Steve and I recently tried Rituals of the 5 Elements at Comwell Kellers Park, and it was one of the most unique wellness experiences I’ve ever had. The treatment is Comwell Kellers Park’s award-winning spa ritual, and earlier this year, it won Beauty Treatment of the Year in the Holistic/Wellbeing category at the Danish Beauty Award.
The ritual lasts a little over three hours and is built around the five elements of nature: earth, water, fire, air, and ether, with ether representing space or the more intangible, spiritual element. It combines Nordic sauna traditions with Eastern European banya rituals and modern saunagus, the Danish take on guided sauna sessions using essential oils, heat, and air circulated with towels or fans. But it feels very different from a regular sauna session. It is more like a long, guided journey through heat, cold, scents, music, and different sensory experiences.
Before the sauna session started, we had a really good shrimp sandwich from the restaurant. Rituals of the 5 Elements lasts more than three hours, and it gets both hot and intense along the way, so I would definitely recommend not showing up on an empty stomach.
Three hours of heat, cold, and calm
Our sauna and banya master was Sarah Kjærgaard Andersen, who guided us through the entire experience. She was excellent, and the way she led the ritual was a big part of what made it so special.
Our little group of six moved between the steam room and sauna, with cooling sessions and longer breaks to relax in the spa area and quiet zone in between. The quiet zone has the most wonderful swings, and after the heat of the sauna, it felt amazing to just lie there, completely sprawled out, and feel my entire body relax.
There is music throughout the ritual, and Sarah also guides you with her voice. There are quite a few spiritual elements along the way, and the treatment feels like a mix of ritual and meditation combined with very deep relaxation. You don’t have to keep track of what happens next. You simply follow along and let yourself be guided through the different parts of the ritual.
Rituals of the 5 Elements is very much an experience for all the senses. There are the scents of plants, herbs, and essential oils. The music changes to complement the different parts of the treatment. You feel the heat and steam against your skin. Then there is the visual element of watching Sarah work with water, towels, and fans inside the sauna, controlling the heat and moving the air around us.
Along the way, we were also given different herbs and blends to rub into our skin. And then there were the contrasts. After intense heat and humid steam came ice-cold water and small balls of crushed ice that we could run over our skin.
There is plenty to drink throughout the ritual, including a Five Elements Ritual Shot with chili, ginger, cucumber, lemon, and white tea. When it was all over, we were also given a small bag of potato chips to help replace some of the salt we had sweated out.
You need to like saunas
I thought it was an amazing experience, but there is one thing worth knowing: You need to enjoy saunas.
It gets really hot, and the combination of high temperatures and humidity makes the heat feel very intense. At one point, Steve found it a little too much and had to take a break, while I was completely fine with the temperature. The ritual alternates between heat, cooling, and rest, so you are not sitting in a sauna for three hours straight. But if you generally don’t enjoy saunas or have a hard time with intense heat and humidity, this probably isn’t for you. If you love saunas and saunagus, on the other hand, Rituals of the 5 Elements is something very special, and I don't think you'll find an experience like this anywhere else.
The spiritual side
The ritual also has a spiritual side, but you can decide for yourself how much you want to engage with it, and it never gets too woo-woo.
During the treatment, we received a small gift in the form of a crystal, along with a card explaining the qualities traditionally associated with it. There was also the option to draw an oracle card from Rebecca Campbell’s Work Your Light deck if you wanted a little extra spiritual guidance.
I actually thought those elements fit very naturally into the rest of the experience. After several hours of heat, cold, music, scents, and guided relaxation, you are already in a very different state of mind. The ritual creates a space where you can shut out the rest of the world for a while and turn your attention inward.
Would I do it again?
When we were finished, my entire body felt relaxed, but at the same time, I was strangely full of energy. I can usually feel a little heavy and sleepy after spending a long day at a spa, but I didn’t feel like that at all after this.
It was such a great experience, and if you enjoy saunas, heat, and the more holistic and spiritual side of wellness, I think you’ll love it. In fact, I think Rituals of the 5 Elements is so unique that it is worth traveling for, if you're currently in another part of Denmark.
Rituals of the 5 Elements is offered once every other week, and I will definitely be going back sometime during the fall or winter.
Book your stay at Comwell Kellers Park
Read more about the spa and the schedule at Comwell Kellers Park website
