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Poland’s Karolina Jarzabek is the first woman to be crowned top aufguss master in the world at the Aufguss World Championships, held at the new Spa Berendonck in The Netherlands recently.
Aufguss is an entertaining, communal sauna ritual that – at its simplest – involves an aufguss master waving a towel to distribute the sauna’s heat, usually set to music and with essential oil fragrances adding to the experience. But the top sauna masters get very creative, weaving in storylines, costumes, and complex movements.
Jarzabek’s performance of ‘Magic Night – the story of the puppet who came to life once every 7,000 years’, earned top honours in the singles category.
“The secret to the perfect aufguss is just to be yourself, my show was from the heart and did just that,” Jarzabek tells Spa Business. “It’s been a tough year for me getting divorced, becoming a single parent and having problems at home and work and I drew inspiration from my favourite songs, smells and the night sky full of stars (which I love too) for the ‘transformations’ in my performance.”
Jarzabek started her aufguss adventure three years ago at Chocholowskie Thermal Baths in south Poland, which is owned by her father and uncle. She admits to being a complete novice “I’d never been to a sauna before, I came to training in a dress and high heels.” But she grew in confidence after getting some tips from fellow Polish aufguss champion Rob Keijzer. She’s based in Chocholowskie the majority of the time but also travels to spas across Europe.
Of being the first female aufguss champion she says: “Nothing but hard work and patience will lead you to where you are and when you’re there it doesn’t matter whether you’re a man or a woman.
“It’s a very special thing for me because aufguss is just at the beginning of its history and I’ll definitely be a part of a it for a long time.”
Poland also won in doubles, as Katarzyna Klajn and Lukasz Dluzniewki’s humour-filled interpretation of the Spanish masterpiece Don Quixote, inspired the international jury.
Over 350 participants from national qualifier events took part in the 7th annual Aufguss World Championships, and the final included almost 100 participants from 11 qualifying countries.
The best teams and shows were presented in a 200-person sauna. The five-day battle attracted sweat enthusiasts from around the world, including representatives from the Japanese Sauna Association and Russia, with daily guests topping out at 1,200.
Jury member Lasse Eriksen says an increasing number of professional dancers, artists and actors are joining the aufguss profession and that the waving techniques and shows are getting more creative. Other shows this year included an interpretation of the film Billy Elliot and the story of the Suffragettes.
The 2020 Aufguss World Championships will take place on 7-13 September at the Palac Saturna hotel with Pompeii-inspired Roman baths in Czeladz, south Poland.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2019 issue 4
Editor's letter: Democratic wellness
To truly flourish, the spa industry needs to step outside its comfort zone and reach out to different markets with new and exciting business models, says Katie Barnes
Spa Programmes: On the menu
Boundary-pushing wellness in Iceland, self-care focus at Devarana and Civana’s equine retreat all feature in our spa menu round-up
Interview: Alexandre Cantin
Canada’s Groupe Nordik wants to open 10 nature spas, focusing on bathing and thermotherapy, by 2027. Katie Barnes talks to its VP of growth and strategy
Promotional feature: Starpool - Star quality
Wellness expert, Starpool, is known for offering complete wellness solutions with Italian design flair, enabling operators to create world class treatments and experiences
Training: Covering all bases
Resense joins forces with Lobster Ink to create an online training program for multiple spa roles
Promotional feature: Gharieni
Spa equipment innovator, Gharieni, is partnering with leading spas around the world to showcase its products to clients in real world settings, as CEO, Sammy Gharieni, explains
Research: Positive picture
ISPA’s latest US spa study shows continued growth across key metrics and pinpoints CBD and gen Z as trends. Russell Donaldson reports
Promotional feature: Zimmer MedizinSystems - Cool customer
Rainer Bolsinger, who heads up hotel and spa sales of icelab at Zimmer MedizinSystems, and icelab customer Chenot Group, explain how cryotherapy can be incorporated into your business
Promotional feature: Biologique Recherche - Skin deep
Biologique Recherche has spent the past 40 years developing technology and products to understand the skin on an individual level. Pierre-Louis Delapalme and Rupert Schmid tell Spa Business about the Parisian brand’s latest innovations
Research: On the move
The global physical activity market is now worth US$828bn according to a new GWI study. But what emerging trends do spas need to know about?
Promotional feature: SpaSoft - Onwards & upwards
The enhanced integration between SpaSoft and multiple PMS systems will help your team save time, remove the possibility of human error and create an elevated guest experience
Software: Monetising
How is software helping spas to navigate e-commerce and further monetise their relationship with clients
In the fast-paced world of fitness and wellness, where high-intensity workouts push us to
our limits and the sweat pours, the importance of efficient recovery cannot be overstated. [more...]
Poland’s Karolina Jarzabek is the first woman to be crowned top aufguss master in the world at the Aufguss World Championships, held at the new Spa Berendonck in The Netherlands recently.
Aufguss is an entertaining, communal sauna ritual that – at its simplest – involves an aufguss master waving a towel to distribute the sauna’s heat, usually set to music and with essential oil fragrances adding to the experience. But the top sauna masters get very creative, weaving in storylines, costumes, and complex movements.
Jarzabek’s performance of ‘Magic Night – the story of the puppet who came to life once every 7,000 years’, earned top honours in the singles category.
