Jalu Bathhouse is bringing the healing traditions of the Himalayas to the Kansas prairie. Located in northern Lawrence, the space is a labor of love for co-owners Leigh Khandro and Yondenzong Akyung, whose family is blending their Kansan and Tibetan heritage to promote wellness for both body and planet.
They opened Jalu Bathhouse to the public in January 2024, after more than a year of constructing it by hand. After a local family-owned Amish business helped raise the walls, Yondenzong got to work laying cedar planks and Himalayan salt bricks for the bathhouse’s five attractions, which honor the Five Elements of traditional Tibetan medicine (Sowa Rigpa). Their heartwood cedar mineral hot tub is the water element, cedar sauna is fire, organic herbal tub is air, Himalayan salt cave is earth, and cold plunge is space. In Tibetan, Jalu (འཇའ་ལུས།) means “Rainbow Body,” which refers to the transcendence of physical suffering and the unity of all five elements in perfect balance.
Tibetan medicine also emphasizes the relationship between body and environment. From the Akyung (ཨ་སྐྱོང་།) lineage, Leigh and Yondenzong’s family name translates as “Earth and Water Protectors.” They work with their neighbors to protect the prairie and forest surrounding Jalu Bathhouse by removing invasive species and planting native ones that are more pollinator-friendly. They also donate 1% of their profits to the Nyenpo Yurtse Environmental Protection Association, where their relatives in the Golok region of Tibet preserve natural resources and wildlife.
Book your visit on the Jalu Bathhouse website, and keep up-to-date with this family-owned business on their Facebook and Instagram.
