My Account. Welcome Tom as we follow along the SaunaTimes public sauna map. As it has for decades the Everett House Community and Healing Center provides an oasis to Portlanders โ a sauna facility and then some. I spoke with Judy, the general manager, to learn more. In the late s a Portland massage therapist purchased a run-down home for his practice.
Soon after he invited other health practitioners to join him. They built a wooden hot tub in the yard, added a basement sauna and showers, and the Everett House was born. In the decades since the spa grew and evolved, always balancing holistic health practices and a strong bond with the community. Eventually Everett house outgrew its zoning but was able to obtain a conditional use permit from the city.
This allowed them to stay rooted in its residential neighborhood. Everett House now occupies three adjacent homes in the middle of a lush Portland block. Everett House is clothing-optional and mixed-gender. It is a big deal, but not in the way you might think. So, I had already been through what Judy told me is the typical reaction: about 1 minute of some combination of surprise, fear, shock, and modesty followed immediately by the return of comfort and normalcy.
Then gradually, an understanding setting in that that nakedness just fits in a place of wellness like Everett House. Judy told me of the enjoyment she gets noticing people transition from uncomfortable to relaxed as they realize that no one is paying attention. In the current environment in the US we almost never experience nudity in a non-sexual context.
This is terribly unhealthy โ psychologically, physiologically, and spiritually. Just as we have all found with sauna, one can reap great benefits from stepping outside our comfort zone now and then.
