"I need friends": a morning rave against loneliness

Fight loneliness. This is one of the biggest slogans repeated in recent years in New York City. The new trend is saunas. radish morning shows, supposedly free of alcohol and other psychotropic substances. One hundred and sixty people pack into an underground space before sunrise at six in the morning. The Othership party combines a steam sauna, ice baths, and a social club. Under reddish lighting, people dance in bikinis, sweaty and raising their arms, responding to the messianic cries of the DJ, who plays music to liven up the party: "I need friends! I need friends!" A kind of guru guides the attendees in an introspective breathing practice: "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" All attendees have paid seventy dollars for admission to this new form of spa where the floor and benches are slippery with sweat. Reporter Bindu Bansinath reports for the supplement The Cut of the New York Magazine. A conversation with some of the regulars at these venues. The most dedicated are those on the dance floor, but amidst the scene, he spots individuals who aren't feeling very well. Others are dragged along by their partners, and some try it as a morning pick-me-up before going to work, but they miss the drugs. These are the ones who decide to settle down in the steam room or the ice-water tubs, which are more tranquil spaces. Most work in finance and the world of technology. The photographs in the report don't exactly invite you to try it. People of all ages rub up against each other, their skin gleaming and their hair dripping from the heat, in front of the DJ's table full of cables. In a report last year, Ashley Wolfgang of The Strategist, admitted that the experience in the sauna radish had given him a hangover despite not drinking. The place has obviously aroused the interest of the media, but the brave souls who have tried it don't seem to have much desire to repeat their visit.

The Othership initiative is part of a growing trend of spas Wellness centers for the city's wealthy, many of them founded by Radha Agrawal, an entrepreneur who has focused all her energies on business, she says, to combat this global loneliness. They are social clubs that force their clients to uninhibit themselves. On her website, the entrepreneur and sauna owner radish She defines herself as a force of nature and emphasizes that MTV chose her as the woman who would change the world. She has published books and gives motivational talks that seek creative energy and inspiration. She is an architect of communities, she says. Among other institutions and celebrities, she has offered her services at Princeton University, Nike, Oprah Winfrey, and Campbell's, the industry's most famous canned soup company. She is considered a provider of happiness for society, a healer of the population, and it is believed that her obsession with well-being can have an impact on the health of the country, with a well-crafted sales pitch. However, combating loneliness in New York and the United States is more of a slogan than a real concern. This noble cause is beginning to be, in most cases, a cover to justify eccentric entertainment to make money. Relationship strategies are proposed that, truth be told, seem highly unsuitable for lonely people or those with difficulty establishing social connections. It seems more like a business designed for bored, unmotivated rich people who don't know what to do with their lives.