18 - Building Community in Asheville with Daniel Ratner

Season 1, Episode 18: Building Community in Asheville with Daniel Ratner

• Introduction to Daniel Ratner, Co-Founder of Drip Sauna
• Insight on Ashevilles' first wood-fired sauna and cold plunge experience
• The epidemic of loneliness and how community spaces like Drip Sauna foster belonging (60% of Americans feel lonely)
• Travis shares a vulnerable story about grief, healing, and the power of sweat during tough times
• The role of sauna and cold plunge for somatic healing, resilience, and transformation
• Building a values-driven business in wellness: collaboration, authenticity, and ease
• Sauna culture as a container for inclusivity, deep conversation, and bridging divides
• The importance of men's and women's circles and gender-inclusive wellness
• Ritual, habit, and the future of wellness gatherings in Asheville

Key Takeaways:

• Drip Sauna is equal parts healing, relaxation, and community-building
• Cold plunges and sauna can help move emotional pain and create clarity
• Wellness businesses thrive through authentic connection and diverse community
• Small-group spaces naturally lead to deep conversation and real friendship
• Curiosity, authenticity, and ‘saying yes’ are the foundation for building community
• Inclusivity and intentional collaborations are vital for Asheville’s holistic scene
• Listeners receive code BEWELLDRIP25 for 25% off a session!

Timestamps:

• 00:00 – 03:00 | Welcome and Community Spotlight
• 03:00 – 07:00 | Daniel's journey and the Drip Sauna origin story
• 07:00 – 15:00 | Connection, loneliness, and the power of authentic gathering
• 15:00 – 25:00 | Personal healing stories, cold plunging, and grief
• 25:00 – 38:00 | Building spaces for men & women; inclusivity and collaboration
• 38:00 – 44:00 | Practical tips, rapid-fire questions, and Daniel's special offer
  
  

Episode Links:

Drip Sauna

Taylor Johnson on Orgasmic Mastery for Men

The Wellness in Asheville podcast is produced by Be Well Asheville, your local news source covering health + wellness news + events in Asheville. Get the latest at bewellasheville.com or follow @bewellasheville.

Transcript

Daniel Ratner on Building Community in Asheville

 [00:00:00] 

Speaker: Welcome to the Wellness in Asheville Podcast, where we shine a light on the people practices, and places that make this city one of the most inspiring wellness communities in the country. I'm your host, Travis Richardson, founder of Be Well Asheville, your local news source for health, wellness, and community events.

Speaker 19: Alright, so in today's episode, I sit down with Daniel Ratner, one of the co-founders over at Drip Sauna and Drip Sauna, if you haven't been out there, is Asheville's first and only wood-fired sauna and cold plunge experience. And so we talk a lot about community building on this episode, but we also talk about the epidemic of loneliness on this one.

And I mentioned how 60% of Americans report feeling lonely. Just really sad. You know, I find it fascinating that in such a connected world we [00:01:00] are all feeling like we want something more than what we have. Uh, something different, at least than what, than what we find on social media. And, uh, in this episode I also share a story, uh, that I've never, ever shared before.

It's a deeply personal story about something that happened to me spontaneously during my divorce. And, uh, so if you wanna find out what that little juicy nugget is, you're gonna have to listen on. And lastly, I just wanna share that since I started be Well Asheville and the Wellness in Asheville Podcast, I've just been so blessed to have community forming around me, and I just realized how sometimes you have to be the one to go out there and make it happen.

Often you've gotta be proactive, and when you do, sometimes you find out that the universe meets you halfway. People start showing up like they have. For me, I believe that you have the power to create the life the world that you want, and that starts with the [00:02:00] people that are right here in front of you right now today.

Just how you show up means everything.

Speaker 18: All right, so today on the show we have Daniel Ratner with Drip Sauna here to talk about all things community. How you doing, Daniel? 

Daniel Ratner: I am doing very well. Actually, just got out of the cold plunge myself. I need to do some grounding, and I was like, all right, I'm getting on. This conversation with Travis.

Let's write it. Let's write the ship a bit. So did a quick sweat. So, uh, I'm feeling good. 

Speaker 18: Nice. Yeah. Co uh, coal plunges really are like the most, the, the easiest way to wake the body. Wake the cells, wake the mind. Uh, uh, for sure. Um. I, uh, I had recently had an opportunity to, you know, I came out for the Friday three hour session and man, I had an amazing time.

I just wanna say thank you right off the bat for putting on such an amazing [00:03:00] event. I mean, just for the listeners, that Friday event had it featured, there was, um, an instructor, really awesome instructor from Hot Yoga Asheville there leading in a yoga session. There was, there was massage therapy, there was also a DJ.

Playing some reggae music, which is my favorite genre of music. And then of course, I roasted marshmallows after the sauna and cold plunge with, with some new friends. So it was really awesome, man. 

Daniel Ratner: Wow. That was our drip after dark. And uh, I'm stoked that reggae is is your favorite. 'cause that was an epic, that was an epic experience too with the speaker system set up.

