Welcome to this episode of Sauna Talk, where we head back to Farris Bad, resort spa and wellness retreat South of Oslo, Norway. We get to sit with Jerome, who is a long standing steam master at the resort. Here he leads aufguss ceremony and assists two time Sauna Talk guest Lasse Eriksen.
10,000 hours
One thing I wish I had asked Jerome in this interview is to venture a guess at how many guests he’s “entertained” (if that’s the right word) over his 10-plus years leading aufguss sessions at this world-renowned facility. Some quick farmer’s math gets us close: a few sessions a day, five days a week, for 10 years… that adds up to well over 10,000 people.
I’m one of those 10,000—a repeat guest for a couple of years, attending several of his aufguss ceremonies.
An Aufgussmeister, in my view, is best to not be lead into temptation. For like a church paster, there could be that ego boost that comes from standing in front of an audience, performing. Controlling the movement of steam, and the administering of essences and microclimate manipulation could give one a feeling of power, dominance even.
Aufguss master responsibilities
Yet Lasse instills some deep and powerful education with his students. He gives them freedom to be creative with their art, yet he also instills true message that the sauna is the teacher. The stove and the heat and steam it creates is to be respected. The duty an aufgussmeister has to those sitting on the bench is an important one. Safety is critical. For the under educated, pushing steam and controlling time in the hot room is a noble and great responsibility.
Each session is led with an important statement. You are welcome to leave the session, but once you leave, do not come back in. The door to the hot room opens in one direction during an aufguss ceremony.
But back to Jerome. After producing over 100 Sauna Talk podcasts, I’ve learned what makes a guest unforgettable: someone who can take us right to the edge of the box. During my visits to Farris Bad, Jerome would casually share insights about aufguss—and every time, I’d think, people need to hear and feel this for themselves!
Today, we get that chance, right now. Let’s step behind the scenes into the fascinating, ever-evolving world of aufguss. Please welcome Jerome to Sauna Talk!
Podcast summary
Jerome Farris, a sauna master at Farris Bad in Larvik, Norway, discusses his role and background. He has been at Farris Bad for eight years, having moved from Switzerland. Jerome speaks multiple languages and has a Montessori teaching background, which he applies to his sauna master role. He emphasizes the importance of sensory experiences and the therapeutic aspects of sauna rituals. Farris Bad has seven saunas and offers courses for aspiring steam masters. Jerome highlights the collaborative and non-prescriptive nature of the sauna experience, aiming to connect guests with their roots and elements. He also shares insights into the sauna’s cultural significance and its benefits for well-being.
Key Moments
| 2:36-3:48 | Jerome explains how his background with kids at Montessori and performance art helped him with his current job in sauna- so interesting! |
| 8:44-9:03 | Jerome talks about proposing to his wife! |
| 30:12-31:00 | Jerome discusses people pushing themselves/ MMA fighters- this was interesting |
Episode transcription
Glenn
We’re we’re sitting in the back the behind the scenes here at Farris Bad and for listeners, what is this room called, and what happens back here?
Jerome
Here we are in the technical room of the Sona Alda in fire spot in Larvik,
Glenn
south of Oslo, a
Jerome
couple hours slow, yeah, an hour and a half by the sea. It’s a fantastic location, yeah, very quiet, peaceful in between the Viking history. So I would really suggest to come and see by yourself, yeah.
Glenn
How long have you been here? Jerome.
Jerome
I’ve been here eight years now.
Jerome
I’m a Montessori teacher, and I came to Norway in 2004 from from Switzerland,
Glenn
and that’s where you grew up.
Jerome
That’s where I grew up, yeah, in the middle of the mountains and in front of the lake, yeah. But when you come to the ocean and the nature in Norway, then you fell in love.
Glenn
So you speak Norwegian.
Jerome
Yep, Norwegian, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish.
Glenn
Well, yep. And you have guests from all of these countries and beyond here at Farris Bad.
Jerome
Yes, even Japanese are coming, and because they they see different videos in Japan, and so we have to go and visit Farris Bad. So it’s fun, and you can connect with the people in the world and connect with the sweat cultures around the world as well.
Glenn
And for listeners, explain your role here at Farris Bad.
Jerome
I’m a sauna master, so I work especially in the in the sauna, but it can be also in the steam, like you have seen yesterday with the scrub. I was lucky to come here eight years ago and meet Lasse, who was just inspiring me and bringing different people inside. So I also had a lot of competitions where, for me, I saw that more like a study, you know, you go all in and study one topic, and all the herbs that are going with that, and all the music and the smells and what can you bring to the people to bring them on a journey?
Glenn
Yeah, so your background as a Montessori teacher, how has that helped you in your role as a sauna master, and were you able to bring that experience forward within your current vocation?
