Peter is looking to build a Russian banya in New Jersey.

Has the fun been taken out of your job, too?  Let this be an inspiration to us all!  Why not build your own sauna?

Money: What else do you spend money on?  Wouldn’t it be worth spending your money on something that can give you years enjoyment and increase your happiness and wellness?  A car depreciates fast, a vacation feels great but you’re more “happy to be home”, new clothes?  who needs clothes anyway?

Time: Time waits for no one.  Time spent designing, building, and sitting in your own authentic sauna will make you a new person.  Your spouse will like you better, especially as you re appear “reset” after three sauna rounds with a smile and warm glow.

Space: A sauna can be carved into a reasonable space: a closet or a corner in your basement in your house. In your backyard, a well designed 8×12 structure becomes your own backyard retreat.

Building code: Don’t let your life be run by your insurance man, or the building inspector.  These folks are paid to be negative.  Sauna stoves are UL approved and these guys say “no” because they don’t “know”.

“Yes” is the answer.

We don’t need the Wall Street Journal to tell us that authentic saunas are the home improvement that’s hottest of them all. We simply want to live and enjoy the benefits of our own authentic sauna.

Finnleo Corp.

Wall Street would approve this line extension.  Finnleo dealers number in the thousand, from an HVAC distributor in Devils Lake, ND to a gem stone shop in New Mexico.  Infrared “saunas” are as hot in North America as Starbucks drive-thru, 5 Hour Energy, and Curves 30 Minute Fitness.

Finnleo has an infrared drop down box on their website, and a widget to plug a demand hole in its dealer network.

Finnleo is out to move product, and the American consumer associates sauna with an infrared light bulb closet.

Has Finnleo joined the dark side?  You, the authentic sauna enthusiast can decide.

Oh, the Finnleo infrared “saunas” are reported to have low Electro-Magnetic Radiation and Electrical Field Radiation.

Only limitation is the amount of water you can pour on it. 1/4 cup or less to keep it from boiling over.

Steam soup is ready!  ahhhhhh

Panic is the quick road to disaster.  Yet Yong Chung’s smile in this picture is probably identical to his cold water plunge smile between sauna rounds.

“The 66-year-old also kept moving to stay warm, took cover under a tree at night and dreamed of his wife and being in a sauna.”

Pettis pools and hot tubs

They are absorbed into the bloodstream and metabolized within the body, producing many benefits beyond just a “nice smell.””

Four specifically are mentioned:

1. Patchouli and lemon essential oils soothe after a workout
2. Lavender oil helps stress and tension fade
3. Eucalyptus and peppermint oils perk up your mind for a clearer focus
4. Chamomile oil helps you relax and drift off to sleep

Line extension or legit?  You choose. One could say that if it smells good, do it.

Many old school sauna enthusiasts scoff at scents as they feel that clear fresh water produces the best loyly.  Some are partial to a little beer tossed on sauna rocks.  This practice may bring forth more of a positive mental sauna party association vs any actual aromatherapy benefit.  Then there is the Vihta tradition, where spring birch branch cuttings are soaked in a bucket of water.  The water turns to a light birch aroma tea.  When this water is tossed on sauna rocks, it gives off a loyly aroma as a fresh reminder of spring, cabins, water lapping on the shore, and a new season.

What size sauna rocks? Softball to golf ball.  This size range works well.  Why?  Different size sauna rocks hold heat (thermal mass) differently and release steam (loyly) differently from water being tossed on hot sauna rocks.  A nice hot wood burning sauna stove or electric sauna stove will heat your sauna rocks, then as water is tossed on the sauna rocks, the water turns to steam, and that process will temporarily cool your sauna rocks.  Softball size sauna rocks hold more heat and will maintain thermal mass better.  The golf ball size sauna rocks react quicker to the water, turning it to vapor but at the expense of thermal mass.  You want different size sauna rocks.

What kind of sauna rocks? Some swear by igneous rocks, or volcanic rocks.  Though lava rocks have a high heat capacity, we find that they don’t hold thermal mass.  Why is thermal mass so important?  We find that an integral part of the sauna experience is the thermal heat, or dense heat, that is only created by heating mass.  (think heavy water heated radiators vs. tinny electric baseboard).  There is a theory that sauna manufacturers sell and promote volcanic rocks for sauna stoves because they are lighter weight so more reasonably priced to ship.  (What did you get for Christmas?  “A box of rocks!”).

We are a big fan of granite rocks.  Specifically, rounded aged granite rocks from the icy shores of Lake Superior.  Rocks without cracks or crevices.  There is a stigma and fear that sauna rocks can explode.  Sure, if you’re using rocks that allow for water to get in cracks, they will surely explode!  If you’re worked up about that, you can read about Hydrofraction.  Bottom line: use non porous granite rocks on top of your sauna stove.

Why sauna rocks? Consider that savusaunas, the earliest form of saunas, are “simply a room containing a pile of rocks, but without a chimney.”  The rocks are heated by fire, with lots of wood and for a long time.  Then, the fire goes out and all that heat is contained within the rocks.  This same principle, heated rocks, is what differentiates a sauna from a fake.  (here’s where we throw infrared light bulb closets under the bus).

Consider building your collection of sauna rocks as a journey, not a destination.  Hiking, walking along the beach, snooping around your neighbors backyard are all times to have your granite sauna rock radar detector going.  Oh, and how about how much water to toss on your sauna rocks?

The sauna guide confirmed that “golden sauna rules are: only ever stay in as long as you want. And remember to shut the door.”

In a world of rules, regulations, and how to books, isn’t that refreshing?

Post workout yesterday, cautiously, I  enter the sauna joining a guy fully clothed wearing headphones bobbing along to Lady Gaga or similar: more buzz kill.  A third guy enters.  An old school guy who’se developed the art of taking a swig of water and spitting it like a hose out his mouth onto the sauna rocks.  I’m debated whether to whistle the guy out, but a little Loyly is welcome, albeit mixed with his saliva.

Next comes the ranting:  “This sauna’s too cold.  They have a suggestion box, you know.  If enough people complain..”  It’s 175f.   I decide to argue the point with him, explaining that if they crank it up, others will complain that it’s too hot.  He resigns himself to:”can’t please everybody, I guess.”

Sure you can.

Heat rises.

All Health club saunas should be built with triple benches. The Lady Gaga guy can sit in his track suit on the lower bench, others can moderate in the middle bench, and this guy can spit water to his heart’s content up by the ceiling on the upper bench.

Next dream?  The tile saw, blazing a hole to the outdoors, to a fresh air chill out zone, where after a clean rinse, members can embrace the rubber band theory raising their hands in the air like Andy Dufresne escaping from Shawshank Prison.

Saunatimes will continue to wave the flag for folks to build their own backyard sauna.  Life’s too short.  Let’s go.  Let me help you escape to your own authentic Finnish sauna.

• Sauna promotes spiritual relaxation.
• Sauna is a place for business and social connectivity.
• Perspiration removes toxins from the body, improves circulation and relaxes the bather.
• Sauna as connectivity with nature.

However, we have to think that the following excerpt was written in complete jest, or possibly to ensure the Finnair Magazine editor will publish the article:

“The (sauna) feeling is actually not dissimilar to the one you sometimes have aboard an aircraft, gliding across a quiet and empty sky, beyond the reach of all the noise and fuss down on the ground.”

After a flight, don’t you usually feel the complete opposite of how you feel after sauna?

• skin: a light coat of jet fuel, human exhale vapor, and recycled peanut oil.
• muscles: tense – stiff neck and scrunched up legs.
• mind: frazzled and fatigued, aching for trees, fresh air, nature, and the clean rinse.