How Finland made this Irish man a SAUNA LOVER!

#finland #culture #vlog
From the first hesitant sauna session to the joy of a sauna in winter, I'll share how the sauna has become an integral part of my life here in Finland!
The History and Mythology of the Sauna in Finland: • The History and Mythol...
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[@IrishinFinland]

MY REACTION TO THE SAVUSAUNA: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mmGZqqyvj9ytb80

[@lordoverflow]

Sauna is personal place. It is about relaxing, clearing your mind, cleanse your body, sweat out all the stuff happening in your life, all the dirt, all the pain. It is place to cry. It is pure. It is Life.

[@MrDefaultti]

I can't say it any better! Sacred place to be, and forget all your daily ordeals 😀

[@einienj3281]

It was also the place to give birth and the place where they washed the dead.. life.

[@moonchant]

Sauna is the Finnish church!

[@MarkkuS]

Sauna is needed more and more as society gets more hectic.

[@jjvt]

It's also a common place, it's a place where you can let your guard down and talk. It's a place where you can confide, and you know that anything said stays within those smoke stained walls. No one will question you of anything said within those walls, by the slow burning fire. It's a hard one to explain, one of those you would need to experience for all that it is, or what it can be.

[@Banaaniapina692]

Not having a sauna is not a first world problem. It's just straight up a massive problem. We would all still have saunas even if we were all dirt poor. We've always had them and always will.

[@maastomunkki]

We would have perished a long time ago if there were no saunas. Propably the only thing that kept the sanity of our ancestors intact in these inhospitable swamplands during winter.(;

[@jimphilidor9031]

I can literally smell the smoke in my nose and feel the warmth on my skin right now. It's all etched so deep in my consciousness. Summer nights and sauna, a cold beer in hand - that's about the best thing ever.

[@IrishinFinland]

That's perfection

[@olafthebear2327]

Some makkara with mustard too

[@timot7746]

Wow, it is really nice to hear that you have understood the meaning of sauna 100% correct and going from an electric sauna to puusauna, it is totally different thing, and you got it the first time.😃

[@IrishinFinland]

As soon as I went to a puusauna it was an instant "ohhhhhhh yeeaaaaaaah" 👌🏻😂

[@kilppa]

@@IrishinFinland It's just somehow so much different, and pretty much everybody agrees. It's like the electric sauna is somehow more "dry" and has less "soul", whatever that is. Then you have the fire crackling and maybe even flickering flames, depending on the stove. Finnish problems indeed: Electric sauna is great, but after a wood burning sauna, it kinda feels like a cheap imitation. Also, you are damn right, having that true sauna experience with being able to dip into cool water every now and then for a short swim is just bliss that cannot be replicated.

[@Basheez]

I have just been cross country skiing for 2h. I heat up the sauna. I am exhausted and tired. I am starving so I eat a hearty meal. After the meal, I go to the bathroom, take my clothes off, and rinse the dried sweat. It is a beautiful, dark, cold winter evening. Skiing was amazing but my muscles are sore. I open the sauna, it's 90 C, and the hot dry air hits my face. I fill the bucket with water and enter my sacred space. I throw löyly a few times and let the hot steam relax my muscles. I sit back, close my eyes. The worries wash away as the scent of wood fills my nostrils and the gentle feeling of warm wood embraces my back and legs. I throw a few more löylys, after which I take a cold beer and go outside. As I open the door, the heavy arctic air instantly clutches at my wet skin with its merciless touch. Yet, there is nothing to hate. The touch even if harsh is not cruel but caring, in fact. As I allow the cold to slowly claw at my body, I experience a new sensation: I am alive! The cold looks at me silently and I look back: it is beautiful. The crystalline snow reflects the mellow moonlight. No sound to be heard, only the smoke of a few cottages on the other side of the lake and the small lights flickering from their windows. This is peace.

[@TarjaAnneli56]

@@Basheez olipas mahtava kertomus , täydellistä ❤️

[@tiinah-b2326]

My first experiences were here in Sydney in the homes of Finnish families who had built them into their homes. We were invited and the children and mothers went in together on many a Saturday evenings. Then when I was 9 years old I stayed the whole summer in Finland at my grandmother’s home and we used the wood fired old sauna every Saturday. Fast forward almost 50 years and during Covid my husband decided he would love to have a small sauna in our back yard beside the swimming pool. It came from Finland as a flat pack, complete with rocks for the stove, and all the little touches like temperature and humidity gauges and sand timer (which I never use). It’s been so well used and while it is electric, it does steam up and we go back and forth between the sauna and the pool all year round. No longer does the pool just wait for warmer months to be used. I love to meditate in it a long time before I throw the water onto the rocks, but only use it once or twice a week. While my husband uses it almost daily. He absolutely loves it! Must be the Irish blood in him too?