Jerome
Absolutely, because, as I started with the small kids in kindergarten, I have the training for all the three levels, but and they all involve the senses, how to bring knowledge to the the kids in different ways, using all the senses. So it can be tasting, it can be smelling, it can be stories, it can be just touching and stuff. And when I stopped after 13 years, I think I thought that actually what I’m doing here is the same. And I studied visual art and design, so I wrote a bachelor on herbs that were growing in the clusters in Norway around 1100 so just the point where history is changing to Viking into middle age. And how can I connect this together with sauna culture? And I suddenly realized that way I do performance art in sauna, because I tell stories, I bring people on the journey with herbs. And it was kind of, ah, that’s the Montessori way as well, yeah, because you are as a sauna master. You are an educator, you’re a guide, you’re a therapist. You work with thermal regulation. You are there to take care of them and so
Glenn
And much like the Montessori principles of the senses with children bringing you know, fostering touch, feel, smell, all of the senses in the child, for edgy helping educate children, you’ve been able to find a parallel to being a sauna master with those same principles?
Jerome
Hmm, absolutely. And I see that when you are standing in front, we take 120 people in the sauna, approximately, like, it’s never that full. But when we have full moons and stuff, and you can go really deep sometimes, you know, bring the people back to their roots. Just by talking, what are you experiencing in the Sunnah? You know, you’re in contact with yourself. You’re in contact with the elements. It’s the fire that is bringing up life into those rocks. Those rocks have been here for 240 million years. In years is larvikate. It’s been like that old, and it’s releasing its energy that is coming directly from the sun that you can experience today because of the water and the air traveling, carrying this water and touching you. You know,
Glenn
right? We talk exactly, you know, we talked about this just recently in Britain and in Finland, on this journey about children in sauna and how magical and wonderful it is, how children respond so well to sauna. And if I could kind of project on maybe one of the reasons for it is just the simplicity of the experience. It’s something that young people, young they love it, they respond to it.
Jerome
They love it. They respond to it. Also, especially now it’s so important in a digital world where we are all connected to our phones, to TV, to series, to whatever, and then suddenly you you have this possibility to lock yourself into a space that is timeless, that is digital-less, and you go back to what you really experience and feel. And I’m not surprised, and I see it here too, like, yeah, even when they are a little bit older, you say, what happened now? What was that? Wow, the feeling is great, and you have the ocean next to and you go and wash yourself. And so this energy is deep inside everyone, but it’s kind of forgotten or hidden, or you have to find it.
Glenn
Beautiful. Another one relating is I’ve been on this, this, this concept of good heat knows no borders. And as a sauna traveler, I don’t travel well, believe it or not, I can get motion sickness. I need to sleep, you know, I’m afraid I become fragile in my older age. You know, I need to eat well, and I need to sleep well. And yet, when I sauna travel, I find that as I settle myself on the sauna bench, it’s such a universal feeling I can transport my mind, my body, my spirit, as if I’m in I’m in a very safe place in my own backyard or at my island cabin in the north of Minnesota. Good heat knows no borders,
Jerome
exactly. I agree that that’s a good that’s a good one. I like that because, yeah, it’s what is connecting us in the is the roots of the tree,
Glenn
yeah, right, the simple principles of hot, cold, yeah, fire, ice, the four elements.
Jerome
It goes back to our roots. Like, that’s what we were doing for 1000s of years ago. You know. As soon as the fire came, then we had rituals, telling stories around the fire. And this heat was bringing us, like, ah, it was nice. It was really cold outside, yeah, yeah. And then you’re back in and cleaning as well.
Glenn
Let’s talk about your vocation specifically. So you came to, you know, maybe the chronology of it even too. So you came to, what drew you to fair spot was it last say last word.
Jerome
No it’s in 2015 I came here after some troubles in the house, and the company was doing all the trout, the reparations and stuff they gave us like a gift card to Farris spot, because it was a kind of dream. And we came here with my wife and experienced sauna rituals. And I was so blown away that I had to go up in the room. And I even proposed to my my wife now, because it was just what In what world did I end up?
Glenn
You proposed at Farris Bad. Okay, you were that moved
Jerome
exactly. And since then, I was, I always have been in sauna as a kid and trying different saunas, but I was trying also to wave suddenly with the towels and trying different essential oils. And two years after, as I started to study, they were looking for some people here. My wife said, Well, look, you have a kind of theater background. You have some Montessori background. You’ve been gardening and interested in herbs and stuff. Why don’t you try? You’ve been dancing salsa and all those things, element they were corresponding to. I suddenly fit in a world where I’ve been looking around, where is my place. And I came here and I was blown away, and started to work, being inspired by Lasse as well, who was bringing in different Russians and Latvians, and say, I’ll try. You have to try this. And as I was sure, this is your home, bringing it, and this is my home, and I feel it as well. Really safe here now I have kind. Of feeling that I can give it back to the new people coming as well being the kind of okay able to see those students trying things and coming and asking, What do you think that would smell to say, I don’t know. Try and
Glenn
we find notice that about the vibe here, it’s not prescriptive. It’s collaborative,
Jerome
exactly, and people can be themselves, yes, yeah.
Glenn
What’s an example of that where a student came in and brought something from their own background or discipline or passion that comes to mind from a fellow student or or steam master colleague?
