I'm a Finnish American, both parents Finnish, immigrants a couple generations in. I was raised with sauna being part of our daily bathing ritual and a huge part of how we socialize. At this point having taken sauna a couple times a week my whole life (conservative estimate), I've been in hundreds of different saunas, with thousands of people by now. Fair to say I've experienced the gamet of sauna possibilities out there.
A beautiful part of the Finnish sauna tradition is that it's not just a luxury amenity of the affluent, it is a tradition of the people. In Finland nearly every home has one- there are more saunas than cars. Kitchen, bathroom, sauna. The basic necessities of life. Many of the Finnish immigrants to America would stake their claim by building a sauna, then live in it until they could build a house. Being a poor immigrant never prevented a Finn from having a sauna, necessity being the mother of invention meant alot of whatever worked best, whatever materials they could find on the land around them. Little sauna cabins popped up everywhere they went.
Early saunas were little more than a pile of hot rocks in a covered pit in the ground. A huge heap of stones, with a fire built underneath, Heated for many hours until the whole pile of rocks were steaming hot. Once ready, the fire would be quenched and the shelter (a wood covered pit of varying fancy) cleared of smoke. Then the bathers would enter the hot chamber and throw water on the hot rocks to produce steam- filling the place with a warm white blanket of löyly (steam). Bliss.
Recently, sauna has begun to spread outside of Finland. Sweaty influencers and scientific discoveries that sauna is good for you have brought it from relative obscurity to latest health trend, finding its way to the shelf and sold in every shape and size capitalism can imagine and label a sauna. Some people call an aluminum bodysuit from Amazon Prime a sauna. Some people on the internet think any sauna without three-tier benches, 9 foot ceilings and mechanical ventilation is not a true sauna. There are alot of ideas about what sauna actually is. There are honorable and dishonorable expressions. So what makes a good sauna? Is it the materials? From hot rocks in a mudpit to special stones heated to precise temps with technology, sheltered by permanent structures carefully lined with select softwoods for comfort, longevity and beauty- mood lighting, running water, washing facilities and social rituals.
So what makes a good sauna? Is it lined with spruce? Aspen? Cedar? Is it a big room or small? Are the benches two tier or three? Are the rocks heated with fire or electricity? Are the ceilings high or low? What about the vents & airflow? Breathe.
There are a few important principles: 1. Good hot rocks for making steam outa water
Good container for that steam
protip: feet above the rocks, head within 2 fists (6 inches) of the ceiling. Fresh air.
Throw water and breathe slow. Getting the bather up near the ceiling in the heat pocket of the shelter, good hot rocks, fresh air to breath, and alot of throwing water. Get these right and the shapes and sizes are pretty flexible.
Was this sauna built of branches and snow good?
When I think of what makes a good sauna, I think of a woosh of water hitting hot rocks. The splash- and ensuing silence... quieting the existential conversation for a moment if only because it's too hot to talk- you can only wince till it passes. And then life goes on. There are a hundred ways to build a sauna. But the essential ingredients are simple. Once you have the basics in place- its mostly about the thing and the humans you're doing it with. The late night ritual, the silence and conversation, fellowship. Better a dry morsal with love than a king's feast without etc.
I'd take any sauna over no sauna. Jetboil for hot rocks and a tent makes for a great steam. Photo credit: the Bucket Sauna by Kaleb Matson
But if you're gonna sauna Let the best sauna be the one at home. That's our specialty
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