And, uh, yeah, it's, it's been sweet finding. Exploring and finding a balance as to what, like what feels good to us as one of the co-founders with Drip, I work closely with Evan and feeling what, what feels good and, um, what kind of comes into our path, like folks that are excited about what they're doing.

We're [00:04:00] very open to collaborating and not everything has to be like a crazy success. Like let's just be curious and experiment. 

Speaker 18: I think as an entrepreneur, that's one of the hardest things to do is to experiment, uh, because you're so, you know, like for me, I'm always, I've had times where I'm like being really cautious and, uh, I, I, I guess in prior, uh, experiences I've felt that way.

In my current thing I'm like, test, test and iterate. Test and iterate fast because you don't wanna like hang on to something that's not working right. 

Daniel Ratner: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. I think one, I mean, one of the things that has aided. Both, both of us, we both have full-time jobs. So that sense of ease is, is really important.

Like we're creating a, a sauna and cold plunge business where ease and like a sense of relaxation is critical. If we were. If we didn't have that going into it, I think foundationally it would be felt when people arrive on the space. So [00:05:00] being able to grow with the sense of, of easefulness, of with thoughtfulness, um, with that curiosity, uh, has been, has been like, really has made it more fun too, I would say.

Speaker 18: Yeah, I think that's really, um, I mean, both of you having full-time jobs, able to support the business and, and grow it and do some things you wouldn't be able to do without. That's, um, seems to be, yeah, I didn't, I had a gym business back in the day and I quit my job a little early, let's say. So got early into kind of a hole where I'm like.

Depending on every dollar coming in. And I'm like, you know, summertime came around, I'm like, oh my God, let's, let's see if we can get through this season. You know? Hold my breath. 

Daniel Ratner: Yeah, that's a, that's a tight rope to walk. 

Speaker 18: So today's talk, we, we talked about different themes and I initially was like, let's talk, let's talk about, um, biohacking.

'cause that's like one of my things I'm into. I like [00:06:00] to, I love, I'm like a geek on longevity science. And then we, you kind of was like, eh, you're kinda like, let's, you know, that's cool. Um, but like, really like to talk about community because that's feels most important. Why did you, uh, suggest that? 

Daniel Ratner: So I. I also appreciate a good biohack.

Like I, I love some good like 48 hour, 72 hour, 96 hour water fasts and bulletproof coffee, and finding out the right duration of time to be in the sauna to get the growth hormone pumping off. But it seems, um, when I'm thinking of what has been a critical part for me and for Drip, um, it's been coming back to the question of like.

How do we wanna build and how do we wanna grow? And, and community has just really become a organic pillar of, of how we're answering that question and what direction we're taking it. [00:07:00] Um, what's also been really sweet too, is we're getting active direct feedback from folks. Like, it feels really great to, when we started doing.

Sunday Sauna, social. Um, it was about a, a month and a half after the hurricane. And it, we were kind of, our tensions were split between like, okay, there's tourism and then there's locals. How do we attract both? All right, let's figure out strategies. And the hurricane made that very clear that, okay, let's focus on locals.

There's no happening here. 

Speaker 18: Yeah. 

Daniel Ratner: Um, and it all, and it was like. We were able to open up our space we're on well water. So once we got power back, we could offer showers and, and we had like first responders come up and it was just like a a, we had the resources to make it really simple for a lot to enable people to [00:08:00] fill their own tanks a bit rather than, rather than continuously giving out to others, which.

I, I felt like was such a different, uh, dynamic and I'm kind of like spinning off of this, but thinking of like COVID I felt, and I was living in Brooklyn that. The sentiment was like people, like they have more, people have more. That's like, I need more myself. Where experiencing Helene at in Asheville, it was, oh, I have more to give.

I like, I have so much, like what can I be doing to, to provide, like that shift is really beautiful and I think we come at the, by, by following that. Like we recognize our tank is very low or our energy is low and, and then we. We lower ourselves on that, on that priority list, and ultimately we're running on E.

So this is like a sweet way to get folks back and then like, yes, get a incredible sweat, have that power of heat and that [00:09:00] power of ice, but then like drop in with somebody else and like it was such a, there were so many releases that were happening. Yeah, 

Speaker 18: I, I, my experience with, I don't know what it is about this kind of getting together with others, like going through this experience together feels very primal.

I mean, I know, I know when I had like some of my most. Important experiences spiritually. We're in a sweat lodge and it's very much like that. Uh, it obviously has a different feel to it, but it is the same kind of spiritual experience about getting together with others in this space where you gotta kind of figure out how this is gonna go.

You know what I mean? 

Daniel Ratner: Yeah, absolutely. It's, it's beautiful too. And I think there's like, one, one thread I wanna hit on at some point is like, going back to that, that primal power of it. But what I think is also really sweet about, about [00:10:00] sauna and then this culture is there's like, there's space along the spectrum of if you're feeling very social, if you're feeling very insular and like, it, it fits, it fits the bill for both.