Jerome
I have a nice colleague now that we are having a duo together in the Show Category theater. And he was asking for one of the smell of his single show, and it’s a YouTuber who is going into Haunted Museum. And I was thinking, maybe you know what? You’re on YouTube. You’re like watching a movie. Why don’t you try popcorn? The popcorn smell? So I said, Wow. Okay, let’s try that. And we went to buy some different types of popcorns and tried it in the sauna and find out how it was able to smell popcorn. It was a,aging.
Glenn
Corn itself with the oil?
Jerome
And he just steamed them, okay, but in a seat, yeah? Seawater on a sea like, just put it in, in a little basket with some holes under and you put the water under and leave them, and the smell is just going that’s cool. So we tried with normal corn. We tried with different types of popcorn, but sometimes we’re smelling too buttery and stuff. So, that was a really nice surprise.
Glenn
Tell us about the structure here at Farris Bad as it relates to the steam masters. How many are on staff? What is it like for the curriculum, for new students to come in, practicing with the public? Can you get, can you give us a little bit of a story behind the structure here at fair spot as it relates to steam masters. And if I could start explain, define steam masters for listeners, we’ll start with that.
Jerome
Okay, I think for the first you have to know that I for myself talking about I could not call myself a steam master before maybe the fourth year of my career, even if I had gone to different competitions and did really well, like I had the World Championship in scrub and stuff. But still, there are so many places and techniques and small details that you have to know in the saunas. They are all different, that to become a steam Master, you need to know how to manage your customers, how to manage the steam and the elements, how to manage like the presentation and maybe all the herbs, the knowledge behind the herbs. So it takes some time, and I think the structure is coming through the years of experience
Glenn
to be called a steam master. Do you? Do you? Does someone? Do you have to fill out a, you know, an application? I mean, do you have to fill out a, you get tested, and do you get a certification? Or, how is that role given and assigned?
Jerome
So what we started now with Lasse? Well, it’s just we give courses on we have a two day course where they come first day we are only on the slow cooking the bus dude specialty from kind of Norwegian style of cooking over a long time with a lot of you open the doors and close the doors, you do a lot of variations in between heat and cold, and you build it up.
Glenn
And would you call this an afcush ritual?
Jerome
No, I would call that a bastu. Bastu is like then, like in Russia, you have banya, or in Latvia, you have Pierce. But for us, is more on the bus too. Is this slow cooking, maybe half an hour, 35 minutes, and then in the end you have a good heat. It’s a cleaning kind of thing, where, of course, is the second day. And that’s, of course, is more, according to the German health department, like 15 minutes max, and then you can have fun. You can have a show of goose. You can have a freestyle of goose. It’s mainly use also your towel. So that’s the big difference, and essential oils, whereas for the bus too, we would use mostly herbs, tea. Ease smoke we can use also whisks, for example. So it’s a different way of steaming and different tools that you would use. But you have to know both to get the knowledge into into two different worlds. So this course is going on two days. And then after they have to do the students 20 sessions that they write on. And then we give some feedbacks. And then it’s, you, can you start your journey in a way,
Glenn
yeah? And that’s really the beginning of a four, four year, yeah, endeavor. And then, and then, is there? Is there a hat? Is there a certificate or a bracelet or anything formal that defines you as a steam master. It’s informal.
Jerome
It’s how you feel. Some people can do it in one year, and they work hard every day. They are in the sauna, practicing. Some others, they just take the journey as it comes. And I think you have to be honest with yourself at one point and say, Okay, I know enough that I can start to be confident. And for sure, you have the feedback from your customers that will probably help you as well.
Glenn
I notice on the wall that there is a photograph of you, of Lasse and of other folks on staff here are all of them steam masters, or some of the photo those are all the steam masters. Yeah. Okay, so that is the accreditation. Is that you get a photo on the wall, yeah?
Jerome
Maybe, yeah, that’s right, yeah. Okay, yeah. We are all working with this team. We are coming here. We’re working together. Some people are often here. Some people are just a couple of times in the month so
Glenn
okay, yeah. And so under or within that staff are also people that that will do performances and lead sessions.
Jerome
You mean from the people of the wall, yeah, only the people on the wall, all the people,
Jerome
only the people on the wall, will perform, okay.
Glenn
But this facility is also a training area for others to come. Yeah, okay. And some may be so impassioned like you that they want to stay exactly and they gotta go get their own.
Jerome
People are coming from north, from Poland, yes, and they are just staying two weeks in Poland and working two weeks in Farris Bad and then going back. Okay? Some people have some saunas in Poland where they work, and they come here just for a weekend, for a course or training or helping around, yes, and then going home.
Glenn
Is it egalitarian? Meaning, all how many steam masters have their photo on the wall here? Like, how many Okay, so the 12 on the wall? Are you all equal? Or is there a lead steam master? Or, I know Lasse, his own, train
Jerome
But he’s like the father of, okay, he’s the one that gathered, that started the whole journey here in Faris, but and he has connections all around the world, toys he he brings in the people that we need to grow this team, in a way,
Glenn
Is the team equal? Or are there senior steam masters and junior steam, you know, like, where is that an informal
Jerome
I think it’s quite informal, but some people have more knowledge because they have been working longer. Some people have more knowledge because they have experienced, like, different competitions. And I would say every time you go in a competition, you bring yourself to another level, that and bring back that experience to help, help the other Exactly. And some are really fresh, like you have two or three of those ones, they started this year. So the knowledge is not so accumulated.
