Finnish Sauna Traditions We Love
The Finns are credited with the origins of the sauna culture we know and love today. Sauna culture in Finland goes back, some say, around 9000 years! That’s a lot of sweating together with your community. Even our Everett, Washington-based Mobile Sauna could be considered modeled after a Finnish sauna because it uses a wood-fired heat source with stones on top, and we pour water over them to create steam, or löyly, pronounced "LOY-lyu," as they say in Finland. Finnish saunas often reach temperatures of up to 210 degrees, and on the low end, a more comfortable 160 degrees. As you’ll experience in our mobile sauna here in Everett, Finnish saunas are known for dry heat with intermittent bursts of löyly that intensify the heat.
In Finland, it’s common for families to have their own saunas and to see families, including children and babies as young as a few months old, saunaing together. Of course, when babies are involved, they keep the temperatures lower. But it’s so deeply ingrained in their family and culture that they use saunaing together as a ritual to prepare for big holidays such as Christmas and Midsummer. Families often honor the tradition of creating the year's first whisks together in early summer. Even bachelorette and bachelor parties often include the sauna—a cleansing ritual to prepare the couple for their new union and life together.
We're deeply excited to bring this aspect of Finnish sauna culture to our mobile sauna culture here in Everett and the greater Puget Sound region. We have a vision for exactly this. Wedding couples prepare for their union and share memories with their closest family and community in our mobile sauna—perhaps at the bachelorette or bachelor party, or on the morning of the big day. We create ritual around deep, meaningful traditions such as weddings, birthdays, holidays, and even cleansing out an old relationship, and that’s what drives the community aspect of what we hope our mobile sauna can bring to Everett and beyond. (If you haven't read our origin story you’ll learn that’s how Hannah fell in love with sauna in a big way)
Sauna is also known as a great equalizer in Finnish culture. Politicians, business owners, and the common person all sit together, shoulder to shoulder, sometimes naked. In a sauna, everyone is the same. Everyone is there to sweat out their day, or maybe start it. Everyone is there to be fully present with their bodies, seeking the euphoria that contrasting temperatures can bring. They switch from the heat and intensity of the löyly to the cold of the outdoor air, a body of water, or even snow. We’re excited to offer this by parking our mobile sauna near the salty waters of Puget Sound or the rushing rivers and streams the North Sound region has so readily available.
In Finland, sauna is known as “The poor man's pharmacy,” touted for promoting a healthy heart, a clear mind, and a sound body. Sauna can be used daily, but most people go 3-4 times a week, and once a week is an effective, achievable rhythm.
Sauna can also be a deeply personal ritual, and there is no one right way. In Finland, it's said everyone is an expert at the sauna…their sauna. We love that our mobile sauna, whether parked here in Everett or somewhere in the greater Puget Sound area, is used by people looking for connection, healing, memories, and their own rituals. To celebrate the monumental and sweat out frustrations that can otherwise stagnate in the body. To find peace in their minds. We want North Sound Sauna Co. to be a place where people can find healing in community, and we owe it all to the Finns for starting such an impactful, wholesome tradition we can carry through our modern age.
Book your next sweat sesh here!
Read about Russian Banya Traditions We Love