Like I, I remember we had one of our first music events up here. Like, someone showed up and I spoke to 'em after, they're like, oh, I was not feeling social at all. Like, I did not wanna even like, make eye contact with other other people. And they were able to go into the sauna, like drop into their space, like feel really good and then kind of come out refreshed.

But like, offering that up and, and inviting that I think is, uh, is a beautiful thing that's, that's relatively rare in a day to day outside of sauna. 

Speaker 18: Yeah. And I, I really like, you know, I was reading some statistics because I knew we were gonna talk about community, and I was like, what, what should I, what should I do research on to prep for today?

And one of them was of course, loneliness and I was looking at some data and like, I mean, we're [00:11:00] like at 60% of. Of Americans feel lo report feeling lonely. And I think about lots of even, um, things that you can do that are healthy for yourself, like go to a fitness class or even go do yoga or there's lots of things where you go do the thing and you leave and you don't really get an opportunity to.

Talk with somebody. And I just feel like this small group, this small, um, you know, I think six people is your limit to go into Asana, but it's so easy just to like start talking to somebody if you want to. Like, it's so easy to make a friend there. 

Daniel Ratner: Yes. I think, um. What, what I've, one of the things I've thought about too is how, like, we're a lot more permeable in the sauna.

Like we're, we're sweating out of all our pores, like physically we're permeable. And also, like mentally, we're permeable too, where the conversations can get deep very quickly. 

Speaker 18: Mm-hmm. [00:12:00] 

Daniel Ratner: And there's times when you're in the, you're in the sauna and there's someone, there's, there's like chatter happening that it doesn't feel very good.

It's a little bit more visceral or frustrating, whatever that is, more quickly. 'cause you're like, ugh. You like, you feel it and you don't wanna feel that. Um, where, and that's when the loo comes into play, where you can, one of the benefits of that is like, you have that heat, you have that steam, you can re presence, you can clear the space.

Uh. But I, I think there's like a lot of beautiful ways to think about community, about intentional conversations, about a light invitation on, on gratitude or presence or connection, and basically just kind of like creating the invitation but not, not programming it very much. Letting, letting the heat, letting the, letting the environment speak for [00:13:00] itself.

Uh, 'cause that's how it's been done for ages, 

Speaker 18: right? I feel like, uh, like there's so many ways in our world and in our lives where it's structured around one hour blocks. Everything is either a 30 minute or one hour block of time. And, uh, it's really nice to go to a place and not have that. And obviously there's.

You know, like when I was there, I had no idea what time it was. I was like, because I left my phone in my bag and I'm like, I have no idea what time it's, it could be eight o'clock, nine o'clock. No clue. And it felt really good because it's been a long time since I didn't know what time it was. I always know what time it's, uh, so have you had any, uh, troubles or not, not troubles, but any, um, I guess what have been.

The, or have you had any obstacles around creating community that you didn't foresee? Or like what have you learned [00:14:00] through that whole process of, of trying to bring people together? 

Daniel Ratner: Hmm.

Still learning, of course.

Speaker 18: What's left, what's left to learn? 

Daniel Ratner: Yeah. Yeah. I, what comes to mind is.

We've created something really, we, we like to make decisions that, that are based on, on like what feels right and in terms of like our integrity and what feels good in term, like heart, heart-centered decisions that ideally create these welcome spaces that we, that are gonna maintain with authenticity and warmth.

At the same time, we've, like, Evan and I are our two white guys. So like there's just, by default we're going to attract, attract, and our messaging is going to attract people that are, are like [00:15:00] us. So. Recognizing that like for sister circles, bringing in, bringing in women who can curate incredible spaces for Bipoc community events, we're having our first one in in two weeks.

That is like an exclusive, bipoc oriented event. It's like understanding where our, our limits are and creating community and not, maybe not even trying to like stretch past it, like knowing where and then inviting more in which is, is supporting more collaboration and community. 

Speaker 18: Yeah, that I saw that on there and I was like, oh, this is so cool.

I'm glad you were reaching out to other, uh, other folks and, and, and really bringing them in because I do feel like, uh, so much of wellness tends to be like your stereotypical, you know, yoga, um, you know, white girl yoga kind of thing. 

Daniel Ratner: Mm-hmm. 

Speaker 18: Uh, just for lack of better description. Uh, so really good to see that I, I myself like, have.

I'm like trying to figure out [00:16:00] how can I also be more inclusive and what can I do to help some of the underserved, uh, experience wellness in different ways. So, uh, awesome there. 

Daniel Ratner: Yeah. So still learning and, uh, yeah. I'll just end with that. Still, still learning and still curious and like, like try to. Kind of like tiptoe around things, but ultimately, like I, I think just having conversations about where we are dis uncomfortable and creating community opens up an opportunity for learning and just like a space for growth.

Speaker 18: Yeah, that, that, that makes, that makes tons of sense. And you know, I didn't really ask you how this vision even came to be actually. I remember you talking about, uh, when I was asking you originally on our first call, uh, I think you mentioned that this, you got, you were hiking with Evan and you just like, were randomly like thinking ideas or tell us that story again of how this, this came to be.

