My master bathroom sucks and Mr. Steam is partly to blame. In no way were any Mr. Steam products used in the design of my bathroom and, alas, therein lies my problem, but unfortunately it goes deeper than that. I have, a-hem, an “issue” with relaxing. On our recent Modenus + BlogTourLA trip, Krista and I had the opportunity to visit the Snyder Diamond showroom in Los Angeles and see many of the Mr. Steam products in action (think scantily clad gorgeous model lolling about in various shower scenarios involving lots of water, steam, aromatherapy, ChromaTherapy, iSteam technology and a throng of BlogTourLA google-y eyed watcher-oners who were taking countless pictures of said model.) Mind you, I like well designed product as much as the next designer, but shower technology that involves hanging out longer in the bathroom is totally lost on me. My master bath is a glorified outhouse, albeit clad in carerra marble, the only modern day luxuries it provides are running water, electricity and a sewer line. Nothing about the space makes me or anyone else for that matter want to hang out in there longer than it takes to get the grime off. Its utilitarian design (mind you not in a Scandinavian, gorgeous kind of way) works for me because I am a wash and wear kinda girl, my entire shower-out-the-door routine lasting no more than 15 minutes. In all honestly, I have worn this bare bones approach like a badge of honor, proud that I am not one who dabbles in the shower and bathroom with all manner of fluff and puff routines. Who needs soap to shave when you have running water?! As it turns out, the joke is sooo on me.
Historically, relaxation involving water, steam and sweat is a longstanding practice dating back to the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, where the ruins of the earliest public baths were found. From that point forward, whether in the public bathing houses of Greece or Rome, the volcanic spring-fed onsens of Japan or the sweat lodges and Temazcalli of the Native Americans, the cross cultural tradition to cleanse, purify and relax was culturally embraced. I don't know about you, but this is not my cultural experience in this day and age in which I feel compelled to move at all times and never have enough time to do all that is on my list.
To get their point across about the many documented benefits of relaxing and steam therapy, and why simply taking time to care for yourself is totally worth it physically and mentally, Mr. Steam treated the entire BlogTourLA crew to a Korean Day Spa. That experience, highlighted by being buck naked and scrubbed down with mineral salt head to toe by a small Korean woman in black lingerie, shifted my perspective so profoundly that I am forever changed. What Krista and I witnessed at the spa, as much as what we experienced personally, spoke so eloquently of a culture that values its generational community, and one in which each body is embraced as it is, as part of the collective and beautiful whole. We mingled, bathed and steamed with young and old, with entire families that so palpably cared for each other that it practically brought us to tears. We left knowing that Mr. Steam was on to something, specifically that our overall health and well-being is directly proportional to how often we incorporate regular bouts of relaxation to restore and regenerate our body, mind and soul.
Even though Mr. Steam did not create steam, since 1917 the company has been at the forefront of the technology curve, and is currently the largest manufacturer of electric steam boilers in the world for the U.S. Navy, hospital operating rooms and the Kennedy Space Center. Mr. Steam continues to innovate and as such the company is a leader in the commercial and residential spa experience offering swipe-touch controls, advanced steam shower generators and systems, aromatherapy and ChromaTherapy, and the most advanced towel warmers on the market today. As much as I would like to gut my master bath and start over with my own steam therapy design, the best I can do at the moment is play with Mr. Steam's nifty virtual spa app and to highly recommend steam therapy to our clients, which is shockingly well priced. Who knew?! Price out your own at home spa experience here.
PHOTO CREDITS: Mr. Steam | Roman Bath House Relic | Salt