The Finnish Sauna

What it’s not

I laughed when I saw this photo in a catalog. How is that even comfortable? Where is she, in her living room? And what happens if she drops the book she’s supposedly reading? It couldn’t have been easy to hold the book and zip this contraption up. It’s so far from the esthetic of an actual Finnish sauna I just can’t deal with it.

My sauna experience

I grew up hearing about the Finnish sauna (pronounced SOW-na) from my father, but didn’t really experience one until I visited my great Uncle Frank and Aunt Fanny Nurmi in Plummer, Minnesota with my cousin, father and grandmother in 1970. I remember the little building was dark, with wooden benches. My great aunt poured water on the stones, which were nestled above a wood burning fire, to create the steam.

My cousin and I can’t recall if us women folk were naked when we used the sauna. We must have worn towels because, as young teens, we would have surely remembered being naked with our grandmother and great aunt.

The only picture I have of the Nurmi’s sauna is the faded photo, above. My aunt sent me a picture of the interior of that same sauna, where my cousin Erik is pretending to be overcome with heat exhaustion, below. You can see how primitive it was. However low-tech it may have been, it did the job. Before the Nurmi’s had running water or toilets in their home, they had their sauna!

The old Finnish saying goes, “First build the sauna, then the house,” and often the family lived in the sauna while the house was being built. Babies were birthed (imagine what that was like!) and the deceased were prepared for burial in the Finnish sauna. Finns consider the sauna a necessity, not a luxury, like an American hot tub.

Beware the sauna elf

The word sauna means “earth” or “snow pit” in old Finnish. The first saunas were pits dug into slopes and heated with hot rocks. The entrance was covered, trapping the warm air inside so people could bathe in winter.

A traditional sauna is a wood house with a stove, called a kiuas, and a pile of stones, or kiuaskivet. The stones are heated by burning wood. Throwing water on the stones made steam or löyly. Finns believe that each sauna has its own löyly, and the better the steam, the better the sauna.  

It’s Finnish custom that whoever sits near the water bucket, or kiulu, is in charge of throwing water on the hot rocks. 

Unless you’re in mixed-sex company, Finnish saunas are taken naked. Etiquette is an important part of the experience. No ogling, no politics, and no food or drink inside. The sauna elf, or saunatonttu, will burn your sauna down if you are naughty inside.

Sauna sessions rarely last more than thirty minutes. My father said he often cooled off after his sauna by rolling in the snow. That would give anyone a rush of endorphins! Finns also lightly swatted their skin with birch branches to increase circulation and invigorate.

Of course, Finns tout many health benefits to taking sauna, believing that nothing is more beneficial than a deep, healthy sweat every day for your skin, heart, lungs and mind. Plus, it feels good, for many people, anyway. Not everyone is a fan.

Here’s a picture from Celeste Barber’s Instagram of Gwyneth Paltrow, supposedly chilling (and looking chill) in a sauna, and Barber burning up in one.

You can learn more at about the Finnish Sauna at Her Finland.

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Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a writer, poet, and artist.
Learn more about her multi-award winning novel, In the Context of Love.
Learn more about her picture book, Gordy and the Ghost Crab.
Learn more about her poetry chapbook, Sleepwalker

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