An authentic sauna enthusiast chimes in

Below is an email received today from Mike in Wisconsin.

This is why we do Saunatimes: building a tribe of sauna enthusiasts who overcome their lizard brain, and put their own dent in their universe, making something happen for themselves that embraces:

• Health and wellness.
• Escape.
• Fun.

These are the three pillars that keep saunatimes afloat, from our inception four years ago, amidst all the misconceptions of what sauna is, its false claims, and marketing theater.  Thanks Mike for joining our tribe.

Enter Mike:

“I have been reading your blog for a couple years now.  I love your humor and insight.  Our kids are a bit older now, and we were at a crossroads of whether to put more money into our house in Wisconsin or move.  We agreed to stay put, and I have to say, your website influenced our decision!  My wife doesn’t enjoy sauna as much as me, but our two children love sauna – we get to use my uncle’s cabin from time to time and kids love taking multiple sauna rounds there.

Anyhow, we were so liberated to hear about how to add an outdoor sauna to our backyard.  It makes so much sense!  We both work, and facing traffic on weekends and holidays has become such a strain on us. We would arrive at my Uncle’s cabin whipped out and spend all day Sunday dreading the trip home.

My wife wanted to look at moving somewhere warmer.  She was fed up with winter.  We read on your site about how other people with saunas love winter.  We wondered if they are crazy or if it’s true.  I have to tell you.. it’s true!  We all love winter now!

So, we started with what you said, some string and four sticks, and we staked out an outdoor sauna space in our backyard.  We followed your 8’x12′ plan, and my wife designed a deck courtyard area in our back corner lot.  We had a shed company build the structure and me and a friend finished the interior.  Not sure if you remembered me, but I emailed you a few times and you were great about answering my questions.

My brother has plenty of wood on his property, and so built a wood burning outdoor sauna… what a great decision!

I can’t begin to tell you how much we love our outdoor sauna.  Kids bring friends over – they all say we have the coolest backyard in town.  We look forward to checking the weather and cross our fingers for fresh snow.  Twice now, i’ve taken off work early to be home for snow storms.  We love to hunker down in our backyard and sauna, watching the snow fly and doing snow angels.

My wife used to suffer from lower back pain.  She started going to yoga, and she tries to use the sauna more too.  Her back is much better.  I find I work out more frequently.  I used to use the health club sauna, but now, I hit the gym on my way home from work, and avoid the smelly health club sauna completely.  What a difference my sauna is compared to the health club sauna!  I’m thinking about buying an exercise bike and losing the health club membership.

We can’t wait for spring.  I”m hooking up an outdoor shower like you suggest (that was one of the first articles I remember reading from you).  Thanks for all your work on your website.  If you’re ever in the Milwaukee area, please come sauna!”

EDITOR: Here’s a few links to posts that Mike talked about:

Sauna in the snow.

Bring the family together.

Building your own sauna – where to start.

Kids in the sauna.

Build your own backyard shower.