34 | EDIBLE SF WINTER 2025 SWEAT STATE I normally wouldn’t recommend getting your life advice off of Instagram, but a post I saw there recently really hit home. It simply stated: “The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.” As an avid crier and a frequent beachgoer— fog or sun—I wondered: “But do I sweat enough?” Surely, we all perspire throughout the day, but I envisioned the kind of cathartic, purifying sweat that could count as self care. For that, I thought, it’s best to hit the sauna. This was an evolution. There was a time when sweating wasn’t for me. But on recent trips to Guatemala and NYC, I found myself happily drenched in beautiful, communal sauna settings, enamored by the way the heightened temperature slowed my mind, by the fact saunas practically dictate a phonefree interlude, by the freshness of reemerging back into the world a little warmer and a little less jaded. Luckily, the sauna had piqued my curiosity in a timely fashion. In a September 2025 article, the Wall Street Journal had declared the sauna as the “hottest place to network,” which means it’s been well embedded into the wellness conversation. This is right in line with the meteoric rise of the ritual’s alter ego, the cold plunge. More importantly, there’s never been a better time to sweat in the Bay Area, as saunas of different kinds, vibes, and cultural backgrounds have been popping up from Richmond to Sausalito. Offering tranquility, invigoration and, in many cases, community, these are the best saunas to dip your toes into this winter. Where the Bay Area goes to sweat Writer—Flora Tsapovsky Photography—Aysia Stieb, Alex Farnum, Raquel Venacio
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