“The secret to the perfect aufguss is just to be yourself, my show was from the heart and did just that,” Jarzabek tells Spa Business. “It’s been a tough year for me getting divorced, becoming a single parent and having problems at home and work and I drew inspiration from my favourite songs, smells and the night sky full of stars (which I love too) for the ‘transformations’ in my performance.”
Jarzabek started her aufguss adventure three years ago at Chocholowskie Thermal Baths in south Poland, which is owned by her father and uncle. She admits to being a complete novice “I’d never been to a sauna before, I came to training in a dress and high heels.” But she grew in confidence after getting some tips from fellow Polish aufguss champion Rob Keijzer. She’s based in Chocholowskie the majority of the time but also travels to spas across Europe.
Of being the first female aufguss champion she says: “Nothing but hard work and patience will lead you to where you are and when you’re there it doesn’t matter whether you’re a man or a woman.
“It’s a very special thing for me because aufguss is just at the beginning of its history and I’ll definitely be a part of a it for a long time.”
Poland also won in doubles, as Katarzyna Klajn and Lukasz Dluzniewki’s humour-filled interpretation of the Spanish masterpiece Don Quixote, inspired the international jury.
Over 350 participants from national qualifier events took part in the 7th annual Aufguss World Championships, and the final included almost 100 participants from 11 qualifying countries.
The best teams and shows were presented in a 200-person sauna. The five-day battle attracted sweat enthusiasts from around the world, including representatives from the Japanese Sauna Association and Russia, with daily guests topping out at 1,200.
Jury member Lasse Eriksen says an increasing number of professional dancers, artists and actors are joining the aufguss profession and that the waving techniques and shows are getting more creative. Other shows this year included an interpretation of the film Billy Elliot and the story of the Suffragettes.
The 2020 Aufguss World Championships will take place on 7-13 September at the Palac Saturna hotel with Pompeii-inspired Roman baths in Czeladz, south Poland.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2019 issue 4
Editor's letter: Democratic wellness
To truly flourish, the spa industry needs to step outside its comfort zone and reach out to different markets with new and exciting business models, says Katie Barnes
Spa Programmes: On the menu
Boundary-pushing wellness in Iceland, self-care focus at Devarana and Civana’s equine retreat all feature in our spa menu round-up
Interview: Alexandre Cantin
Canada’s Groupe Nordik wants to open 10 nature spas, focusing on bathing and thermotherapy, by 2027. Katie Barnes talks to its VP of growth and strategy
Promotional feature: Starpool - Star quality
Wellness expert, Starpool, is known for offering complete wellness solutions with Italian design flair, enabling operators to create world class treatments and experiences
Training: Covering all bases
Resense joins forces with Lobster Ink to create an online training program for multiple spa roles
Promotional feature: Gharieni
Spa equipment innovator, Gharieni, is partnering with leading spas around the world to showcase its products to clients in real world settings, as CEO, Sammy Gharieni, explains
Research: Positive picture
ISPA’s latest US spa study shows continued growth across key metrics and pinpoints CBD and gen Z as trends. Russell Donaldson reports
Promotional feature: Zimmer MedizinSystems - Cool customer
Rainer Bolsinger, who heads up hotel and spa sales of icelab at Zimmer MedizinSystems, and icelab customer Chenot Group, explain how cryotherapy can be incorporated into your business
Promotional feature: Biologique Recherche - Skin deep
Biologique Recherche has spent the past 40 years developing technology and products to understand the skin on an individual level. Pierre-Louis Delapalme and Rupert Schmid tell Spa Business about the Parisian brand’s latest innovations
Research: On the move
The global physical activity market is now worth US$828bn according to a new GWI study. But what emerging trends do spas need to know about?
Promotional feature: SpaSoft - Onwards & upwards
The enhanced integration between SpaSoft and multiple PMS systems will help your team save time, remove the possibility of human error and create an elevated guest experience
Software: Monetising
How is software helping spas to navigate e-commerce and further monetise their relationship with clients
A new survey of UK and international spa practitioners shows that stress, burnout and
wellbeing concerns have caused one in three respondents to consider leaving the industry.
The UK's four Chief Medical Officers have published a refreshed edition of Physical activity
guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report, updating the evidence that underpins the nation's
physical activity recommendations and placing greater emphasis on strength, balance, reducing
sedentary behaviour and, for the first time, supporting people taking weight loss medications.
Anna Bjurstam has left her role as Wellness Pioneer at Six Senses Hotels and Resorts and
launched a new wellness, longevity and “consciousness consultancy” called Wahayla.
Fairmont Cheshire, The Mere, has opened today (10 July) in the Northwest of England
with a
1,715sq m Fairmont Spa that has been designed using a ‘Wellness without Walls’
concept.
Wellness hotels generating less than US$1 million (€932,700, £785,200) – or 10 per cent of
total revenue from wellness and leisure – recorded the strongest RevPAR and TRevPAR growth
in 2025 across categories when compared with 2024, according to the latest Wellness Real
Estate Report by RLA Global, produced in partnership with P and L benchmarking firm HotStats.
Lefay Resorts, the portfolio of two luxury wellness properties in Italy, has added emotional
dance classes and group cold plunge sessions in response to market demand for social
connection.
Aditya Saluja, an industry leader in luxury wellness hospitality, has been
appointed as
commercial director of spa and wellness for the spa management division of
Minor Hotels,
MSpa International.
In the fast-paced world of fitness and wellness, where high-intensity workouts push us to
our limits and the sweat pours, the importance of efficient recovery cannot be overstated. [more...]
