"I think if you're thinking about building a sauna, you should go ahead and just do it." - Steele Arundel BONUS INTRO: Rod Buhrsmith introduces us to the budding mobile sauna movement: A symbiotic mash up of an ice house and an out building. Mobile saunas allow us to bring the goodness of sauna to breweries, backyards, and nature areas like lakes and streams. Here, the cold plunge is steps from our hot room door. Rod Buhrsmith, considering the locale of his next mobile sauna deployment inside the hot room of the Stokeyard sauna (photo: Jon Reynolds). Nan & Steele Arundel, founders and owners of Landscape Love, a Minneapolis design and landscape company, join us on the sauna bench where we discuss backyard sauna retreats … [Read more...]
Sauna Talk: John Pederson, founder, 612 Sauna Society and other Societal Ventures
We first heard John on Sauna Talk from the bench at my cabin sauna, as we were in Northern Minnesota to celebrate Sauna Day 2016. Then, we heard from John along with fellow 612 Sauna Society Steering Committee members through a separate Sauna Talk episode here. At that time, we were gathered at JP's apartment to talk through what a member operated sauna co op in Minneapolis can look like and means to each of us. I am happy to welcome John back to Sauna Talk for part 1 of this two part series. Sauna Talk on the bench inside the 612 Sauna Society Sauna This entire episode of Sauna Talk was recorded on the sauna bench inside the 612 Sauna Society Mobile Sauna, which has an extended residency outside The Trailhead, Theodore Wirth Park, … [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...]
Creativity is contagious with sauna building and sauna talking
The famous quote by Albert Einstein: "Creativity is Contagious, pass it on" relates to: Sauna Building in the backyard Collaborating on a sauna design can bring people together. Examples include a mobile sauna in Minneapolis and a cottage sauna on Prince Edward Island. Working on a sauna build together affords a contagious atmosphere of right brain thinking, and a better Finnish'ed product. Sharing ideas on where to source building materials and where to find some decent up cycled windows brings forth a bond of kinship and paid forward friendship. Sauna Talking on the bench Helping a new friend untangle the wires in their head regarding their fledging business helps bring forth a "can do attitude" of control vs. … [Read more...]
Sauna is a place to incubate your ideas
Thanks to John from Fairfield IA: "We have had at least three businesses "incubate" in our saunas. Starts out with giving our feedback on an idea, and then often wishing the person would just shut up already about their business plan, and then, argh, seeing them getting national attention and bragging that we know them." Here in Minnesota, we call it Sauna Talk. Sauna as an idea "incubator" is something to think - and talk - about... … [Read more...]
Sauna talk: what it is and why it’s good
Sauna talk is a different kind of talk It is casual talk between a father and his teenage son. It is reconnection talk with a friend you wish you could see more frequently. It is collaboration talk amongst NHL hockey players or business partners working through a strategy. Sauna talk happens because we have no distractions and we are relaxed in mind, body, and spirit. The endorphin rush - like after a good workout - gives one a positive feeling, a natural high and clarity. In this environment, problems or constraints becomes blessings in disguise because they foster opportunities for new ideas and solutions. Sauna talk can get crazy Sauna talk can foster "out there" thinking, like building a mobile sauna or making a … [Read more...]