Daniel Ratner: Yeah, so Evan and I and our two dogs, scout and [00:17:00] Moley, um. We, we pretty much built a friendship, a relationship, going hiking, letting the dogs kind of just like run wild on miscellaneous hikes and finding different rivers to do some breath work around and, and, and cold plunge in. Um, Evan is an incredible builder and, and craftsmen, so a few of those hikes.

Um, he suggested that we do some bush crafting and nice. Hey, how can we create something that could be like a fun little offshoot, if someone goes off the hike, they might just stumble upon something cool like a bench or like a, like a little like alcove area. So we did some bush crafting and then that kind of like run into this idea of, okay, what would make.

This, like this experience better at the end of the hike, at the end of cold, what could we do? Oh wow. It'd be so great to go into like a nice hot sauna. Yeah. How beautiful. We like over the Blue Ridge or, um, [00:18:00] so the, that was the idea and then we decided like, okay, let's like figure this out. We both felt good about what we could bring to the table for that.

And, um, took a trip out to West Virginia to meet with our Almost Heaven, which is the Sauna Manufacturers. Check out the floor, meet the folks there, get a sense of how they, how they operated. And we're like, all right, let's go for it. So, um, both the saunas directly onto, onto trailers, decked out the trailers.

Again, like a lot of the beauty and the build is, is Evan's Keen eye and his ability, um. That was really where we started. Um, but what we found is we also really enjoy curating a space, and that's lost in the delivery. Deliveries are hard work too. Um, there's a lot of, it's a highly labor intensive thing.

Uh, wear and tear on the sauna. Um. So we start, we started [00:19:00] to shift into like, all right, how can we invite folks to, to our space and just kind of continue to uplevel and up magic it. 

Speaker 18: Yeah. And you, you have, you can actually rent out the entire space, right? Like a business could, could rent out the whole space or a person could.

Daniel Ratner: Yeah. We've got businesses. We, I think we've found a, a niche and 40th birthday parties. 

Speaker 18: Oh. So nice. 

Daniel Ratner: Perfect. A perfect one. Or some, some post wedding events. I had my baby shower up there. 

Speaker 18: Yeah. 

Daniel Ratner: Yeah, it's sweet. 

Speaker 18: That's so cool. Well, how many, uh, so prior to all this, had you done sauna a lot? Were you a regular sauna goer?

Or like what was your first experience with, with, uh, with Sauna, 

Daniel Ratner: one of. I, I lived in, in Brooklyn, so the Russian Turkish bathhouse in the lower East side is like nice of the experience. I remember walking through it one time and I, like all of them are crowded and oh wow, there's nobody in this one.

Perfect. I'm gonna go like, hang out in there. [00:20:00] I walked in and I think within three seconds my nose hairs were gone. I was like, I like walked out. I was like, this is unbearable. Um, the experience was great. I would say the other, the other most notable one was, uh, when I was traveling through Japan and experience in OEN for the first time, and.

I, uh, I decided to go into the sauna and I was like, okay. I just chose, I was the only white guy there, chose a random, a random guy sitting there. I was like, all right, I am not going to leave until this, this guy leaves. Like, I'm just gonna, we're gonna feel it out. And I happened to choose the most, like, steadfast man I was sitting on the bench.

Um, so by the time he got out, I like. Quickly got out and I was like feeling like a dehydrated raisin, like in the process of like, you, then you shower off and, and you like, get that cool water on you. And, and then back into the pools, there was such a sense of [00:21:00] bliss and euphoria. It was like, all right, this is, this is an absolute medicine across cultures with similar themes, yet different kind of modalities on how they do it.

Um, so it was a part of my life, not a major part, but something that had left an imprint. 

Speaker 18: Yeah, that I have experienced a couple different things like that as well, uh, in some of my travels. And I was, it, it really left me thinking how in the US we don't have a lot of ritual around anything that has to do with health and wellness.

Just, just, we have such, and we have such a failure rate with all of our attempts at dieting and even exercising in gyms in a formal way and you know, like. I'm a big fan of gardening for exercise. I think it's one of the best forms of exercise you can do. Uh, and I'm, I'm a newer, uh, s sauna goer, but I've, the more I do it, the more I'm like, I will forever do this.

I, I, I hate it to go without it. Like [00:22:00] when I travel and I don't, uh, get to do my regular sauna, we have an infrared sauna here at the house, and I'm like, I swear by it. I feel so much better. When I'm in it, I just chug a ton of water and I feel like I'm just water in, water out, and there's just this flush and I really, really enjoy it.

Um, uh, so what's the coolest story you have around personal growth slash transformation through experiencing, uh, sauna in the way that you provide it?

Daniel Ratner: Yes, I, I would say. The, the cold is the, is the transformation for me that comes to mind. Um, I, I think most, I don't have a specific like thing that was happening in life, but, but I have moments when I, I, there's been maybe large [00:23:00] events at Drip or a lot of stuff happening in life, and I'm like. Very in my head, just, just today I am, I, I was like making small talk with one of the, with one of the fire attendants or just greeting and saying hi.

