A few excerpts from his 1979 book:

• Time:  “The sauna was not built for saving time, but for spending it well.”
• Honesty:  “Perhaps the setting is conducive to honesty and getting at the bare facts of an issue: rank and status disappear with the clothing, and one must communicate simply as one imperfect individual who must accept another individual.”
• Sleep:  “After a sauna one does not worry about insomnia.  And one doesn’t need a prescription for a tranquilizer.”
• Scalp:  “Bathing… in sauna is, in fact, and excellent first step for good scalp care, which contributes to healthy hair.”
• Skin: “The sauna does give the skin an aura, and it is said that a woman looks her most beautiful an hour after sauna.  In the sauna… dead skin is removed, and live skin is rejuvenated.”
• “In this age of slick promotion, the concept of the sauna has at times been misunderstood and misrepresented.”
• “The acme of the sauna experience is achieved when the shower is replaced by a dip into a lake and when one can sit outside in the altogether, dried by unpolluted breezes.  Some brave souls enjoy a roll in the snow or a dip into a hole in an ice covered lake.  While contemplating such an experience can be a shock, the sensation itself is delightful.”
• “Many persons find it particularly enjoyable to combine exercise and sauna bathing.  A good workout in tennis, swimming, bowling, or jogging, followed by relaxing and cleansing heat, is a most satisfying  experience.”
• “In Finland it is very natural to ask friends or neighbors to come for sauna.  As more Americans build saunas, this custom will develop naturally.”
• “In the sauna a very unusual combination of processes develops: a person sits peacefully at rest while his blood vessels, nerves, and glands work hard.  After such an experience, the person may well feel that he has had a strenuous workout, even though he has been quite relaxed and at ease.  It is difficult to gain a greater senses of physical renewal than that which is provided by this unique combination of exertion  and rest.”

• “There is no rigidly prescribed procedure – one should use the style he enjoys most.”

I get sauna inquiries well beyond Minnesota.

Estonia, Canada, Finland, even some guy named Apou from India, oh, wait, scratch that one, he was trying to sell me Viagara really cheap.  What is exciting is how a centuries old tradition from a relatively small country, Finland, has spread and blossomed to far reaches of the world.

Saunas in Minnesota are a logical thing:

• Minnesota has a big Finnish population. Daryl Lamppa is a third generation Finnish sauna stove maker.  He personally welds and inspects EVERY sauna he makes in his Northern Minnesota factory.  His craftsmanship is a jewel to Minnesota, and the sauna tradition.  Here’s his website.
• Minnesota shares a climate ideal for saunas. Saunas evolved out of necessity.  In a climate below freezing 5 months of the year, with no running water, inventive Finns learned how to bathe and recreate, creating the sauna experience.  Here in Minnesota, some think we have two seasons: winter and July 4th.
• Minnesota has over 10,000 lakes to jump into after a sauna round. In the movie “Bucket List”, Jack Nicholson convinces Morgan Freeman to skydive.  If Nicholson’s last name was Hankkennnen or similar, I think he’d have jumping through a hole in the ice on his bucket list.

If you live in Minnesota, a Finnish sauna is probably not too far away.  This winter, 2009-10,  click here for an up to date schedule of where you can experience my first mobile Finnish sauna at an event near you!

If you don’t live in Minnesota and want to experience an authentic Finnish sauna, I have a great idea for you: click here for how to build your own Finnish sauna.

There is lots of discussion about sauna temperature.  Some like their sauna at around 200 degrees f.  Others enjoy their sauna around 145 degrees f.   That can be quite a range, but a friend of mine said it best:

“The perfect sauna temperature is one that gives you 10-15 minutes of comfortable relaxation.”

That about sums it up.  I find that a 10-15 minute round is ideal.  It gets your body temperature up, you start sweating, can feel the release of toxins, your muscles relaxing, and your pours opening up.

There is this machoness to sauna temperatures, where some try to drive others out with overwhelming heat.  But a sauna is all about what makes you comfy, not Sven with a silly grin tossing water on the rocks to try to drive you out.  However, sometimes Sven gets it right, a nice blast of water on the rocks and riding it out is as exhilarating as that jump into a cold lake.

Above is my favorite sauna thermometer.

• It looks nice and is easy to read in the dim light of a sauna.
• It has a hydrometer: fun sometimes to know where you’re at humidity wise.
• It shows temperature in both Fahrenheit and Celsius, good for both you and Sven.

I would like to organize an American delegation to join the 6,000 plus Finns that will be at the 2010 Mobile Sauna Festival.   If anyone has a lead on sponsorship or airline tix, shoot me an email.. here’s the scoop:

“In tiny Teuva Municipality in the West Coast of Finland, mobile saunas get together at beginning of August. There are only two rules for the saunas. First they have to be mobilised and secondly they have to be so big, that one person can bath in the sauna. Every year there shall be some new sauna participators. There are no tickets, so you are welcome to join us. However for car park there shall charge of 2 euros.

In year 2008 there were 37 saunas and about 2000 persons. In year 2009 there were even more: 47 saunas and about 6000 persons. This event for all sauna friends was first time in the center of Teuva in year 2006 with 18 saunas and second time in Parra in year 2007 with 37 saunas.

Please bring your own towel and swimsuit and entire family along with you! One should be old enough to enjoy a sauna on their own to avoid any mishaps. However it becomes ones own responsibility in case of any mishap. ”

Glenn’s note: In the Finnish translation, they call it ”mishap” i call it “escort guests to the property line.”

“Ummm.. I think I want to take another round.”

My 10 year old had a friend over.  My son is no stranger to the sauna, but it was his friend’s first authentic Finnish sauna experience.  I thought i’d sit quietly on the bench and see how he took to it.  After a good amount of time on the upper sauna bench, they escaped the hot room to prance around under the outdoor backyard shower.

After a bit of standing around steaming in the crisp air of an early fall night, my son asks.. “so, what do you want to do now?”  There was a whole list of things they could have chosen: TV, computer games, etc. etc. but a smile came to my face when I heard:   “Ummm.. I think I want to take another round.”

Taking a sauna with kids is a great way to reconnect: unplug from the screen, sit together and share an experience of simplistic therapy.  A virtual escape to a vintage cabin without electricty and distractions: share stories, or just sit quietly.  It’s the simple moments of parenting that count.  Family psychologists talk about the importance of eating a meal as a family, as a time when parents and their children can reconnect, and i’ll offer that a sauna presents the same opportunity.  If you’ve ever heard your child, or your child’s friend say , “Ummm.. I think I want to take another round” you’ll know what I mean.

Our cabin sits on an island in Northern MN.  There’s a little foot path connecting a bunch of cabins along the Eastern shore.  We have our own sauna of course, but my 10 year old and I often trek down the path to join a few others in “the Birmingham Sauna.”

Why do we go there?  The unemployment rate may have jumped, housing sales may have dropped, Michael Jackson may have died, but at that moment, sitting pensively in a sauna on an island on a lake 240 miles from Minneapolis, all that interests us is:

• Water pump from the lake: “how did you set yours up?”
• Duluth: “can you pick me up a box of 2 1/2″ deck screws?”
• Fishing: “Jack caught a twenty four incher off Comet last week.”

May sound a tad trite, but where do you go find your community?