time in a steam room.
About a month ago, thinking it might do me some good, I joined a gym just to use the sauna and the steam room. Sometimes, I also do a token workout. I won’t say that it has changed my life, but it has significantly improved it. The heat wrings all the worry out of you; it releases endorphins and clears your mind. Going into a sauna or a steam room is like being in a cocoon: I don’t quite emerge a butterfly, but I’m a far less grumpy caterpillar.
Who knew sweating profusely could be so transformative? A lot of people, apparently. Saunas have obviously always been big in Scandinavia, but they are having a moment in the UK and the US. The journalist Caitlin Moran has called them “the new pubs”. They are popping up everywhere. Even the Economist is doing trend pieces about them. Celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow – of course – are loud and proud sauna users. While most wellness advice is bollocks, there is some evidence that saunas might be good for your heart.
What definitely wasn’t good for my heart, though? Getting into a long conversation with a woman in the sauna who informed me that I should steer clear of the steam room because it’s a breeding ground for brain-eating bacteria. That sent me down an online rabbit hole about sudden death. A sign that, maybe, just maybe, it’s time to replace the heat therapy with actual therapy.
• Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