And you're like, oh, how are you? I was like, oh, I'm feeling feeling very here, up in, up in my chest and like head and I, I really wanna be grounded. But, um, when that pressure gets, gets high and I've like went into the heat, come out and into the plunge. One of like two things have happened. One, I'll go, I'll go fully under, and what, one of the first times I did that was when we were actually set up right by the French Broad during the winter.

Um, so it was, there was snow on the ground and um, went under the water and I could like hear my heartbeat just absolutely slow down and drop from being in the heat when it's like.

And when I [00:24:00] came and I rose up out of the water, the first thing I heard were just like the, like the light trickling of the water and like a few little, like late night birds. And it became a very, it was a tangible feeling of the stress that I have is, is like peeled off of me. Like I, there's this spaciousness where I am no longer identifying with the mind.

It's still there. But there's, there's clarity of it not being me, um, which, which is so beautiful, um, and really grateful for that. 

Speaker 18: Yeah, I, I have that same experience because there's nothing else I can. Think about or concentrate on, on other than like, talk about driving yourself inward, right? Like that's what the cold, the cold does.

Uh, and I think even combining that with like breath work too. Uh, that is, I think, is it Wim h that is kind of the, the famous guy [00:25:00] that does these combination of the two of those things. And um, yeah, like really combining it, combining those drives somebody just into a different state of being. So. 

Daniel Ratner: Do, do you have a moment that comes to mind?

Speaker 18: Yeah, I was like thinking as I asked that, I was like, what is my, what is my moment? Um, you know, I, I don't have, I would say I don't have a specific moment, but I will share. Um, I will share an experience that is, okay. This is, this is really interesting. Um, I'll share this. I, I've never shared this ever, uh, during my, um, divorce, uh, this is many years ago, had this, I was in, it was summertime and I got in my car and it was really hot and I was like.

Don't know. And I was feeling horrible. So like, I'm really, I was very emotional. [00:26:00] I was like crying every day. I mean, just really not, not doing okay. And the car was hot and I was like, okay. And I, and I just, it's instinctively turned the hot air, like the heater on in addition. I sit in this hot car, I mean, it's summertime, like literally like in Iowa, July, I mean a hundred degrees at least in there.

I put the heat on on top of that and I have no idea how, and I just sat there and cried and I sweat and I cried and I sweat. Um. That was not intentional in terms of like, oh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go like, sweat it out. Like there was none of that. It was literally, I was grasping for anything that could move me into a different emotional state.

And that did, um, that did, it was the only kind time where I felt like a sense of relief. Um. And yeah, that stuck with me. I've never told that story. 

Daniel Ratner: Yeah. Thank you. Thank [00:27:00] you for sharing that. And it actually like it, I feel like one of the powers of the heat and I've, I've been, I've been there not in a, not in the, the hot car turned up, but like that, that space of pain and grief and um, and like going towards, going towards and embracing the grief is where that like that beautiful.

Like the beauty is, and that release is, and I think that heat is one of the things that like helps move us there. It's kind of like a, it's like a, like an a sweaty lubricant to like Yeah. Move us, move us softer towards that pain. Um, while, while the ice, I feel like for me is like a, is like truth. It's like cutting and adds clarity.

Um. And also kind of like, like, you know how you feel, but you like it, like cleans it a bit. 

Speaker 18: Yeah. Yeah. That's a really good description. And they are to two different experiences [00:28:00] completely. Um, yeah, and the, the, the going back and forth, by the way, I've, I've, I really enjoy that too. Uh, the ability to go from hot to cold, hot to cold, I think three times is all that I can do, and I'm like tapped out.

But it's, uh, yeah. So back to, um. So back to community a little more. Um, so our culture is obviously pretty divided right now. Uh, and um, it's seems like it's becoming more divided. And I was sharing earlier today about how I was at the checkout counter at a grocery store and a random clerk was like grilling me on politics, on what side I was on.

And I was like, I just refused to get involved in it. I'm like, I'm not. Playing that game. But I guess, what do you feel, I mean that's, I guess, what are your thoughts about how Drip is helping to kind of mend some of the divide that we're experiencing? 

Daniel Ratner: I mean, we're in a [00:29:00] space where things have just become black and white, good or bad, um, and.

Like, just thinking of, of my family or my parents, who a lot of the time are, are very open-minded people, very loving people, but don't want to have conversations with people that are like, that voted for Trump. Like they don't wanna, like they, they will refuse. They just like, we don't wanna put our energy towards that, which is closing the door on incredible people.

Like just people that are fantastic. Humans that disagree on and on a political spectrum. 

Speaker 18: Yeah. 

Daniel Ratner: Um, I think that one of the most important things that that drip does, or any place that invites, um, like warmth and authenticity is you're able to like, see. People and like there's just like create softness and, and potentially be reminded that there's nuance here and there's [00:30:00] like, we're not just one thing, but we, yeah, there's like a whole lot of gray, which is where we play in.

