Your first saunagus is simpler than it sounds. You sit in a hot sauna with a group, a gusmester pours water and essential oils onto the hot stones, and then moves that hot air over you with a towel. It runs in rounds, and between the rounds you go outside and cool off.
If you want the full explanation of the ritual, we wrote that one already: What is saunagus?. This one is for beginners: what to bring, what the room feels like, and what nobody thinks to tell you before your first saunagus in Copenhagen.
Before you arrive
Pick a time in the schedule. Bring swimwear, a couple of towels and something to drink. That is the whole packing list.
Eat a couple of hours before rather than right before, and do not come if you have been drinking. Heat and alcohol do not go together.
Come fifteen minutes early: time to change, shower and sit down before anything starts. Say at the door that it is your first time. The gusmester will keep an eye on you, and nobody thinks twice about it.
Washing in the shower is not optional: before the first round, and again every time you use the cold plunge. Ordinary Danish sauna rules, and the rest are in our FAQ.
The first round
The room is dark and warm before anything happens. Take a seat on one of the lower benches, where the air is cooler. You can always move up later.
Then the water hits the stones, and for a moment nothing happens. Then the scent arrives, eucalyptus or citrus or pine, and the heat right behind it.
The towel and the fan are the gusmester's tools. Big slow circles, sharp snaps, a wave sent down the row. And the one we call a warm hug: all that heat gathered up and sent over one person at a time.
The music is the gusmester's own, and it sets the mood as much as the heat does. Some guide you through it, breathe in for five, notice how your body feels. Two sessions in the same sauna can land completely differently depending on who leads.
Somewhere in there you will notice your own heartbeat and think that this is a lot. That is normal and it passes. Breathe slower, sit lower, or step out.
Between rounds
A round typically runs around 8 to 12 minutes and the break after it around 10 to 15, so three rounds and their breaks land near an hour. It shifts with the gusmester and the season: breaks run shorter in winter, longer in summer, depending on the weather and how people feel.
When the round ends the door opens and the outside air hits like cold water. The break is where the talking happens: people fetch water, get some air and end up in conversation, including the ones who came alone.
Some people take the cold plunge. You do not have to, and a couple of minutes in the fresh air is plenty at first.
What nobody tells beginners
You can leave the room at any point, mid-round, without explaining yourself. The door only swings one way though: once you are out, you wait for the round to end before coming back in. Same if you arrive late. Nobody walks into a round that is already running.
There is no talking inside the sauna, that belongs to the break. It is the rule people find strangest beforehand and like the most afterwards.
Nobody is timing you and nobody is looking at you. Everyone has their eyes closed and their own heat to deal with.
Sitting low is not cheating, and the bottom bench is a fine place to start. Experienced guests spread across every level depending on what they want that day, and plenty head for the top, because the heat is what they came for.
You will sweat more than you expect. That is the point.
Questions from beginners
Can I do saunagus while pregnant?
Ask your doctor first. We are not doctors and we are not going to pretend otherwise. That said, many pregnant guests have joined us over the years, some well into pregnancy. Some sit high and enjoy the warmth, others stay low, and most keep the cold plunge short or skip it. A fair few come regularly, because they find it calming. Everyone is different, and you are the only one who can feel your own body, so listen to it. The same goes for a heart condition, high or low blood pressure, or medication that affects circulation: talk to your doctor, then feel your way.
Which format should I pick the first time?
Relaxed Gus for a gentle start, Signature Gus for the classic one. Energizing Gus is the loud one, more heat and more movement, and better as your second or third session than your first.
Is there a discount?
A single session and a pass do not cost the same, and the pass brings the per-session price down. Everything current is on the pricing page.
What do I wear?
Swimwear. Bring a second towel, so you have one to sit on.
Booking your first session
Sit low, and take the first round as it comes. Anything else you can ask us at the door. Find a time.