[@IrishinFinland]

I would also use it everyday if I could! Maybe it is the Irish blood 😆 full of iron

[@pvahanen]

The sauna represents the "pagan" heritage of cleansing oneself, being present in the moment and calming down. And also, my father was born in a real smoke sauna and I learned its warmth and secrets at a young age. In the same sauna!

[@ilmarisarjakoski7166]

Always remember to throw the last löyly for the saunatonttu to keep him happy

[@Diwwah]

Back when I was a kid my parents befriended a Bulgarian immigrant family. When the family's mom first tried sauna she hated it. "I can't breathe!" Years later, she moved back to Bulgaria, but kept in touch. In a letter to my mom she wrote the thing she most misses about Finland is sauna.

[@IrishinFinland]

No way 😂 sounds right!

[@XtreeM_FaiL]

Breath taking experience.

[@jyrisalminen2348]

For me as an Fin. It is an holy place. You never go to sauna angry or nervous. I'm pagan, but still there is one holy place for me and thats sauna. I love your content and keep up the good work.

[@antcommander1367]

jep. apteekki ja kirkko samassa paketissa

[@Zarniwooper]

When you haven't been in a sauna for a while, i find myself trying to remember the feeling on my shoulders when the first löyly hits you and makes your skin tingle.

[@IrishinFinland]

Yes! Great feeling 👌🏻

[@cynthieful]

You're a true Finn once you appreciate the puusauna🤣 We have an electric one at home and a 100 year old puusauna at mökki, and it's the best sauna ever. Kinda looks like it's gonna fall apart one day, the walls are blackened and has pihka running down on the sides, but nothing is better than getting to start a fire for your sauna and enjoy it with the lake as the summer sun sets in front of your eyes. So glad summer is here soon!

[@kilppa]

Starting the fire and heating the sauna, and maybe even the water for washing up, is part of the ritual for me and I always gladly volunteer to do it. There is something meditative about that too. Carefully and with time doing it, it almost feels like you are preparing this sacred place for a ceremony.

[@lintu25]

Like this what mmrip said, old sauna, gentle warm, good company or alone. Just don't lean on that resin? (pihka) hit your skin, cos it will sting a little.

[@mielivalta]

Puusauna vs electric sauna is like loose leaf tea vs tea bags.

[@timomustamaki5407]

In my mind there are three tiers to sauna: 1. Electric. Usually too small or too large is not good, medium ones can be. 2. Wood burning. That is the next level as you witnessed yourself. An then there is the third tier. Traditional smoke sauna what us Finns call savusauna. My grandparents used to have an ancient one, the kiuas had like a ton of rocks, heating the thing took all day but then again it stayed warm so that you could go to sauna the next day as well :D So when you get the chance, I would recommend to give the savusauna a try. You will love it.

[@krakulandia]

It's also the same with friends and sauna: you go there together to relax and no-one feels the need to come up with tons of discussions after that. Everyone's just so relaxed and enjoying the good small things of life. Makes friendships better.

[@MrKyly]

I could literally listen to your calming voice and the soothing music while having "jäähy" and sipping a cold one at the summer cottage.

[@stevo271]

Being 3rd/4th generation finnish american, my dad built a real sauna. It was awesome. EDIT: Wood burning of course!

[@thatun]

Thank you for the correct pronounciation of the word. Such a fun to see how you get so filosofic about things we keep itsestäänselvyyksinä. Loestavoo!

[@IrishinFinland]

🤟🏻🤟🏻

[@joonas1827]

Stupid thing came to my mind, but for a short period of time I thought, "if this guy doesn't have a citizenship yet, he now deserves it" 😂 ❤

[@IrishinFinland]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@RitvaShantaFriend]

What I experienced in my childhood in finland was the regular routine of Wednesday and Saturday sauna evenings. My grandmother made sure to bake fresh hiivaleipä (yeast bread) so when we were done (all 6 of us in my immediate family) we were relaxing clean, warm to the bone, eating bread. This has remained my strongest and most precious memory. My grandmother went first in the coolest part of the sauna evening and my grandfather went last to close up the sauna, dump the wash basins. And then there were the lake cabin saunas and that was absolutely the best even when the huge drum of boiling water was something I had to be careful of. I'll be in finland soon and can't wait!