Glenn
Yeah. What’s a typical day in the life for you or your 11 colleagues? Can you from when you wake up to when you go to bed at night? Can you walk us through a wow, it’s a typical day. I mean, things are uniquely uniform. I have to say in my observation, yeah, there’s a formal schedule, right? Yeah? Take us through a day from when you you yourself, from when you wake up to go to bed, and it’s a day when you’re on duty, so to speak.
Jerome
I have two, probably two different days that I can talk about, because the first one is the day where I’m working here and you have rituals in the morning. So it’s nice way to open your day and get kind of the steam going, yeah. Okay, the first theme, and after that, you have different rituals along the day. You can choose as well. I usually go in the spa. And feel a little bit the vibes. How are the people? If it’s in the evening, then you can just push a little bit more heat. You can play a little bit more with the music, with the the towel technique.
Glenn
How many saunas on on site, total? And then how many saunas will you visit to catch the vibe
Jerome
here at Farris Bad, we have at least two saunas that we use every day and one for performances.
Glenn
For performances, yeah. Okay, and how many total on property?
Jerome
You have three finished saunas. You have two soft saunas that are a little bit less hot and a steam bath. We have an extra area as well, kind of private, where you both have a steam bath and a sauna extra, but we don’t use them so often, right?
Glenn
So that’s seven, right there. Yeah, and you, are you including Alden in that?
Jerome
Yes, yeah, is really the one where things are happening, right?
Glenn
And so seven saunas on property. This is a wellness resort. I guess you could say, I’ll tell you a funny story on that. One is, you know, it’s my second visit here to Farris Bad. And, you know, last year, exactly this with same weekend I was here. And, you know, I’m just like, Give me more. Give me more. It’s like, late in the evening, and I’m realizing that the restaurant’s gonna close, and I didn’t want to go back to the room and change, and so I walked down there with my bathrobe on, and I’m sheepishly asking the attendant at the restaurant, I said, Is there a dress code? Can I come in with my bathrobe? And he says with a Norwegian accent, “of course you can, this is a wellness Hotel”. So I’m like, Right on, man, I’m at home here. So nice that you feel less. Yeah, I felt wonderful. I’m like, I feel free. You know, freedom is a big virtue for me, and being able to have this bracelet on so I don’t have to lose my key to get into my room and, you know, I know no other clothes needed.
Jerome
the way you stepped in yesterday. I just came around you. We had an appointment, but there was the right time.
Glenn
Yeah, yeah. I just stumbled on the right moment, yeah. And there you were. We’ll talk about that session, if you, if you will, if we could, but a staying on, on this train a little bit about the day in the life for for you as a sauna master, so you, you’re you wake up, you you come to the facility, you come on site, and the next thing you know, you’re walking around checking the vibe of these hotel of the saunas on property, right?
Jerome
For me, it’s quite important, because sometimes you have older people and you don’t want to push something too energetic, yeah? Some other times you have couples that are here to relax, but just to enjoy their time. Some other times you have groups and you have a session suddenly turning into a party. Yeah? And yet you have to be able to find that vibe and say, Okay, let’s go for this type of outgoes
Glenn
in a typical day, how many sessions are you running when it’s we
Jerome
do for you yourself? Yes, do four. Okay. And I think it’s a nice, nice number.
Glenn
And where, which of the saunas Are these for taking place?
Jerome
Like, if you have the morning shift, you will have three different places. Two of them are here in the Alda, the big sauna. And if you are in the evening, it’s mostly in the Alda, because that’s where we get more people
Glenn
in the other facility, or the other sauna.
Jerome
The other saunas is, one is the steam and one is the one you were in this morning, in the fjord sauna with a nice view on this on the beach.
Glenn
Yeah? Let’s talk about the three. Okay, yeah, because this is this will give listeners a good idea of what to expect when they come visit Farris Bad, yeah? Or dream of coming here, yeah. Which one of the three should we talk about first?
Jerome
Um, we can start with the one in the morning, for example, because it’s a beautiful way to start your day. I think also with the quiet one. If we, if we, you don’t need to push too much heat. People are just coming out of their bed, walking up in the first heat in the morning. So you also want to have it quiet, and
Jerome
it’s a nice way to start. Also with the morning bath
Glenn
I’ll set the stage for the fjord sauna. Yes, in the Sarah in the karma in the wonderful world of Farris Bad. I didn’t set my alarm this morning. Okay? I figured nine o’clock. I mean, no problem. I’ll probably get up around 730 maybe have a cup of coffee, whatever. Well, man, I slept so great, and I casually reached for my phone. And you know what time it was, just five to seven minutes to nine, and I’m like, Holy shit, Jerome’s gonna kill me. How? Been Hey, I came all this way, and I said, yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow at nine. So I jump out, literally, what you I jumped out of bed. And again, the freedom factor at Farris Bad is I’m, like, totally nuded up. Just throw on my bathrobe. Don’t have to bring anything else. I have my bracelet. So I get back in my room, and I scooted down and caught you just perfectly preparing, yeah, the snowballs, the herbs, some of the essence and stuff. Yeah, smoking stuff. And then. So there it was. We had a session, and this was not classic, of course. What would you call what we did at 9am this morning?
