In this immersive live episode, host Lisa Starr brings listeners into the heart of the first-ever U.S. Aufguss World Masters Trials, recorded on-site at the newly expanded Bathhouse Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY. As the ancient European tradition of Aufguss —a multisensory, storytelling sauna ritual—makes its competitive debut in America, Lisa interviews several key figures shaping this cultural movement. From competition judges and spa innovators to passionate sauna performer

The sport of aufguss, or competitive sauna, is full of surprises. It was the hottest day of the year in New York City. Oddly, that wasn’t why I was half naked. And it’s not why I was surrounded by nearly 100 bodies in equal or greater states of undress. We were all in a 175-degree sauna, where partial nakedness is not unusual. What was unusual was what we were all doing there: watching two artists perform an interpretive dance. Welcome to the Aufguss USA Nationals, America’s

A centuries-old German sauna ritual blends heat, scent, and theater for an unforgettable wellness experience. Smiling woman relaxing with closed eyes in the sauna. Aufguss, a centuries-old German ritual blending heat, aromatherapy, and theatrical performance, is making waves in the wellness industry. According to the Global Wellness Institute , the sauna experience is being reimagined with a new wave of 'social saunas' (or sauna-tainment) emerging in the wellness space. At th