Isolation is a predicament. But solitude is a choice. And solitude is the new luxury.
Solitude is harder to find: three examples
1. When I lived in London, I would occasionally visit Westminster Abbey—usually in the early mornings. I’d sit quietly in a pew, often alone, enveloped in stillness. A gentle trickle of visitors would pass through, speaking in hushed tones that instinctively softened upon entering the historic 15th-century cathedral. Today, admission costs a steep £25, and long lines of tourists stretch outside—all for for a taste of silence and solitude that is now lost with the crowd.
2. There used to be a “secret waterfall” in Maui, known only to locals. Today, you have to arrive early—parking is limited to residential streets down the hill from the access point. A steady stream of adventurers makes the trek, some leaving behind more than footprints: socks, water bottles, and the faint echo of a place that once felt hidden but is now an Instagram moment for many.
3. Accessing the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, not long ago, was a spontaneous “hey: grab your paddles and let’s go” phone call. With 1.1 million acres and over 1,100 lakes of non-motorized seclusion in Northeastern Minnesota, permits were available by slowing to an idle at entry points near Ely or Grand Marais. Today, it’s a different story. Avid canoeists now set alarms for the first business day of January—the moment permits go live. By 10 a.m., most of the summer’s access is already gone.
“Nobody goes there anymore; it’s too crowded.”
— Yogi Berra, American baseball player and coach
The luxury of sauna solitude
In a world where even stillness is ticketed, and hidden places become hashtags, the backyard sauna stands apart. No reservations, no lines, no signage. Just wood, heat, and time. It’s not designed to be discovered by the masses—it’s meant to be returned to, quietly, again and again. In that space, solitude isn’t rare or expensive—it’s immediate and yours. A place where you don’t need to be guided, healed, or seen. Just present. Just warm. And just still.
No matter how small the backyard, creating a sauna sanctuary is always within reach. With just a hedge line and a tree or two, we have the runway to be gently carried away from the garden, all misty wet with rain to where nature’s quiet whispers will bring us stillness and connection.
“I’m never alone when i’m in nature.”
— Julia Auerbach, (1998)
Community gathering
Community thrives when we show up willing to offer more than we take.
And we all have gifts shaped in solitude—those quiet hours spent figuring out who we are and what we bring to the table.
It’s easy to hitch wagons to slogans like “building community” or “we all live stressful lives,” encouraging people to seek connection as a quick fix—while masking the deeper work and reward of self-knowledge.
Solstice is found within.
Authentic connection happens more naturally when two strangers find themselves on the same sauna bench—both tuned in to their own authentic selves.
Socrates kept it simple: ‘Know yourself.”
“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”
— Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1963)
We don’t always need to be fixed, surrounded, or healed.
Sometimes we just need to be alone with the heat and untangle the wires in our heads.
Solstice is found within—
not sold to us with mindful mantras, guided breathing, or warnings of an anxiety epidemic.
Not every silence needs medication.
Not every quiet moment is a problem to be solved.
Sometimes the answer isn’t connection—
it’s disconnection:
from noise, from narratives, from the fear that we’re broken without community.
A backyard sauna doesn’t diagnose you.
It doesn’t monetize your stress.
It simply waits—patient, and hot—
until you’re ready to sit, sweat,
and reconnect with who you already are.
“To understand others, we must first understand ourselves.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step (1991)
“Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.”
— bell hooks, All About Love (2000)
Postscript:
This article was inspired by my friend Mark Lamb who contributes:
This is beautiful and exact. It also speaks to something more pervasive. Since the arrival of the iphone there has been a marked ramping up of the insistence of modernity….from which most of us are increasingly desperate to escape.
One of my favourite writers in my favourite book of his, is good on this:
The modern age knows nothing about isolation and nothing about silence. In our quietest and loneliest hour the automatic ice-maker in the refrigerator will cluck and drop an ice cube, the automatic dishwasher will sigh through its changes, a plane will drone over, the nearest freeway will vibrate the air. Red and white lights will pass in the sky, lights will shine along highways and glance off windows. There is always a radio that can be turned to some all-night station, or a television set to turn artificial moonlight into the flickering images of the late show. We can put on a turntable whatever consolation we most respond to, Mozart or Copland or the Grateful Dead.
– Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose
Thankfully we are not completely lost and still have it within our reach to escape, however fleetingly, into each other or into silent reflection.
That’s why Sauna is so very important.
12 thoughts on “Solitude is the new luxury”
Spending time in solitude is often overlooked. In world with constant noise and screens, finding a place to sit quietly with yourself or those you care about can be difficult to find. The sauna provides that. The importance of looking inward and becoming centered with who you are cannot be overlooked in our busy world. Sauna provides just that. Solitude. Great thoughts as always Glenn.