And if that's the thing that I like to just kind of like come back to is like there's, if it's simp, if it's like too simple, it's probably not. Right, or like this black and white or good and bad is not helpful. And it's, there's so much beauty in that, in that gray and in that nuance and, and you lose curiosity too.

So very verbose way of stating that. I, I feel like just being able to connect with other humans and maybe. Maybe you have a, you, you learn about someone in the sauna or you learn about one of their opinions in the sauna that you do disagree with and you're normally, uh, defensive about, but you might be in a more open state to be curious and that could then propel more curiosity or more discussion or more compassion towards, towards people that there's disagreements and that's where the divide is, is an unwillingness to to, to meet.

Um. [00:31:00] So hopefully we can, we can bridge that. 

Speaker 18: Yeah. And finding experiences that. Have nothing to do with what side of, of a political spectrum you, you happen to fall on. I think we need more, more of those. I honestly, uh, think this whole idea of, um, you know, it's like a tribal thing where it's, where it's like either you're part of our, our tribe or, or you're not.

And if, and if you're not, then you're. You're just by default, the enemy. And I always like to think of things in terms of, um, like, let's, let's see. Things, not in terms of a divide divided, uh, viewpoints, but like, just that there's lots of ideas in the world and be curious about why somebody thinks the way they do.

They're just, just an idea. Like, and that idea can come and pass and new ideas can, can form. So, yeah. 

Daniel Ratner: Yeah, agree. And I'm, I'm thinking of. Tribalism is so appealing to be a part of the tribe. And then [00:32:00] you like the, the, the statistic of 60 Americans report feeling lonely. The lonelier we feel the more swiftly we're we're or the more apt we are to grab towards something that will make us feel part of something.

Speaker 18: Mm-hmm. 

Daniel Ratner: So I mean that, and then that tribalism gets more dangerous. Um, one of the, I would say one of the other, um. Beauties of, of a wellness practice is being able to start to kind of separate, feeling lonely and then being alone and feeling really be, become, becoming comfortable with ourselves and that, and that space and wherever that mind runs.

But being okay being in that space with ourselves and being okay, being alone. Um, I know when I've personally felt like. I felt lonely and I felt like, all right, let me like, reach out or let me try to like connect from this. I'm like, all right, let me like slow down. [00:33:00] That's like, let's work to find comfort in myself right now.

And then from a, a place of, of feeling more whole or feeling, um, feeling just better, then I'll, I'll reach out and connect. 

Speaker 18: Right, right, right. Yeah. The times I felt the loneliest in my life, uh, were the exact times where I didn't do enough of that reaching out. And enough of that, of that, like if, if somebody's listening, uh, on here now there's a 60% likelihood that there is, um, like my encouragement is to know that there's somebody that cares about you, because that's just the truth.

So you have two, uh, upcoming events. One is a men's event and the other is for the ladies, the women's event. 

Daniel Ratner: Mm-hmm. 

Speaker 18: Um, and I know for me, when I've been involved in men's groups, it's really filled kind of a whole for me. I know for, I don't know what your expense experience is as a [00:34:00] man, but sometimes it's really hard to, um, bond with other men.

I feel like a lot of times, just from a man's perspective too, I see like. My women friends often will be like going and doing things and there's women's retreats and there's women's. There's just a lot more stuff I feel like sometimes, and I'm always like, as a man, like, where's my things? And so it's really cool to see that you've got a men's group.

Um, where did that come from and are you, like, what's your experience around as a man feeling that, or have you ever felt that way? 

Daniel Ratner: Yes. So starting with my experience, my experience with men's groups came when I moved to Asheville. Um, and I would say one of my first times was just like doing some exercises at a, at the Firefly gathering.

And I was like, cool, I'm curious about this. Let me check this out. And the first exercise was to eye gaze for three minutes into. [00:35:00] Another man's eyes. And then, um, from there do some type of like wrestling practices and oh my god, my heart was just so opened. It was, it felt, it was so refreshing and one of these things that I, I felt like I needed, but I couldn't really put my finger on it.

Like this, this desire for, for brotherhood, not just like. Going, like going to the bar, catching up over, like, over like while a football game's playing, but like some depth or intention. Um. So I've had generally strong experiences. I, it, it kind of like oscillates based on where I am outside, like in other parts of my life.

Mm-hmm. Um, just most recently, I, I was just texting, uh, Taylor, Taylor Johnson who's facilitating this. My last text to him was Mi Missing Some Brother Time, could use some more men slash competition in my life. So like, I'm right, I'm, I'm ripe for this type of [00:36:00] connection again too. Um, maybe it's, I, I just had a baby, so there's this like.

There's this desire for that. So I think it's a really beautiful thing. Um, coming back to Drip. Yeah. We started with, um, women's and sister circles. Uh, I took Taylor's class, his orgasmic mastery class right before as I was going through my divorce. And it absolutely changed my life. 

