“What? Are you crazy? It’s 102 today!”

Exactly. It’s 102. Just as some runners use saunas to train for hot weather running, I use saunas to tolerate hot weather in general. It works remarkably well.

When you’re first introduced to the sauna, your inclination is to head for the hills when the steam comes barreling toward you. After a few sessions you start to realize that, not only is it quite tolerable, but it actually feels gooooooooood! When the steam hits, you learn to just let it in.

And so it is when I walk out of my 73 degree air conditioned house into 102 degrees…

I just let it in.

I stood in my yard last night with a good friend, watching some of the worst storm clouds I’ve ever seen between sauna rounds. It was a breathtaking, memorable experience. It got me thinking, “What’s the best bad weather for a sauna?”

Here are my top three:

1. A Blizzard. Hands down the best sauna you can have.
2. Pouring rain in the summer.
3. Blustery, cold sleet in the spring or fall.

What’s your best bad weather sauna experience?

I have seen exactly one person outside today.  It’s sunny, bitter cold and he was dressed appropriately with all his skin covered.  Later today, there will be 5 more of us outside.  But instead of bundled up like Eskimos, we will be almost naked between sauna rounds outside my backyard sauna:

• Steam will be billowing off our bodies.
• We will be smiling.
• We will gaze up at the full moon above.
• We will embrace what winter throws at us.
• Cold weather will not get the better of us.

I can’t wait to get out there!  As you look at your thermometer, or watch the weatherman on TV, I hope you will smile with us.  As you look at your life, I hope you can think about joining us with your own authentic Finnish sauna. I can help you get there.

• 4:40 Brian:   “I’m on my way.  I could walk faster.  Forgot my cell at home.”
• 5:02 Me:  “just finished round one with a buddy; park out front … 5621 dupont.  Drive safe, plenty of sauna time.”
• 5:51 Brian:  “I’m on 50th and 100, getting off at 50th and using side streets.  I hate winter drivers.  I left Cabellas in Rogers at 3:30.  I need a sauna!  Keep it going.”
• 6:13 Me after another round: “10:4, mebbe turn right at Xerxes or Penn down to 56th then turn left there.”

A few minutes later, a determined Brian arrived.  We took 3 rounds, celebrating all that fresh snow outside the backyard sauna.

You know that feeling: falling snow tingling on your skin.

And it feels so good, you lay down in it.

]]> http://www.saunatimes.com/events/sauna-party/sauna-in-the-snow/feed/ 1 http://www.saunatimes.com/sauna-culture/philosophy/perfect-weather-for-a-sauna/ http://www.saunatimes.com/sauna-culture/philosophy/perfect-weather-for-a-sauna/#comments Thu, 13 May 2010 13:46:13 +0000 Glenn http://www.saunatimes.com/?p=2114 Saunas are most popular in Scandinavia, Seattle, Minnesota.

Is it the chicken or the egg?  Are Scandinavians predisposed to sauna or did the Scandinavian climate, over centuries, create the ingenuity to burn fire in a room and warm up?

In this case, 40 degrees, cold wet rain, the kind of day where those less adventurous say “I’m going to go curl up on the couch with a good book” as a way to go meekly inside and hide.  This is the same day when those with a backyard sauna get excited and fire up their wood burning sauna stove and embrace what nature throws at us.

Between rounds, sitting outside with the birds and the rain dancing off the trees the only word is “ahhhhhhhhh” perfect!

Rain in Minnesota in January seems as common as snow in San Antonio in summer.  We are typically blessed with single digit temperatures, bright sun, fast outdoor ice, and fresh powder snow for skiing.  Today, however, was met with temperatures in the 30′s, a heavy gray sky and steady drizzle.

A healthy glow

The folks that converged today on Fish Lake in Maple Grove were here to raise money to build a high school in Haiti, as part of the Rotary Club of Maple Grove’s 2010 Deep Freeze Dunk .  I brought my mobile sauna to the shoreline of Fish Lake to help with the plunge experience.  Maybe it was the feel good purpose of the event, maybe it was everybody’s bright smiles contrasting with the gray sky, maybe it was the 170 degree wood burning sauna, but everybody in attendance was happy to be there and participating in a timely, good cause.

New friendships flow

I’ve always said, the worse the weather, the better the sauna.  Today was no exception.  Those that committed to support the fundraiser, got off their couches, ventured out onto a frozen lake, plunged into the hole in the ice, indulged in sauna, began forming a bond which naturally evolved into tighter friendships.  There is something genuine about the polar plunge and sauna experience.  Honesty, transparency, sincerity.  There is no bullshit in a sauna.

My outdoor backyard shower is  hooked up to my garden hose, and cost $15 in parts from any hardware store.   It hangs over a branch outside the door to my changing room.  It’s been a wonderful addition to our sauna experience, simulating jumping into a cool lake after a long sauna round.

Yesterday, I could tell that the shower season here in Minnesota was almost over.  As I turned on the shower, it started with a trickle and it took a couple minutes to push ice through the hose.. brrrrr made for an even more refreshing ‘splash’ cooling off under the rushing water.

Standing under the brisk shower, I said out loud “‘thanks shower, see you in Spring!”, my wife shaking her head with a smile on her face.

Link to how to make your own outdoor shower.

cabin (ka ben) n. 1. a place where Minnesotans go every weekend to spend two days waiting for the fish to bite, the bugs to go away, and the sun to come out.  written by Lori Olson c. 1985

Now, i’m not about to start picking away at her glass half empty typical Minnesotan style, Garrison Keillor would be proud.  What I will take to task, however, is that one need not sit looking out the window wishing for the sun to come out.  Weather happens whether we wish, will, or whine about it.  With a sauna, a rainy day is a WONDERFUL day.

Every cabin/cottage should have a sauna, an insurance policy against cabin fever and Murphy’s Law.  Chances are a family reunion will fall on a weekend when a misty morning builds into a downpour by dinner.  We’ve turned a long rainy day into a wild fun party, speakers turned out the windows, floaty toys bobbing around the dock, and even an awesome game of Bocce Ball, all in the rain, thanks to the sauna, humming along, providing warmth and joy and a new outlook on a rainy day.

Does your cabin/cottage have a sauna?  If not, what is your weather insurance policy?