Cheers
I love it, and it’s so true. It’s so hard to find a place to be alone any more, unless you’re in the the sauna or a remote part of a natural park
On the pie chart of spaces in life where I’ve most been able to connect & get to know myself, the sauna bench takes the overwhelming majority. No phone, computer, food, to-do list, or projects. Just thy self & the steam of being.
Wonderfully written. So many great nuggets about the importance of solitude and how you can paradoxically share that solitude with a stranger on the sauna bench.
I may be alone, but not lonely. Preach the heat.
This is very timely. As a father, husband, and a son navigating the shifting dynamics of life, finding stillness and solitude have not only become a luxuries, but a necessities. Slowing down and making space to appreciate the present continue to breathe fulfillment and gratitude into my life.
Thanks, Glenn! No matter how intentional we try to be, we all need gentle nudges back to the quiet…and the heat 🙂
*Bookmarked*
Thanks Glenn , such a Great lead up to sauna and perspective for those to really think about.
When I started this little sauna venture, I never thought I’d be thrust into the “wellness industry” and frankly, I can’t stand it. Since when does some hipster with a newfound protocol from a podcast know more about what I need than me? I always thought the sauna was enough. The sauna did the work in whatever work was needed. Sometimes it’s just a bath. Sometimes it is more. But it is never prescribed nor bearing “protocol”. Sauna does the work.
I have been privileged in my life to spend a great deal of time in solitude. Both in urban settings, remote wilderness, and mental spaces in between. The middle one is the extreme…the obvious. The physical remoteness of a 600 mile river in the Canadian Arctic will change a person. But so will many intentional moments of quiet on a vacant Lake Superior Beach one mile from my home. An un-groomed winter trail at 5 pm in January after 12″ of snow, or the sometimes excruciating silence that comes with loneliness of the mind.
When I step into the sauna, I invite all the potential of the heat. If with others, the potential for connection, the shared isolation, of just the simple act of taking a time out in our over scheduled lives full of so much noise. Sometime the sauna gives back. Sometimes she offers something completely unscripted. And that is the best part. The unscripted moments that could never happen with protocol.
Hi, I had to copy your text and comment on it for you, it’s exactly what I’m thinking!
It’s a shame you didn’t get to meet me when you were in Finland. Maybe someday..
“We don’t always need to be fixed, surrounded, or healed.
Sometimes we just need to be alone with the heat and untangle the wires in our heads.
Solstice is found within—
not sold to us with mindful mantras, guided breathing, or warnings of an anxiety epidemic.
Not every silence needs medication.
Not every quiet moment is a problem to be solved.
Sometimes the answer isn’t connection—
it’s disconnection:
from noise, from narratives, from the fear that we’re broken without community.
A backyard sauna doesn’t diagnose you.
It doesn’t monetize your stress.
It simply waits—patient, and hot—
until you’re ready to sit, sweat,
and reconnect with who you already are.
“To understand others, we must first understand ourselves.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step (1991)
“Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.”
— bell hooks, All About Love (2000)”
Luckily for me, I have just that backyard sauna❤️
Have a nice summer!😊
Now It is Open!
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“Protocol vs. unscripted” : The title for a possible Megan guest/joint post? I think you already wrote it as I can’t think of any editing to suggest. So very much spot on!! Thank you. I’ll cascade it to Andrew Huberman.
As a retired architect at 76 and an ethnic Finn-Swede, just completed a major remodel of my home in San Diego which includes a outdoor traditional electric sauna and and adjacent hot tub under an open beam gazebo style structure…includes a cold shower, exercise equipment and yoga “bed” for exercising, stretching and crashing…it’s surrounded by my 18 fruit trees and vegetable garden…enjoying the peace and solitude each night sweating, rinsing and simply watching the garden grow…afterwards, depending on season, I pick a peach, fig, orange, plum, apple or apricot to savor and share with guests. I’ve designed the whole package as I have designed a life worth living for my family. A major improvement over the packed sauna at 24 Hour Fitness. Dreams realized.
Exactly! I feel incredibly privileged to live just half an hour from our nation’s capital, yet outside the reach of streetlights. My evening ritual is to climb into our underground smoke sauna, into complete silence and almost complete darkness. When exiting, completely rejuvenated, I have the chance to marvel at the stars (or perhaps, once a year, the aurora borealis) in the winter night sky. Or the midnight sun in the summer.
This truly is the new luxury, and I definitely wouldn’t trade it for the hectic life I once lived in London or Munich. Hopefully, the next generation will grow to appreciate rural areas, where living like this is still possible!
“We use the word ‘awe’ and imagine that it must roll in on thunder. In truth, when we find it, it’s often in silences.”
– Brent Underwood, Ghost Town Living. Page 219. 2024.