The Turkish have their legendary hammams, the Japanese bathe in the mineral-rich onsen, and in Iceland, public pools (or sundlaugs) are community hubs whose ubiquity are seen as a kind of civil right.
Communal bathing is among our oldest self-care rituals; its therapeutic allure dates back centuries. In ancient Asia, the practice was a religious ritual believed to cleanse both body and soul. The ancient Greeks regularly soaked in public bathhouses after workouts at the gymnasium and for the Romans, the baths served as community centres, places to read and debate politics.
But bathing as a collective act is rare in the modern world. In Australia, as in most Western countries, we wash alone, at home. To bathe is purely functional and often
