Yes, you can give saunagus as a gift. A saunagus gift card is bought in our own shop, you choose the amount yourself, it is delivered by email, and the person you give it to spends it on anything we sell: sessions, class passes, events and merchandise. Buy a gift card.
That is the short version. The rest of this is the part worth thinking about first, because a gift card for saunagus is not a bottle of wine. You are giving an experience rather than an object, and experiences land differently.
How the saunagus gift card works
Whoever receives it books like anyone else: they find a time in the schedule and pay with the card. That is genuinely all there is to it. The rest sits on the pricing page, or you can ask us.
What you are actually giving
Here is the honest part. A saunagus session happens in a dark, hot room full of strangers where nobody talks. A gusmester pours water and essential oils onto the stones and moves that heat around the room with a towel, in rounds, with cool-down breaks in between. For some people that is the best hour of their week. For others it is a lot, at least the first time.
The scent arrives first, eucalyptus or citrus, and the heat follows a moment behind it, in waves, every time the towel swings past. Then the door opens and you are outside in cold air with wet hair and a heart still going a little fast. Most people say very little for the first half hour afterwards. That is the part they come back for.
So it is worth thinking about who you are giving it to. It lands well with people who already like heat, people who are curious about cold water, and people who keep saying they need to slow down and never book anything for themselves. It also works well between friends, because what you are really giving is a plan to do something together.
It is a harder gift for someone who dislikes heat, or who would find a silent room full of strangers uncomfortable rather than restful. That is a real preference and not a small one.
If you are unsure, say a bit about it when you give the card. The useful things to mention: you can sit as low in the room as you like, the bottom bench is cooler and nobody thinks anything of it, you can walk out mid-round without explaining yourself, and there is no talking inside. That last one is the rule people find strangest beforehand and like the most afterwards.
There is always someone at a session trying it for the first time, and the gusmester keeps an eye on anyone who says at the door that it is their first time. We wrote all of it down in Saunagus for beginners, and What is saunagus? explains the ritual itself. Send one of those along with the card. That does more than a couple of lines in an email.
Choosing the amount
You decide the amount, which means you also decide what shape the gift takes. Current prices are on the pricing page, so open it before you buy and choose against what is actually there. The card covers everything we sell, class passes included, so the amount is the only real choice you make. It does not have to become a session at all either, since events and merchandise count too.
If you want to point them at a particular kind of session, Relaxed Gus is the gentle one, Signature Gus is the classic, and Energizing Gus is the loud one, which works better as a second session than a first.
Questions we get
What does a saunagus gift card cost?
You choose the amount. What that amount buys is on the pricing page. Worth a look before you settle on a number, so you know what you are giving.
Can I give saunagus to someone who has never tried it?
Yes. That is a common reason to buy one. They will not be the only first-timer in the room, the gusmester guides the group through it, and sitting low or stepping out for a moment is completely ordinary. Tell them to say at the door that it is their first time, and the rest gets easier.
How does the receiver get the gift card?
By email. The card works on both our website and our app.
What can the gift card be spent on?
Anything we sell: a single session, a class pass, events and merchandise, on both our website and our app.
Should I give one session or a pass?
If they have never tried saunagus, a single session is plenty. If they already come, a class pass gives them more for the same amount, because the price per visit drops. You choose the amount either way, so you can also just leave the choice to them.
Ready to give it
Buy the card in our shop. If you would rather book a time for the two of you instead, find a time in the schedule. Anything we have not covered is in our FAQ, or you can just ask us.