Jerome
No, it’s not the classic. I’m more this kind of type of rituals, kind of bringing down and so I think more I like morning session in a way,
Glenn
yeah, yeah. So there we were, and you were good enough to prep us to say that this is going to be about 15 minutes, yes, because if it was 16, I was gonna humbly drop myself down to the low bench.
Jerome
I you started in the top as well.
Glenn
Yeah, I’m a top bench kind of guy, right? Like, because I like, you know, this one rose as well. That’s true, but I let, I mean the heat, this is this is a protected element, electric sauna heater, and the way you command the steam is very powerful, and the door opening and closing giving a little relief through each and I don’t want to speak for you, but I’m giving you my perspective. And then when you brought in some fresh air and fanned it from underneath, I know that the bathers on the lower benches got the benefit of the cooler air, a little bit more than than any up top. Yeah. So you took me right to the edge, Jerome, and I can handle it. I can handle heat.
Jerome
I saw the top is the top is the most important for me. Where is the limit? Yeah, where is the limit? Because it’s really they are defining all the situation and the comfort zone in the sauna, yeah, yeah, if I see that, they start to move. Is they? If they are feeling like I see their eyes rolling,
Jerome
okay, we are about to close. So I
Glenn
did you? Did you get any body language for me?
Jerome
I couldn’t. No, not so much. I was, No, I was more interested the lady, yeah. Now what do you had a man on you, on your left side, and the lady, I was more on her, and you asked her even exactly, because she was pushing herself, yes, you could tell. But I find especially if they they go bend in the front like this.
Glenn
I was starting to do that. Did you notice? Yeah, but you were, you didn’t give me any attention because, you know, I’m a sauna.
Jerome
They’ll be there, and then we are soon finished.
Glenn
So whether it’s whether it’s Russian banya or or this, this ritual, what I notice is part of the virtue of it is that you as a guide will will bring it to the edge more than if I was sitting on the bench on my own, I would have submitted to the cold sea sooner, but I wanted to, I felt a duty to stick, stick out the ritual to the end. Okay, and so it took me to the edge more than I normally would on my own. And so, you know, 90% of time I’ll be taking sauna in my own backyard sauna. And you know, I believe in this thing called the rubber band theory of sauna, where, you know the that the benefits are full expansion. And so I wouldn’t have normally gone as far as you took me. Isn’t that one of the would you say benefits of having ritual sessions versus sounding on your own?
Jerome
For me, I like to have this kind of edging thing, because I know that when they are going to the sea. Then you have the 200% extra benefit, okay, then the release of endorphen is like, wow. And they come out, and they feel a little bit dizzy, and they feel like, Oh, wow. What happened?
Glenn
My good friend Clint, he’s got a line as Do you know when it’s time to leave the hot room?
Jerome
when it’s not wellness anymore, when,
Glenn
when the idea of an ice cold lake plunge is about the best idea you’ve ever heard, and until then you’re not there? You know? Yes, so you took me there, yeah, but you have a big responsibility with that privilege, meaning you don’t want to have people fainting and losing themselves. So this is part of the to be a sauna Master, I would think safety and the guests understanding where the guest is at. I mean, that’s
Jerome
you have to read your guests. Yeah, yeah, have you, and you always ask, you always check you are okay. You know you can go down. And I have a good friend of mine always saying, as well, if you’re struggling, it’s not wellness. So just listen to your body. And that’s also, I say, you can also even take a little break on on the floor, you know, yeah, sometimes, and then go back up. It’s not a macho trip. No, here definitely not Yeah, yeah. And you see, the ones that are struggling are often the ones pushing themselves. And when they come out of the water there, that’s where you have to fish them back through weather. Oh yeah, you have some MMA fighters coming sometimes, okay? They are really, like, tough, and they don’t want to give up. And they are the ones that are just suddenly falling, and then you have to put their legs up and you knock me out. They say, Yeah, I did. That’s I told you come.
Glenn
So there’s some irony to this.
Jerome
Yeah, I mean, you are in contact with yourself, and we are back to löyly, you know. And just listen to your body. Listen, fine, am I okay? Now?
Glenn
Yeah, back to the day, when you’re on, you’re on duty here or performing. You have these performances, and in, the the late, the in the large sauna, is your, is your evening performance? Yes, right, yeah. And you’ll do two in the evening. January, four, four, yes.
Jerome
So for three short ones and the last one in maybe a long one, where we go 330, 40 40 minutes, maybe.
