THE LONGE Series 3: Banya in the Woods

The Longe Series 3 — Banya in the Woods Thursday, October 22 The first two afternoons under the redwoods ended the way banya always does: people who arrived as strangers lingered by the fire long after the last round. So we're lighting it again, this time carrying it into the evening. Banya is the Eastern European bathhouse ritual, four centuries old and almost unchanged. There's wood-fired steam and a rhythmic massage with bundles of leafy birch branches called venik. Then cold water, then rest, then again. It sounds intense. It feels like the deepest exhale of your year. The setting is a private estate in Woodside, an hour from San Francisco and a world away from it. It has a wood-fired banya, a wood-fired barrel sauna, two cold plunges, and an open fireplace. This time, a live handpan meditation will hold the space between rounds. The handpan's soft, ringing tones slow the breath and settle the nervous system somewhere between the heat and the cold. As the light drops behind the redwoods, we sit down together for a light dinner at sunset. The point of banya was never just the heat. For four hundred years it has been the room where strangers become friends, and that's what we're building The Longe around. The afternoon — Welcome tea under the redwoods — Guided banya rounds with venik steam; first-timers looked after — Cold plunge, at your own pace — Live handpan meditation between rounds — Light dinner at sunset by the fire — An update on The Longe, the longevity bathhouse we're building in San Francisco, and how to be part of it first Good to know Small group, by ticket only. No experience needed. Bring a swimsuit and a warm layer for after sunset; everything else is taken care of. The exact address arrives with your confirmation. Been before? Bring someone who hasn't. Come as a stranger. Leave a friend.