As sauna becomes more and more popular, more and more sauna enthusiasts are recognizing that sauna is more than a hot room. In addition to 10-15 minutes sitting on a bench in a 160 -200 degree f. sauna hot room, a sauna session is more "robust" when we: Toss water on the sauna stove rocks. Embrace Loyly (steam created by tossing water on sauna rocks). Become more familiar with our bodies and minds by recognizing that "the time to leave the hot room, is when the idea of jumping into an ice cold lake or rolling in the snow is about the best idea we've ever heard." (Clintmeister) Leave the sauna hot room, and cold plunge, or cold shower, or roll in the fresh snow. Become even more familiar with our bodies and minds by recognizing that what we just did is not crazy, or some macho ploy, but that exposure to extreme hot or cold temperatures improves mitochondrial function that can serve as a catalyst to improve our health. (more here). Be one with our time outside, in … [Read more...]
A wood burning sauna gets nestled into the hillside on a boat access property in Northern Ontario
Guest post series continues. We welcome Andrew and Laurie who purchased a boat access lot on Tomiko Lake in Northern Ontario. Rugged, beautiful wilderness offers an ideal backdrop for a spacious wood burning sauna. All materials require boat transport. Extra work, but well worth it! Welcome Andrew and Laurie. What compelled you to build your own sauna? My wife and I purchased a water-access lot in the Canadian Shield in 2008. It turned out that we were fortunate to have neighbours that most can only dream of having! The first few years as we worked on our property we spent many wonderful evenings with them in their sauna. Eric being of Finnish descent, built his based on his parents and friends’ saunas. This led us to what we finally built-based on our experience with theirs and what we wanted to do to make it ours! How did you find saunatimes and give us a few examples where the DIY ebook helped you out? My wife and I were a military couple, so for the most part we … [Read more...]
Ben builds an awesome backyard sauna and his only regret may surprise you
Guest post series continues. We first heard from Ben here, who shared the now famous "Ben Square sleeper method" concept for sloping a sauna hot room floor. Well, good news: Ben has completed his sauna, and we are excited to share his story with you. Enter Ben: What compelled you to build your own sauna? We have had a sauna at our deer camp north of Orr, MN since 1983. It is a rare night that we don't sauna when we are there. I have always wanted one at home, and this summer we didn't have any large projects to do on our house, so I decided that this was the year to build it. How did you find saunatimes? Give us a few examples where the DIY ebook helped you out. I started planning the sauna last fall. I bought several books and read them cover to cover, but none of them told me HOW to build a sauna, just what some of them looked like. What I needed were details such as how much insulation, how to slope the floor, how to make a vapor barrier, etc. I started looking for … [Read more...]
The Keen sauna was Dad’s idea, but the kids can’t get enough
Sauna Times Guest Post Series continues. Welcome to the Keen Sauna in Dryden Ontario Canada. The frozen north. Enter Peter: Peace and quiet? Calm relaxation in the Sauna? Hardly. We six moved this summer into a larger house, which had good bones, a heated workshop, two three-car garages, and a private boat launch. It needed a few tweaks. Tweaks like new roofs, new windows, new siding, new garage furnace, new air exchanger, new flooring, new paint, new dock, new decks and new doors. Oh, and a complete interior renovation too. So naturally, the Sauna came first. I figured it would be a break from the for increasingly loud kids, using it regularly after a day’s hard home renovation. Peace and quiet. Time to mediate. Relaxation, löyly and wine. Or so I thought. Unfortunately, the kids loved building it. The ten year old nailed shingles. The eight year old built benches. The six year old screwed in decking. The four year old helped find missing screws. (The story … [Read more...]
Your own backyard sauna: are you ready yet?
The outdoor backyard authentic sauna experience is being enjoyed RIGHT now by many hundreds of people. How do I know this to be true? I have helped hundreds of people build their own authentic backyard saunas. But that's not important. What IS important is that our own backyard outdoor free standing sauna buildings are significant structures. They don't have steeples, but they are our churches. And our health clubs. And our Doctors (both mental and/or physical). Our own backyard saunas are health and wellness sanctuaries. It doesn't matter who we are or what is going on. For some of us it is a bad day at work, or we can't set down our cell phones, or we are back from a shitty war and are trying to get our life back together. We have made the commitment and we are enjoying a better life. We have our backyard sauna. "Other than diet and exercise, I can’t think of anything else that will benefit your life in a more positive way. And, that’s not just sales talk. It’s the … [Read more...]