Glenn
And how long from start to finish is that session for the 4,
Jerome
45 to 50 minutes, because I have always kind of introduction when you get the first heat and bring some fresh air, you know, oxygen
Glenn
and you’re encouraging a plunge into the sea after each ?
Jerome
Yeah, all four. If it’s the last one, I would say, go to the sea. Just don’t take a Wim Hof plunge, in a way where you stay there for seven minutes. Just cut the cooking process, just but keep a little bit of the heat so that you will sleep nicely.
Glenn
That’s my trick too. I love that. That’s the good heat knows no border concept. That’s exactly how I roll, especially with winter saunas, yeah, because I bank that latent heat in my body for for later,
Jerome
yeah, yeah, that’s and then you have a nice sleep. And yeah, it’s Yeah. And even, I mean, I started, I did a lot, like the last years, I couldn’t understand I was getting tired, because I was going to the sea every after every session, and it was kind of draining my body out, you know, like those contrasts were extreme, exactly. And I was coming here and telling people, I was like, I feel so after three days in a row, I was just dead. I need a whole Monday to just crash on the sofa. And I stopped doing that, and I started to let my body feel the heat again. Like, okay, go back to zero on its own, and suddenly it was another world. Yeah?
Glenn
So with some of that, hydration is hydration a big part of what you do. Let’s, let’s do a little live TV. Is, can you, can we have a quick live TV? Is it okay?
Jerome
Yeah, there’s a ritual going on. That’s why,
Glenn
in a short time. Yeah, let’s, let’s do this real quick. As you’re Who do we have here? Hello, hi. What is your name?
Haruka
Haruka, hello, from Japan.
Glenn
You’re from Japan, and what? How long have you been here at Farris Bad?
Jerome
You came a little bit before Christmas and, yes, moved to UK,
Haruka
yes, came back, yes. Okay. One month, stay here, stayed here, and go back to UK and come back.
Glenn
And I don’t want to interrupt you, because I know you have a ritual, so you keep doing what you’re doing. And I’m going to talk with Jerome and Joe, maybe you can explain,
Jerome
yeah, you’re doing the session,
Glenn
yeah, that’s okay. So she’s getting ready for a session. Yeah, okay, I was supposed to have it. Oh, really, oh, really, do you want to go do that session? It’s okay with me. We can press pause, yeah? We can, yeah, absolutely, then we do that. Yeah. Okay, so, so before I press pause, explain what for listeners, what we’re looking at right now.
Jerome
So hadukai is preparing the ice balls now, and she’s putting the essential oils on the top so that the ice balls are going to act like a mediator. When you pour the water is not straight on the stone, so the steam is going to go through the ice and carry the oils. In the air.
Glenn
Fantastic. I noticed that she was looking in a book, what is she creating her own recipe? Or is this prescribed for this performance specifically?
Jerome
I believe she’s counting the drops, because every sauna has a kind of level of how many drops you of essential oils you’re using, and she has her own recipes, yeah? Because sometimes you make mix, right, and it’s nice to have and
Glenn
you know the recipe. So you’ll be able to announce this to the people on the sound event. And this is happening in Alda right now, right now. Yeah, this is live TV.
Jerome
This is live TV.
Glenn
Are you cool? I’m gonna, I’m press pause, yeah, just you want to talk with her?
Jerome
No, yeah, we can do a session together.
Glenn
Yeah, okay, and you speak with her in English or
Jerome
Yes. Okay, good. So she’s teaching me Japanese as well.
Glenn
Well keep talking with her, and I’ll let guess hear what you two are collaborating on for this session.
Jerome
We have different smells here, so we have rosemary for the first round, then you have made a mix of red Mandarin and spearmint. Okay, can be a little bit cooling, but also really fresh with the the citrus. And the last one is a ginger and yuzu. The ginger is going to warm up a little bit. It’s nice the blood and the yuzu is a fresh one, yeah, yeah.
Glenn
So, so, three, three ice ball sessions, three
Jerome
ice balls, and then we have kind of music as well.
Glenn
Great photo. That’s great, yeah, good. Look at me. That’s good. And then I’m gonna let you go do this session. Cool, okay,
Jerome
okay, and this time we’re going to use towels, yeah, so it’s a small session as well. We have the music ready.
Glenn
Okay, I’ll let you go.
Jerome
And then you’re joining.
Glenn
You’re making me want to join. And there, there is, this is awesome. Cool. All right, Jerome, thank you for being on sauna talk. Maybe we’ll get to visit again. Yeah, and in the spirit of light, go ahead.
Glenn
Yeah, so we’re finishing here with Jerome, and you had a ritual you want to tell us about the last session you just ran.
Jerome
The last session was just a classic aufgus. That means about in between 12 and 15 minutes, a couple of smells. I mean, we had three smells there, some music and towel techniques, so we bring up the heat gradually, and then in the end, we have kind of a heat shower so that they go out and cool cool.
Glenn
And how many were in on the benches? Roughly
Jerome
This time was about maybe 40-45 people.
Glenn
Would you say all Norwegian if you had to guess?
