Could be said mid tempo is the way to go when it comes to a sauna.

Every genre has some slow jams. even the most aggressive music, be it The Clash, Hold Steady or Fela Kuti can turn their angst or knack for protest into a groove that goes well with clearing the mind. In the end, a center is met when the two are mixed, just like a hot and cold rinse.  With The Clash it’s easy to find a more traditional approach to groove, be it a reggae infused rave up; “Guns of Brixton“, “Straight to Hell”, their luscious cover of “Armagideon Time” or the R&B influence in “Jimmy Jazz”.

Ultimately The Hold Steady is a sound that bonds.  Reflections of High School, meeting friends and rocking out, or gallivanting about the celebration of something.  Sauna is a bonding thing too because there is a physical closure to the space you and your buddies are enjoying: the hot room.  Then you escape the heat by going outside, cooling down and feeling the expanse like the loud pressure Craig Finn and his crew powering up a club and bonding the masses.

Fela Anikulapo Kuti was mostly known for his politics and the company he kept.  His Shrine in Kalakutta, Nigeria not only was a gathering place for him and his brethren but also protection from the outside policies and dangers of the government they feared.  Electrifying the stage and the audience at his performances fueled an inner energy and outer confidence in communal and spiritual environment.  The slow groove of everyday Afrobeat compliments the ritual even in remote suburban environments where perhaps the trouble is not as fierce.

Essentially the rhythm of funk flavored African, the straight up American soul or the most technical approach to what moves sonically and has a beat.  The ever resourceful technical Dosh is an artist well suited for the sauna… check him out between or during rounds!

You’ve heard the one where you went to a fight and a hockey game broke out but how about you go to a sauna and a hockey game breaks out?  This must be in Finland: Finn’s only sit in their designated seats, and value their private space.

One other note.. these three guys are sitting way too close for my comfort.  check out the sparse crowd.

I love this product.  These fire starters are environmentally sound, inexpensive (27 cents each), and they work fantastic.  They are simply candle wax and sawdust, wrapped in paper.  I put Lifeworks Fire Starters to the test one day this winter:  it was 10 below zero.  The water in my sauna bucket was frozen brick solid.  My wood was ice cold, my sauna stove as cold as the air outside.  I lit a fire starter with a match, put it in my sauna stove, added a couple logs, then ran in the house for 1/2 an hour or so (stationary bike).  Upon my return,  the sauna was 130 degrees and hungry for more wood.  I shuffled the coals, threw on another log, then a Rhapsody music play list, and my sauna was 145 and climbing.  I don’t know why folks think wood sauna stoves are a lot of work.  Fire starters take the effort out of starting a wood burning sauna stove.

They sell versions of these at Home Depots and hardware stores, where you’d find charcoal and grills and such.  I’m not sure if they are as natural and environmentally sound as the ones I use, but i’ve ordered these ‘organic’ ones online here. I don’t use them at my lake cabin sauna, as birch bark is known as nature’s gasoline.  At the cabin, with a quick light, I get some birch bark going then add a bit more/thicker birch bark, throw in a couple logs and the Kuuma stove is barking within a couple minutes.  In Minneapolis though, in winter especially,

usually, I’ll start my sauna with a couple pieces of newspaper and some kindling, but damn, when you’re in a hurry or it’s friggin’ cold outside, or you’re getting ready for a sauna party, these fire starters are hard to beat!

A friend of mine, looking to cut expenses, picked up a stationary bike on Craigslist and knocked off his $65/month health club bill.  Good move, but he’s pining about missing the sauna.  Beyond saving his health club expenses, is that the complete picture?  I could start adding up the savings my sauna brings me in terms of not having to drive to go work out (something i’ll never understand) and yet, I enjoy a beer or two in the sauna after working out (something others may never understand), plus, in a home sauna you can choose who you sauna with vs. looking at some Fitness Fred sweating it out at Bally’s.

So, let’s try out some amortizing:

• $65/month – no more health club
• $36/month – gas ($3 round trip x 3x per week x 4 wks per month)
• $24/month - water or food ($2 each time x 3x per week x 4 weeks per month)
• $125/month: estimated savings working out home vs. health club.

Let’s analyze what a home sauna would cost, as the deal he got on a stationary bike and scoring some free weights was negligible.

• $4,000 sauna/$125 per month = 32 months / 12 = 2 years 7 months.
• $8,000 sauna/$125 per month = 64 months / 12 = 5 years 4 months.

PLUS you:

1. don’t need a babysitter to watch our kids while you go to a health club.
2. can sauna with your family/friends instead of Fitness Fred at Bally’s.
3. raise the value of your house for resale.
4. can play the music you want, or keep it quiet.
5. don’t have to remember where you left your car at Bally’s when over friendly Fitness Fred is following you in the parking lot.

For $8,000, I could help you save 5 years of health club noise and have your backyard feel as an authentic Finnish sauna lake cabin, or that up north nature cabin on the rocky shores of an outcropping peninsula.  No driving, no Fitness Fred,

it’s how an authentic Finnish sauna was meant to be.