We sauna enthusiasts appreciate the solo sauna. Voices in our heads When we sauna alone, we understand that we cannot shut off the voice in our head. We can try to control the voice, or steer it in a different direction, but ultimately the voice in our head wins. On the sauna bench, we don't necessarily get away from things that may be bothering us. However, by listening to the voice in our heads, we find ourselves able to untangle the wires in our heads. Reveal a sauna secret Because we feel so great in the sauna, and then produce endorphins and adrenaline through our cold plunges and cool downs, we can't help but feel more positive about our situation. Doors open, solutions reveal, positive intentions … [Read more...]
A tutorial on optimal operation of a Kuuma wood fired sauna stove
A few words about the Kuuma stove. This stove is our best friend. This sauna stove is 400 lbs., and has been designed and refined over 3 generations of Lamppa sauna builders. The Kuuma stove burns super efficiently. Because of the efficient burn, when the stove is tuned properly, we need to use less wood than with other sauna stoves, while producing maximum heat. Lighting the Kuuma Stove. It is important that the firebox if free from ash. Use the ash rake to pull all ash to the front and down the air chambers into ash pan below. Empty the ash pan. Ash can smolder for hours, sometimes days, so be extra careful when disposing ash. Dispose ash in a non combustible receptacle vs. a standard garbage can. Start a fire. Keep Ash pan … [Read more...]
Pronouncing it “Sow-na” or “Saw-na” is no different than “Por-tage” or “Por-tidge” but we have have something more important to worry about
Why are we all hung up on how to pronounce the word "sauna?" If you are canoeing in Quebec you Por-tage your canoe. If you're canoeing in Ontario you Por-tidge your canoe. Either way, you get your canoe from one lake to the other. To try to tell someone huffing their canoe that they're pronouncing it wrong is a buzz kill, at best. We're both out there enjoying Nature. We're both out there appreciating the sport and its authenticity. Any attempt to correct or reprimand just makes that person seem like a snobby jerk. Is it time we stop trying to correct peoples' pronunciation of the word "sauna?" Could our energy be better spent steering our pride and pretension more towards something along the lines of: "infrared shall not … [Read more...]
What is the best exfoliant to use as part of your sauna session? The answer may surprise you
In many cultures throughout history, sauna (and other forms of sweat bathing) has always been an enjoyable practice, yet it has also been a critical practice for hygiene: getting clean. Those that have saunas at their lake cabins, cottages or rural farms understand this experientially (meaning: "hell yea, you never feel cleaner!"). Whether cutting brush, building fences, digging an outhouse, we finish the day with dirt and sweat behind our ears and everywhere else. The mere process of sauna bathing (sweating, clean rinsing, sweating again, clean rinsing again) does an exceptional job of cleaning our skin, miles better than soaps and any other products found at Walgreens. We know this, so what's the best exfoliant treatment as part … [Read more...]
When it’s time to bring a 3M Self Stick Tabletop Pad to sauna
Most of us authentic sauna enthusiasts have appreciation for the Forgotten Sanctity of Sauna where "silence implies respect of holiness (although originally its purpose was to not disturb the sauna spirits or the ancestors). We have all resonated with our share of solo saunas, or quiet hot room sessions with family, friends, or strangers, but a wonderful dimension to sauna is the ability to gather together, much like communal dining, as Mikkel Aaland observes during this episode of Sauna Talk. As we gather together, conversation can flow naturally, organically, and unstructured. On a side, perhaps this is yet another reason why Sauna is gaining so much steam? Are we wrought with too much artificial, manufactured, structure … [Read more...]
Does your electric sauna stove dial go to 11? Controlling the heat for better steam
Those familiar with saunas only in health clubs or hotels may wonder why there's a dial on the sauna stove control panel. The dial is always cranked to the max. And often, it's still not hot enough. SECRET: Most commercial sauna stoves installed in the US have a "governor" on them. Safety first!: It's against the law to have a hot room hotter than 165 degrees f. Clever health club regulars try to work around this by tossing a little water on the control sensor "tricking" the sensor to think that the sauna hot room is cooler than it really is, so the controller tells the stove to "get going!" Yet, often, even this trick doesn't always get the sauna stove rocking. Poor stove. Cranking it out all day everyday, like the little … [Read more...]
Why a sauna changing room wants to have a subwoofer
The idea of music in the sauna may be frowned upon by sauna traditionalists looking to preserve and restore the sanctity of sauna. Sauna is a sacred place. There is a Finnish saying that “one must behave in sauna as one would behave in church.”“ Yet the church organ plays. There are many sauna enthusiasts who enjoy music as part of their sauna sessions. Sometimes it’s ambient downtempo or jazz. There’s the nod to Brian Eno’s “Music for Airports” with MFS - Music For Sauna & Osho Zen Tarot Just as the sauna experience is best realized with a kick ass sauna stove and a well designed hot room, music in the sauna is best realized with a kick ass sound system and a well designed amplification system. We celebrate the "amazing" … [Read more...]
With our wood burning sauna stoves the fuss is the muss
Some back away from installing a wood burning sauna stoves, in favor of the more convenient electric sauna stove option. And this is ok. But for those of us who choose the wood stove option, we: Enjoy tinkering with the fire. (much like making beer or cooking a meal from scratch). Appreciate knowing where our heat comes from (vs. plugged into an electric wire on the grid). Embrace the DIY aspect (cutting, splitting, stacking wood, is much like gardening). Why does wood fired pizza taste better? Why does wood heat feel better? Why do all chefs use cast iron frying pans (vs thin metal). Why is the University of Minnesota collaborating to create SaunaShoes with thermal mass in the sole? We ask ourselves these questions … [Read more...]
Zen and the art of sauna fire maintenance
Lots and lots of us have taken lots and lots of saunas. And we've tended to lots and lots of fires in our sauna stoves. 4,500 saunas (and counting), for me. Crazy. So, we know our sauna stoves. We know how our stoves burn. We know how much wood we are going to need to provide the right amount of heat for our sauna sessions. (including intermittent fasting). Isn't it awesome? … [Read more...]
Is your sauna stove benefitting from intermittent fasting?
We've all been there: "should I toss on another log?" Is there enough fuel in the firebox? Is the sauna hot enough? Those of us who have taken a lot of saunas often stand in front of our saunas and hesitate before throwing in a log, just to throw in a log. We have learned that: Our sauna stoves don't need perpetual stoking. Once the heat chamber is "up to temp," we can damper down our stoves, idling at a spot of efficient burn rate. (gasification). No excess wood: only enough to get the firebox hot and give us enough fuel for our complete sauna session. This is like our bodies: we perform best not too full, and not too hungry. For our sauna stoves, this means burning well and hungry for wood. Before adding a log, we pull the … [Read more...]