An Authentic Sauna Experience

Sauna bathing is ritual believed to date back as far as 7,000 BC in Finland and is a practice that’s become a cornerstone of local culture, woven into the very seams of society.




Two Finnish Proverbs about the sauna help you understand the importance of sauna in Finland. 


A person without sauna is like a body without a soul.


Two places are holy: church and sauna.




Niko and Greg did their sauna first for about 30 minutes. You can see how happy and relaxed Greg looks after his sauna. 


Then it was Siru and my turn for sauna.








We undressed in the first room and took a towel. Siru showed me different kinds of skin and hair products that we could use. We then went into the sauna.




Löyly is the Finnish word for the steam that is generated when water is poured over the heated rocks on top of the sauna stove. In a traditional Finnish sauna, löyly is an important part of the experience. In Finnish mythology, the spirit of the sauna is believed to reside in the hot stones. The act of pouring water over them is seen as a way to awaken and honor the spirit. The löyly is believed to have a purifying effect on the body and the mind.




Siru assigned me to using the ladle to pour water on the stones with the goal of getting the temperature up to 80 degrees Celsius (or 176 degrees F.)






When we got hot, we would go out for a swim in the water. Then we would repeat the cycle.








After our final time in the sauna, we sat outside enjoying a beer before we got dressed and headed back up to meet Greg and Niko. 


 It is said that sauna is more than a physical space, but a place of spiritual and emotional renewal as well. The culture of sauna is often cited as the reason why the Finnish people are the happiest people in the world. I just know the whole experience today made me very happy!

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