A good old-fashioned schvitz.

I live about a block and a half from my gym. It takes me five minutes to walk there, at most, and then only if I have to wait for the light to change. I get dressed in my apartment before I go, and rarely have reason to use most of the amenities - the biggest one being the sheer convenience value, which makes it hard for me to talk myself out of going.

It's possible I should have explored a little more when I first started going, but it's also nice to have something surprise me when I needed a serious cheering. Which is that the gym has a steam room. A really nice steam room. A steam room I'll probably go to four or five times a week for the next fortnight or so until the novelty wears off.

I spent about fifteen minutes in 80% humidity at around 40 C. And at the end of it, I felt both more relaxed and awake than I have in weeks. It was so good to just breathe in there, my lungs and throat and all that given a little respite from the last lingering bits of sickness...I had the room all to myself, which itself was lovely, the odd sense of privacy that comes from solitary occupation of enclosed spaces in urban environments. I got up and walked around a bit, because I could, and scrubbed all the sweat off in a little shower afterward. It was pretty much exactly what I needed. A good way to get back into myself on a number of physical and mental levels.

And I'll definitely be going back in tomorrow.