These NYC Spas Are All About Group Wellness, With Sauna Parties and Communal Sound Baths

A spa won’t be the first place you’d go when hoping to meet individuals. And but, New Yorkers are doing simply that. Communal bathhouses will not be unusual within the metropolis—the Russian & Turkish Baths, in the East Village, is almost 135 years previous. However previously few years, wellness areas that expressly encourage group experiences and dialog have opened their doorways.

“When individuals breathe collectively, cold plunge together, and transfer by means of discomfort collectively, one thing shifts,” says Amanda Laine, cofounder of Othership, a spa that first opened in Toronto in 2022 and now has areas within the Flatiron and Williamsburg neighborhoods of New York. Othership hosts “sauna parties,” which embody breath work, reside music, and dancing, for as much as 90 individuals.

A related idea is on the coronary heart of Bathhouse Flatiron, which hosts Aufguss ceremonies—for these German rituals, a “sauna grasp” rhythmically waves a towel to flow into warmth and important oils, all to an digital playlist. The trendy house, with six swimming pools, three saunas, a steam room, and café, attracts a scene, particularly on a Friday night time.

In the meantime, at Sage + Sound, on the Higher East Facet, the main target is on meditation and sound baths; there are additionally workshops on tarot, Reiki, astrology, and different non secular practices. “New York is intense and overstimulating,” says cofounder Lacey Tisch. “Individuals crave someplace to recharge, decelerate, and join with others exterior of labor or dwelling.”

Then there’s the extra intimate elahni in NoMad—dubbed the primary “wellness speakeasy” within the metropolis—which affords small-group, guided distinction bathing classes. After, friends sip nonalcoholic stress-relieving tonics collectively, with components like ashwagandha, on the adjoining bar. 

The newest to the scene is, satirically, not new: The Well, which suffered from a flood on the finish of 2024, was one among Manhattan’s first communal wellness areas. It reopened this fall with reimagined studios and a thermal hall of saunas and plunges, plus the return of its health lessons, discussions, and workshops with visiting specialists in matters like menopause and longevity. 

A model of this story first appeared within the November 2025 concern of Journey + Leisure below the headline “All Collectively Now.”