Straight scoop from a sauna builder who has built hundreds of saunas
Guest post series continues. Pleased to welcome Matt Bergstrom from Finnleo. Matt has most certainly built more saunas than anyone in North America. What comes forward is not just Matt's knowledge of authentic sauna building, but a true joy and appreciation of his craft. Within this post, we will follow along with a recent sauna build of Matt's. This sauna build was for renowned ex NHL player and current NHL Assistant Coach Darby Hendrickson. Darby is an authentic sauna fan who understands the value of a backyard retreat, the virtues of wood burning, and the health and wellness of sauna - both physical and mental (mental in that after a tough Minnesota Wild loss, Darby can often be found with his eyes closed, sweating it out on the upper bench of his backyard sauna, in anticipation of a cold plunge and Wim Hof style control of his autonomic nervous system. Enter Matt: How long have you been building saunas? Over 15 years now. Ever since I have worked at Finnleo. How many … [Read more...]
What I Learned from Building an Outdoor Sauna with a Wood Burning Stove
Guest Post Series continues. Part II with Russ, who first shared his corbel system to support sauna benches here. And given his building skill and meticulous attention to detail, we thought it a good idea to bring Russ back to share: What I Learned from Building an Outdoor Sauna with a Wood Burning Stove Plan the whole space, not just the sauna footprint. You’ll need a deck, patio or other lounging area to rest between rounds in the hot room. You may also want to install an outdoor shower of some sort – and that should be easily winterized if you live in a cold climate. Plan the interior of your sauna carefully, so that windows from the hot room see the outdoors directly, or indirectly through a window in the door to the hot room, which is aligned with a window on the world. Also consider cross ventilation in the changing room, including retractable screen doors that work well in confined spaces. Carefully consider whether you want to build an outdoor structure out of … [Read more...]
A video tour of a kick ass wood burning sauna along the shores of Lake Superior
Whether sitting in your cube at work, or maybe sitting in seat 13c on flight 324 to O'hare, this 2 minute video may help one chill out in anticipation of their next authentic sauna session. … [Read more...]
Are you a pioneer to the authentic?
I just figured something out. I have helped hundreds of people build their own saunas. Through this, I have connected with some really cool people. Awesome folks with a DIY spirit who can sift through bullshit and have a clear understanding of what is authentic and what is not. Authentic saunas are really quite simple. Elements include: An authentic kick ass sauna stove (wood burning! but that's another story). The right size hot room so as to provide the right kind of heat. Well insulated and well built. The right kind of wood interior so you won't burn your ass or have it smell like an Ikea dresser. Feng shui, with the use of spell check. Custom elements that allow the sauna owner to feel the satisfaction of doing something for themselves that matters. As we step out our backdoors and work our way down to our AUTHENTIC saunas, we can all take a deep breath and applaud our ability to understand and appreciate authenticity. This is a virtue. As others … [Read more...]
2016 Snow Walkers’ Rendezvous: Garrett Conover offers us an introduction to Finnish Style Sauna in North America
Guest post series continues. Welcome Garrett Conover from rural Maine, USA. Garrett shares a deep resonance and appreciation of the authentic sauna experience. He is ambitious and passionate towards sharing this appreciation. For example, in 2016, soon after hearing about the 612 Sauna Society in Minneapolis, MN, Garrett made contact with fearless leader John Pederson, myself, and a few other Minnesota sauna spirited folks, then flew out to Minneapolis, met all of us, took high end photos, while experiencing and documenting much of the spirit of this budding community movement. This winter, 2017, Garrett put on the following presentation. Thankfully, it was well documented by Alek Gusev. I am excited to share the presentation with you below. Here is a summary of Garrett's main points: Benefits over time: One of the beauties of engaging with a direct and authentic Sauna tradition is that we gain all the benefits of refinement and experience as perfected … [Read more...]