Speaker 18: Hmm. 

Daniel Ratner: Um, it was, it just elevated me on, on all fronts.

It like reframed how I thought about sex, how I thought about pleasure, um, and, and done in such a grounded way. Every time, every chance I get, I'm like. Really excited to talk about it because it, it just, it just was mind blowing. Um, so he's facilitating this workshop with some of the more, the most recent work that he's done around somatic movement and really understanding the nuance of, of body movement and body position and how it plays into [00:37:00] our psyche and our energy, um, alongside interwoven with all his other, um, kind of masterclass work too.

Speaker 18: Cool. Well, I like to put him some stuff into the show notes as well and make sure I make a special mention of that. That sounds really cool. I think, um, yeah, it'd be something for me to maybe check out as well at some point. Yes. Um, and then you've got the, yeah, so you've got the women's and the men's, so.

Daniel Ratner: And then the sister circles were actually started. So we're like a true family business. So my wife Julian, like heads up our marketing and um, and partnerships and social, and she's just, she's just a badass. She also teaches yoga, so she facilitates all of the, the yoga teachers here too. Um, she'll be teaching again very soon, even though we had a baby 46 days ago.

Um. And then, um, sunflower, uh, Evan's wife, she, she started the, the sister circles with, um, two, and now one of [00:38:00] her, um, her dear friends and they, they do an incredible job facilitating and creating a space where, again, just like I think on the community side, as a man, I don't think about this, but the value of having a space that is only for women.

So it was also a good recognition the first time they had it. We didn't, we had one fire tender who was female, um, but she wasn't available then. So I was there holding it down and the feedback was, Hey, it was great. You did a great job. But it would be really nice if we can get female fire tenders for these like, closed female sister events.

Now we have three women that work, um, at Drip. So that's one of the kind of ways that we really help keep a, a tight container for these types of events. That feels really good. 

Speaker 18: Yeah, that's, that's great that you're offering that. I'm, I've also thought about offering some kind of a women's networking, women's only networking or entrepreneur, uh, kind of group too.

Just because I feel like, then [00:39:00] again, I'm like, who would that be? Me leading it as a man? As a man? How would I, I don't know. Maybe that, maybe it would be accepted, maybe not, but I could try. Talking about, like, about building community, um, what do you feel is the secret sauce? Like what really makes it, makes it work?

Daniel Ratner: The first, the first thing that came up, um, was an open-mindedness. Uh, and, and when I say that, I think of just saying, saying a lot of yeses to the invitations that that come, or the collaboration that can come. Um, I'd also say like, not being a, we're not really fearful of like trying something new that won't work, whether it's like.

Bringing a new musical guest up there, or, um, a DJ or a, a body worker who reaches out, like [00:40:00] relatively, they're like, there. It's, it's like table stakes. Like fo there's a, it's nice to create an experience that already offers a ton of value, like it's $30 to enjoy yoga, followed by open sauna with live music with.

Co, uh, cooperative Coffee, that that is there with our partnership from there. Um, so it's like, cool, let's play. We could like wiggle within this space and dance around and see what, see what feels good. So let's say open-mindedness, curiosity, and then I think just like the, like an authenticity, um, and ease.

If we were really. This, we're a business. We want to continue growing. We want to be profitable. Um, at the same time, that's not what's driving us. Finding a way to fill every seat, uh, every little sauna space is not, is not our core mission. Our, our hope is that like by creating a space that people feel, um, welcome to, [00:41:00] um, that helps them connect with themselves with.

Their community with nature, it will just naturally propel success. And that's, and that's really what guides us. 

Speaker 18: Yeah. What are your plans for the coming year or two? Yeah. What, what changes do you feel like you are on on board? 

Daniel Ratner: Yeah, it's a good one. Evan and I were just meeting over, over coffee today and oh, it will always kind of do like these blue sky.

Um, a big part would be expanding where we currently are. Finessing the space even more, uh, creating, uh, like a, a really beautiful, larger type of sauna, which again, is fun because then we can, I've already thought about like when I've been in some saunas and there's cross conversation because there's too many people in there, it diminishes the experience.

So how can we, how can we think of space breaks that, that. Diminish that, but there's that, there's figuring out ways to create a food forest [00:42:00] around the space that we have maybe, uh, turning an upleveling, uh, some of like the stage so we can have be better performances up here. Um, that's the immediate. And then from there, maybe we just figure out ways to kind of like spread the good word as to how, how you can build a, the kind of like a, a, uh, a lesson on how to build community, but 

mm-hmm.

Daniel Ratner: We still need to. Refine that, that lesson plan. 

Speaker 18: Have you ever thought of any, uh, other, other different kind of service offerings, or, I know you have, like, I saw the, there was a massage therapist coming in. It almost feels like you could just, you could have lots of different things. I mean, it really feels like you could have any kind of wellness service paired with this.

You do probably ccal ceremony, sound healing, all these things are possibilities, right? 