Jerome
A couple of strangers, yeah, a couple of foreigners. I know because we took it as well in English so that everybody could understand.
Glenn
And you always do that. You take it in English, not always.
Jerome
No always, I usually ask if someone is doesn’t understand Norwegian, yeah. But when we have full moon and we have 100 people there, then I take it anyway in English, because some of the stories I tell, it’s also more, more for me, it’s easier to tell them in English.
Glenn
So you say about 45 at this yes, okay, yeah. How many of those 45 went into the sea after, if you had to guess
Jerome
At least 25 of them, more than half, yeah, more than half,
Glenn
yeah. And it’s such a magical Allah, Arla, yeah. Arla, it’s a magical
Jerome
Alda. Alda. Alda. Alda means wave in Old Norse, because when you open the doors, you can hear the waves when you give those different types of waves and smell or heat waves
Glenn
In the capacity of 60. Is that right?
Jerome
I had 120 almost in there You know what? That was a nice that was a nice session. When we had so many people, it was almost the opening. My wife was there with her whole choir. She’s singing in a choir, Terra beau, Terra Blue Voice, and we pranked every people in there. They had no idea. 16 acapella singers were among the public.
Glenn
Oh, wow. It’s like one of those. Have you seen those videos where they’re it’s in a train station?
Jerome
Yes, yes, exactly the same. I could have waved naked the first round. Nobody would have seen me. They were all looking at each other and say, Geez, he’s singing too, and she’s singing.
Glenn
And they were scattered about
Jerome
exactly, and they had the beatboxer inside and stuff. It’s really nice music
Glenn
that’s beautiful. Was it Norwegian music?
Jerome
A little bit of all around? Yeah, they have their own style, but it’s nice. And tomorrow they have a release of their their album.
Glenn
Oh, fantastic. Okay, congrats to your wife on that. I will. So as you exit Alda, you exit the hot room, though there’s two doors. It’s a classic aufguss style sauna with the stove in the middle and door on the left, door and right, and you use the doors you talked about that bringing fresh air in, yeah. But from a guest perspective, sitting on the bench, when the ritual is over, you offer them to jump in, to go into the seat, yes. And as you exit the hot room, straight away. To the left are showers straight away. To the right doors,
Jerome
you have stairs going down. You have your feet. You have just enough time to start to cool down, and you put your feet straight in the sand and just go slowly to the sea.
Glenn
Yeah, it’s magical, wonderful.
Glenn
Sometimes you had big waves. Sometimes it’s like mirror, completely flat.
Glenn
Tell us about a January day is there? It’s it’s salt here. So it’s brackish. Actually, it’s not heavy salt,
Jerome
It’s brackish because we have a river coming and just turning in. And, yeah, mixed water, salt, and it’s not too salty.
Glenn
Does it freeze up?
Jerome
But it freezes, yeah, you know, I had some. You’re swimming in slush sometimes.
Glenn
And so that’s what you get. Is more slush than breaking ice?
Jerome
I this this winter, in January, I had to break some ice, but not with a with a hammer or something, just you walk in it and you have razor sharp, so careful, super but the experience of going under the ice and pushing the ice with the head, yeah, is magic.
Glenn
It is magic. And you get the four seasons here at Farris Bad. Summer, though the water’s still quite cold.
Jerome
24 degrees. So it’s pretty warm. I had some morning where you open, where you went this morning in the summer, and I was watching the customers going to the sea. I. The sea was completely turquoise. I could see the people swimming and their shadow in the sand. It was magic. I thought I was in the Caribbean,
Glenn
and that was this morning.
Jerome
No, this morning was quite rough, okay, but some three years ago, okay, doing summertime, yeah. It was magic. So we have the sceneries
Glenn
So, Jerome, are you on social media or email, or do you have any way people want to see who you are, or I’ll have a picture of us. Yeah, way to connect.
Jerome
Yeah, Peelz of Norway. That’s on Instagram. Okay, that’s also the name of my company that I have beside my son at work. But I see
Glenn
E, l, p, double, E, l, s,
Jerome
p, double, E, L, set, okay, Z, P, Z, yeah, like the skins,
Glenn
And tell us about that project.
Jerome
That’s a project I started when I was studying, actually as a student. Okay, so it’s a student company that I turned into my own, and I sell different items for saunas, mostly essential oils, scrubs that I mix and do myself. They’re all natural sauna hats that my wife is making. So they are really nice, good helmets, viking helmets, right on, yeah, sturdy, yes. They are best friends in the summer.
Glenn
Does your wife enjoy sauna?
Jerome
She likes it, yeah, she loves coming to the full moon rituals. So these are really nice, deep rituals, three hours where we work and steam and tell stories about Old Norse mythology, we go in with the drums. So, yeah, that’s definitely an experience that is, yeah, on the top for me, lovely.
Glenn
You wake up and it’s a day that you’re not working, but it’s a sauna. You know you’re going to take a sauna on an off day. So no, you don’t have any rituals to be thinking about. When you think about that day, from when you wake up to when you go to sauna, you may be the first löyly or first cool down, even up to when you go to bed at night is what is the moment that is your favorite, if you had to distill it to one through the whole process of a sauna day.
