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A Finnish American celebrates her culture by building – and now enjoying – her own backyard sauna

January 21, 2014 By Glenn 7 Comments

Enter Connie:

 IMG_3272Reclamation Project

Hello! My name is Connie, and I have recently finished construction on a backyard, wood-burning sauna. I am thankful to Glenn for his inspirational Sauna Times website and this opportunity to share my thoughts on sauna bathing with other enthusiasts.

I am 100% Finnish-American, raised in the Finn country on the South Shore of Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Growing up, I took sauna baths every Saturday night, at least. When I left the U.P. for college in Saint Paul, my sauna-going took a backseat to starting up an adult life. Electric saunas in health clubs, et. al., were poor imitations of the real deal, and once I had my own home, I would wistfully imagine my own sauna in the backyard or basement.

It took me 20 years, but I finally screwed up the gumption to take on the project this past summer.

I was in the middle of a long project of taking apart and redesigning my old flower garden when I started to have overwhelming thoughts. “Now’s the time. You can do this. This is the perfect spot for a sauna. The perfect spot!” I shared my dream with a couple close friends and neighbors, who were overwhelmingly supportive. Thusly motivated, I bent my back to the work of digging out the foundation for a concrete slab.

Slab pouring was in mid-July.

A course of concrete block was laid a week later, and the carpentry started in earnest the first week of August. August and September are slow months in my business, so I had many open days to concentrate on the build. Having an unemployed neighbor with an F-150 was another favorable factor, and the sauna was ready for bathing the first weekend of October. I spent the rest of October, in-between sauna baths, finishing up the trim in the changing room, soffits, landscaping, etc. I cannot begin to tell you how easier it has been to face this winter with a sauna providing warmth, relaxation and camaraderie.

I am so glad I finally did this.IMG_3184

It was hard work, but familiar work. Construction is in the blood of a Finn. Growing up, I helped my father on many construction projects, and the skills I learned as a kid thankfully stayed with me enough that I was able to manage all the steps by myself. The design is my own, no plans, no kits.

The best part is feeling like I am living as a Finn should live.

A Finn needs sauna, needs to smell real wood, needs to get naked and feel the heat and löyly. The little tasks that create a great sauna bathing session, fetching water, building and stoking the fire, shaking out the rugs in the changing room, etc, become a grounding ritual and contribute to an aesthetic that connects me to pre-immigration ancestors in Finland. I am thankful for this opportunity to share the joys of sauna with others, and gain more enthusiasts to its pleasures. I have taken to referring to sauna as “slow bathing”, in line with the ever evolving “slow food” movement. Whatever works!

Many who are unfamiliar with sauna bathing worry themselves about learning some secret set of rules or risks.

I try to model an attitude of mellowness and acceptance, which are attitudes that sauna encourages. When your naked body encounters a ladle full of steam (löyly) for that first time, you have no choice – as your body mellows to soak the steam in, your brain relaxes to accept the experience. In those moments when the löyly is at its most intense, you are fully engaged in the moment. Your brain is neither directing nor analyzing the experience, which allows you to be fully, physically, present. No amount of talking can ready the first-timer for the real deal. No amount of writing can describe the experience of löyly, which I revere as the spiritual core of sauna.

Glenn willing, I am looking forward to continuing to share information on my sauna, and musings on the sauna experience of slow bathing.

Onnellinen sauna ajat! (Happy Sauna Times! – at least according to the internets!)

Filed Under: Building a sauna

Comments

  1. Mike says

    January 22, 2014 at 3:05 am

    Connie,

    What a great post…thanks for sharing your sauna feelings. Makes me want to head north and stoke the stove right now.

  2. Glenn says

    January 22, 2014 at 8:46 pm

    Mike:

    Could be time to consider joining the tribe of two sauna owners: cabin AND backyard. We are few, yet proud.

  3. Mike says

    January 24, 2014 at 4:06 am

    Glenn, you make a good point, but I am one of the few and proud whose cabin is only 25 minutes from their back door. However…..it is something to consider…..even though i do have a small sauna in my basement that’s powered by a cast iron steam radiator.

  4. Mike says

    January 24, 2014 at 10:41 pm

    Connie, thanks for the pictures of your sauna.
    I would love to take a look at your finished project, as I am looking for ideas for mine. I live in Stillwater.

    Thanks,
    Mike

  5. Connie says

    February 5, 2014 at 12:40 am

    Mike, I’d love to show you the sauna! I had so much fun building it, and also learned a lot, too, in the category of Things I Will Do Differently Next Time.

  6. Andrew says

    February 16, 2014 at 9:13 pm

    Welcome Connie! Several years back I tripped over Glenn, and have been enjoying my own sauna here in New Hampshire ever since. As for etiquette, that’s the job of our saunatonttu.

  7. Mark says

    March 4, 2016 at 11:10 pm

    Hi Connie,
    Thanks for this post!
    Your post is a few years old now, but if you see this, I’m curious if this was built in St. Paul, as I live in St. Paul and am considering building one. I’d love to see your sauna some time if possible.

    Thanks,
    Mark

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