The only sound I hear is the distant trickle of a small waterfall. Cool light shines up through the slats of the cedar bench. The sauna is quiet, silent enough to hear the inner voice that is too subtle to be heard out in the rodeo that is the real world. I check the sand timer on the wall. I’ve been in here a while. I’d planned on staying in a bit longer but I am coaxed out when, through the glass, I see Isabella enter the spa area carrying a tray of refreshments. I take a seat in a luxurious rattan chair and cool off while I enjoy grapes, biscuits, and floral tea.
The Jacuzzi calls out to me. I am intrigued by the curved, ergonomic bed that is large enough for two people to lie with their bodies immersed as their back and legs are massaged by jets of water. Next I let myself drift over to the two small waterfalls that arc downward from their origin in the stone wall at the back of the Jacuzzi. I pass through the wall of water, feeling its weight on my head and shoulders, and then, with my back to the stone wall, I look out at the spa through the undulant lens.
The fast pace of the modern world teaches us to crave constant stimulation. Try sitting in a chair in your bedroom for 20 minutes without doing or saying anything. But put yourself in the right room with the right balance of factors, and everything changes. Taking a moment to look out at the world from behind a tiny waterfall invokes a feeling of mystery. Similarly, the sauna is essentially a quiet, hot room, and yet there’s something about the heat, the cedar, and stones that creates an almost transcendent feeling, which makes sitting in total silence a highly enjoyable experience. It really is a form of meditation. I often get some of my best ideas in the sauna.
It’s time for another session. I leave the Jacuzzi and pad across the stone floor toward the sauna. I have this whole place to myself. While I would enjoy talking with other spa goers, I appreciate the solitude. Later, I would be delighted to discover that for only €50 I could reserve the whole space for myself for an hour. If you enjoy sharing the space with others, you only pay €35 for 90 minutes. So far this is the most affordable spa I’ve encountered. If someone had told me the price before I arrived, I would not have imagined such luxury.
After another extended session in the heat, my body is saying, “This is too much. We should get out.” This is a natural reaction, and a healthy one, but it can often be premature. I like to use the sauna as a tool to adjust my fear of discomfort. When I do finally leave, my legs feel like jelly but a few bracing moments in the frigid rainfall shower brings the tension back to my muscles. My breaths come in short gasps. Again the voice is telling me to get out, but I stay in a few moments longer. The cold shower after the sauna is yet another tool to engage one’s fear of discomfort. Unlike more extreme tools people use, like running a marathon or skydiving, the risk is negligible while the gains are quite noticeable. There are studies showing that regular exposure to intense cold, like a short cold shower, can have extremely positive effects on a person’s emotional state.
Moving on, I take a moment to have a few grapes and sip my tea. I notice that after such an intense hot & cold experience, the grapes taste a lot better than if I were mindlessly eating them while watching Netflix. I move on to the Jacuzzi again. I like that it is large enough for me to stretch out fully in the water and just float. After the intensity of the sauna and the cold shower, this weightlessness and the low rumble of the water in my ears creates an almost foetale experience. Later, when relaxing on one of the reclining chairs next to the Jacuzzi, I realize that for me, a big 
value of a spa experience is that it legitimizes relaxation. For a type-A, workaholic personality like myself, I realize I have to pay someone for the privilege of just hanging out and doing virtually nothing for 90 minutes. Hey. Whatever works.
Next it’s time to try the steam room. While the air in the dry sauna is as clear as air can be, in the steam bath I can barely see past an outstretched hand. The steam is so thick, I have to breath slowly or I’ll cough, but I love it. I can feel the moisture entering my lungs, hydrating, and purifying my alveoli. It strikes me that each area in this spa gains something from what it inhibits. The dry sauna is about silence and stillness; the hissing, undulating moisture in the steam bath obscures the vision, while the Jacuzzi minimizes the effects of gravity.
The time comes for me to shower and dress and head back out into the world. On the way to the locker room, I wander a bit. I investigate their massage room. I am fascinated with the massage beds, which are essentially sandboxes full of warmed quartz crystals slightly larger than grains of sand. Down the hall is a small workout room with the essentials. The spa is not a sprawling space like some I’ve seen, but the intimacy of Musa is something I really appreciate. They offer a wide variety of packages, from a 90-minute sauna and Jacuzzi experience to a spa package that includes a ride around town in a Ferrari. No joke! Musa has something for everyone.