Daniel Ratner: Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. I think creating. There's opportunities that like for sound healing. We can definitely do. There's just places we wanna keep refining. [00:43:00] Um, but, but. The Yes. And to your question, like 

Speaker 18: absolutely. Sure, sure.

The reason I'm asking is because if there's a listener on here right now that is in the wellness space and they have something to offer or want to reach out to you to see if they can provide their services, how, how would they, how would they do that? 

Daniel Ratner: Big thumbs up on that. Um, give us an email hello@dripsauna.com.

Um, we also have a, a little form online where you can put more detailed, uh, around collaboration interests. But literally after, after our Sunday socials when we're announcing and welcoming everyone to the space, it is an open invitation if you have an interesting collaboration idea or you provide some type of wellness modality and you think it could be an interesting fit.

Reach out. 

Speaker 18: Perfect. So I've got a couple last questions here on for you specifically, and then we will, uh, we'll kind wrap up. So, uh, these are [00:44:00] rapid fire style. So just, um, kinda short answer format. So one, one wellness habit that, uh, you never, that you never skip. 

Daniel Ratner: Bulletproof coffee and intermittent fasting in the morning.

Speaker 18: What time do you, uh, fast to, 

Daniel Ratner: probably 2:00 PM. 2:00 PM but. I'm including, uh, like drinking the MCT and the oil and the, and the Kerry gold butter in my, in my coffee. 

Speaker 18: Nice. God. I just can't get to, I can't, I've tried to get to two, uh, I can't do it. What, what, so do you do like a one meal or two meals a day?

Or like, what is your eating strategy? 

Daniel Ratner: I, at that point, I just eat. I just, 

Speaker 18: you just let it go. Just let it go. Snack 

Daniel Ratner: and, yeah. Yeah. 

Speaker 18: Right. Nice. That works. Uh, what's one, one. Tip for sauna, sauna ing. For those that wanna come try out drip. What's one tip they can use? 

Daniel Ratner: Hmm. Wear a bonnet hat and take deep breaths.

Speaker 18: What's [00:45:00] the bonnet hat do? 

Daniel Ratner: The bonnet hat is a, or a bath hat is a wool hat. Uh, that. That is in the shape of kind of like a, you feel like a tulip when you put it on. Um, and it, it, it protects the, the head from like the high heat. So it, it's kind of counterintuitive. Usually you wear hats to warm up. This actually keeps, modulates the, the temperature a little bit or moderates it.

Um, so you can stay in there longer and also protect the scalp. 

Speaker 18: Nice. And the breath. 

Daniel Ratner: And the breath, while it might be quite hard in the high heats, that's, that's the beautiful way to focus and just drop in and focus on the deep belly breaths. Which I was reminding myself to do during this conversation.

Speaker 18: I'm always reminding myself the breath is something that constantly, I'm always like, oh yeah. And I don't know if you saw, but I was like, reach, I was like straightening my spine like three or four times during the call already. 'cause I'm, posture and breath are like the two things. Uh, um, well, okay. So we, and then you have a special offer for the [00:46:00] listeners of this podcast.

Uh, can you tell us about what you're offering up the guests? 

Daniel Ratner: Yes, we've got a, um, a promo code for 25% off, whether it's used on community sessions, which we have that run Monday through Saturday as well as Sunday morning. You can use them for that, um, or private sessions, which, um, could really happen any day during the week.

Speaker 18: Awesome. 

Daniel Ratner: And that is, yeah, be well Drip 25, which I know Travis, you'll have in the notes. 

Speaker 18: Yeah. Thank you for that, y'all. We'll definitely put those in there and, um, I think I might use that code too. Uh, I really encourage, yeah, I really encourage everybody to, to come drip. Uh, it's something that I do, uh, fairly regularly myself, especially when I'm feeling like I just need some community.

That's what's literally, like I've made. Friends there. Um, every time I go there, I like meet somebody I become a friend with. So, uh, thank you so much for what you do, Daniel. I, I'm really excited. I, I'm just [00:47:00] really, I think you're, what you're doing in Asheville is one of the more special. Um, wellness related businesses and offerings to support the community and support those that visit us.

And I feel, I feel like, I honestly, if I were to say, is there a place that personifies Asheville and the best of Asheville, I, I really would give that award to. So thank you for what you do and thanks for being on show today. 

Daniel Ratner: The Chills. I got the chills and I'm not even the ice plunge. Thank you. 

Speaker 18: That's what we're going for, man.

Visit Drip sauna.com to learn more and book your first session. But remember to use Code Drip 25 to get 25% off. Drip offers a modern, luxurious way to sweat it out and recharge. Whether you're a fitness lover, longevity seeker, or just looking to unwind. And as always friends, please be [00:48:00] well.

You can catch the next episode while on your way up to visit Mount Mitchell or cruising down I 26 or on your way to catch a nice sunset view over at the Black Balsam Knob. You can check out more Asheville Wellness News and Events and join our newsletter@bewellasheville.com. Thank you for being the best part of our wellness community and until next time, be well.

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