[@SuuperAlmo]

Yes, one of my earliest memories was accidentally putting my foot in the boiling hot water tub in the sauna. That was a trip to the hospital.

[@moonliteX]

it´s just "puusauna" as in wood-sauna . sähkösauna, puusauna, savusauna. you need to try savusauna. (smoke-sauna). you can also refer to the stove as "sähkökiuas" or "puukiuas". or the sauna itself alao as "puulämmitteinen sauna" = "wood-warmed sauna" or "sähkölämmitteinen" = "electrically warmed" but these are used mostly when you want to be REALLY clear that for instance the sauna made of wood also burns wood.

[@moonliteX]

also "telttasauna" which is a tent-sauna :D turvesauna = peat-sauna jääsauna = ice-sauna höyrysauna = turkish steam-bath/sauna saunalautta = floating sauna (sauna-raft literally) infrapunasauna = infrared sauna kaasusauna = gas-powered sauna sekasauna = when men & women go at the same time (lit. "mixed sauna") lenkkisauna = when you have your communal sauna-turn together with your neighbors. instead of a private turn.

[@jviikari]

The sauna is truly a sacred place. It is difficult to understand the meaning of sauna for Finns if you have not been to Finland and experienced it yourself. In summer in hot weather, you actually feel cooler after the sauna. I myself take a sauna about four times a week.

[@jhcycling3098]

You just get it! What is to be a Finn.. First video what I saw from You was ”Perkele” -word and You nailed it. Then a lots of into a point thinkings. And now this sauna ”thing”. You are a Finn to the core. Citizenship awarded with praises.. 😊

[@IrishinFinland]

Haha thank you! 💪🏻😎

[@Urbankin]

Lakeside sauna with puukiuas (wood burning), direct access to lake from pier. Middle of starry night, relaxing sauna with slight smell of smoke, nice cold beweradge at the porch while cooling off in between. Finnish dream

[@paragorn206]

This man gets it. Respect!

[@iskal6790]

Sauna. Hottest place where people go , voluntarily. But yet , a place to relax and after sauna that calm feeling.... Your video is just what sauna is about . It is an personal experience , different to everyone. I too like woodburning saunas but i´m happy have electric sauna at home. Hyviä Löylyjä to you . 👍

[@MikkoMurmeli]

Hail to our Irish brother! Mikko from Finland :)

[@genevee2871]

You have truly found the the spirit of the Finnish sauna!

[@alicegkarr]

I used to live in Finland. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE sauna. My husband built a sauna in our backyard (in Virginia, USA) for me about 10 years ago. I use it twice a week in the winter. There's no better way to relax. And if you're sick - take a sauna. I got covid, did a 2 hour sauna, and started getting better the next day. The poor person's pharmacy as they say in Suomi!

[@marttivuorinen8475]

Oh and one thing I remember about wood burning sauna when I was a little kid.. First time I heat the sauna and water all by my self. Getting everything ready and going back inside to tell my family that Sauna is ready was like growing experiense on the path to become "a man in the house" 😃

[@BasicPrinciplesGTA]

So true. Being tasked with heating the sauna is a huge step in a young finnish mans life.

[@NemesZoltan87]

I literally uttered the word "magical" just before you've said it! It might be the perfect word to describe a proper sauna. Although I'm from Hungary, my friends always say I'm a finn, just born in a different country. :D Long story short, I've also moved to Finland, and gosh, one of the main reasons is having sauna (once per week, 'cos first world problems). For me, sauna is when I reflect on my life. When I don't run from one task to the next, when I'm not on social media bursting from anxiety... when I literally just sit down, relax, enjoy some chill music and some cold beer. It clears my mind, and lifts my spirit. When I feel under, it relieves me from stress and depression, and gives me serenity. There is no sauna that doesn't end up me thinking: "I love my life". I really appreciate your video, and this one especially! Thanks for the great content! :)

[@IrishinFinland]

Cheers Zoltan! 🤟🏻

[@johncrwarner]

My first experience of a sauna was in Helsinki in the city centre around the Yrjönkatu area not too far from Stockmann It was a revelation I felt clean for the first time really really clean I tried six different types of sauna and the wood burning ones are the best. I went to far as to have a sauna built in my house in Britain (it was electric as a wood burning one was problematic) I think historically in most of Europe there were bathhouses etc in the medieval times There is a sauna museum near Jämsä in Central Finland (I was staying with friends from Jyväskylä) and that was a real experience.

[@IrishinFinland]

Need to visit this sauna museum! Didn't know one even existed!