Jerome
I think it’s the part when you go out after your have just been pushing a little bit yourself, and you cool down a little bit like you were saying the cold plunge, and then this feeling of, okay, I can lay down and start to let myself go. It’s safe. And, you know, I had those kind of Pierce rituals done by some Latvian, fantastic people. And you go out, you’re completely out. Or the Russians, like Dimitri when he came here, this was magic. So this feeling, that’s the one I’m looking for, and that’s the one I really enjoy.
Glenn
Immerse yourself from the cold and begin to recenter yourself exactly. That’s the magical moment. I love that.
Jerome
We feel your shoulders completely down, you’re relaxed, you’re grounded, and you’re ready to start your day in a way, or finish your day,
Glenn
Or do another round.
Jerome
Or another round.
Glenn
What do you think about sauna? I mean, from your perspective here, you know you’re from Switzerland, you speak many, many languages and see this practice from the perspective of many cultures. What do you think about sauna that is most misunderstood, that you would like others to maybe open their eyes to understand from your side of things?
Jerome
That’s a good question. I think maybe the nakedness. I like when you came yesterday and you said. Well, this is okay.
Glenn
Is it weird if I go naked?
Jerome
No, they are weird. Yeah. Because they don’t, they don’t get it in a way that or don’t feel comfortable enough, maybe just confident, but when they try, then you see and that it’s a complete they come out and say, Thank you, because I didn’t know that, but sitting in a plastic bag in a sauna and being naked in a sauna, they are two different experience.
Glenn
So and you encourage that, but casually.
Jerome
I encourage that. But if you don’t feel comfortable being naked, it’s always also, at least having cotton or like a pestimale or something to cover. You don’t need to sit there and show all your stuff. It’s like be natural. You’re not there for the dark side of the nakedness, but more the light. And say, Hey, we’re all in our birthday suite suits. And it’s normal. It takes five, five minutes for the people who have never tried. And when they go to Germany and suddenly, or Netherlands and and they try, they feel more comfortable, and suddenly it’s like, wow, a new world. Yeah.
Glenn
Here’s a loaded question. And follow up to that one is, when you do the rituals, do you notice that the nakedness in the nighttime rituals may be a little bit more than in the daytime?
Jerome
Absolutely. Yeah, yes, because of the light. They feel more and especially, you know, you can also play with the light in Alda. So during the evening, I try to have them dark, especially the last ones and stuff, and you see people there more. And often, if you have two or three people being naked, that’s the tone. It says Exactly, yeah.
Glenn
In the book, I wrote a book on how to build a sauna. And in there I Detail Lighting, a lighting plan, and these are for residential sounds, primarily, and stuff. But I really like the dimmer like dimmer lights, and you mentioned being able to control the visual, the vibe and in the hot room, and it’s nice when you can do passive lighting under benches that really takes the attention away from the sauna bather
Jerome
Exactly, and it can remind you, as well, of being in this, this womb, like, since every every sauna is a lady, then you’re back in your mom’s woman. You do? You do see those people like in a foster position, or it’s wet, it’s dark, it’s you just have some noises and smells bringing you back in there, right on roots again, like we started in the beginning, roots and culture. Roots and culture.
Glenn
You know, when I come back, we’re gonna have a dub style of
Jerome
Yes, I’m looking forward to your playlist right on. Yeah, I’ll make you one proper.
Glenn
So if you could bring a mobile sauna anywhere in the world, even via helicopter, what’s the first place that comes to mind where you would like to sauna? In the world, or your own backyard. Maybe it doesn’t have to be so
Jerome
I’m building one in my own backyard. So that’s gonna happen very soon. Well, good.
Glenn
You’re gonna need my book, bro, yeah.
Jerome
But I like the Norwegian style, where you have a little view. It doesn’t need to be a big window, because the steam is not going to be so good. But a little postcard picture. And you could see, maybe, you know, one place I have in the heart is termat de materon in Switzerland, this beautiful Toblerone mountain. And you could see this one, and, oh yeah, from the bench
Glenn
And would there be a mountain stream just outside?
Jerome
Oh, and a cold ice glacier, moving water.
Glenn
Okay, so in this moment, in the sauna, if you could sauna with anyone in the world, dead or alive, past or present. Who’s the first person that comes to mind that you’d like to share a sauna with here?
Jerome
First in the mind, Nelson Mandela. Man this guy has been living so much I would love to know a little bit. How did he you know the process when you stay so much time in the prison and go through all this apartheid and finding yourself and ending up being the President of South Africa. Wow.
Glenn
He’s your sauna partner. He’s my sauna partner. Beautiful job. I want to thank you, man. I really feel your spirit, and I love this place. I love what you’re doing in eight years. Final words for listeners of SaunaTalk.
Jerome
Well, I would just enjoy this good steam. You know, a good steam is so the first steam is the best that you can have and enjoy it. Let the löyly touch you.