[@johncrwarner]

@@IrishinFinland I will check with my friends about the precise location and name.

[@aapalahti762]

It used to be in Muurame near Jyväskylä but it was moved to Jämsä, it's near Himos ski resort area.

[@johncrwarner]

@@aapalahti762 That would make sense as we visited in the same trip the Alvar Aalto Experimental House, the Säynätsalo Town Hall and finished at the Sauna Museum and they were all quite close by.

[@hurri7720]

My father born in 1905 could have written - my first experience of a sauna was when I was born (in a sauna). Which was the place to be born in back in time. Clean warm and with warm water available.

[@MKitchen75]

people used have birth and last rite in sauna, negotiations of huge deals have been made in sauna, sauna is an institution and kind of religion to us.. you have became an Finn my friend :D

[@IrishinFinland]

💪🏻😎

[@SuuperAlmo]

My mum and her sisters were all birthed in a sauna.

[@SakkePie]

Bosca Beatha does a great sauna in Ireland, and it's a mobile one. I tried it in Co Galway once and it was great. Got the Finnish seal of approval.

[@abnormal700]

YOU REALLY GOT IT! GREAT!

[@juhapeltola8232]

The essence of the sauna! Cheers from finland!

[@kessu27]

As a finn, i dont think much about what is sauna, cause its what you do every week (since 1yo). But after watching your video, yes, it is very sacret place/time to rewind and relax. And clean!

[@marttivuorinen8475]

Funny you mentioned "it is too hot outside lets go to sauna" I knew a guy who was one of the first Finnish UN peace Corps going to Lebanon. They built their base and ofcourse they made a sauna from sheetmetal right away. After being there a while and getting to know some locals they heard that local rumour was.. "Dont mess with Finns..those nordic crazies come here and first thing they build is Even hotter and they enjoy it!!" 😂😂

[@IrishinFinland]

Fantastic 😂😂

[@reijosoreus9729]

Sauna is exactly what you describe, a place to wind down and relax. I have to comment on the need of saunas in Ireland, it would be an act of mercy considering the weather and the way houses are built. Never really warm indoors, sometimes I need to go out to warm up.

[@IrishinFinland]

The way houses are built is scandalous honestly!

[@jmussi4731]

it is a spiritual place more in one's own mind. Everything else is forgotten and for a moment you feel like you are living and breathing the cosmos. It is the place where all life happens. A person is naked alone, parties with friends, ponders the universe, has sex, is born, cries, washes, laughs, mourns, and so it's everyday life. After the sauna, grudges disappear and you feel calm. You get to process things in your mind. The best sauna is definitely the old wood-heated cabin beach sauna. I remember how as a child we spent several hours in the sauna, going swimming and back. Nowadays, as older people, we warm up in our electric sauna after a cold day or celebrate with a big group at someone's cabin.

[@IrishinFinland]

Fantastic description 💪🏻🔥

[@ambionest]

Happy to see you enjoying my homeland. I wish to visit ireland some day as well. also been loving your content and to see you deep dive into our history and culture

[@IrishinFinland]

Hopefully you will soon! 🤞🏻🤞🏻

[@Xydroos]

In Finnish it's usually about is it "puukiuas" or "sähkökiuas" or more simply puusauna/sähkösauna.. (puu=wood, sähkö=electricity, kiuas=stove/heater (hearth of sauna)) This winter started to go to "Avanto" once a week and sauna experience got even better in sense. Now that sea is at 8C it's not avanto anymore, rather cold swim, but that whole relaxed feeling after.. i would say proper way to sauna experience would be "silent sauna" wood/electric and going back and ford few times, but then again it could be just one relaxed sit.. With friends it's bit different thing, it's not so much about yourself in group. Avanto=hole in ice, where you dip or swim a little.

[@Ichigoeki]

I live in Japan, and was just interviewed about Finnish saunas. They looked at me like I was insane when 1) I exclaimed that the main thing that a sauna requires is the ability to throw löyly, not really any specific temperature or timing, and that 2) there's a clear difference in experience depending on the stove size and the way it's heated. The part that they really didn't understand was when I explained that to me an electric sauna always feels like you're being whipped by the löyly. 😁 Also a note: a wood burning stove is the original, and is thus bestowed with being called just kiuas, although I guess city dwellers would call it 'puukiuas'. It's the electric stove that in my opinion requires the added definition of being electric (sähkökiuas) to make the distinction clear. Sauna is... I wouldn't really call it sacred, since I feel like that'd require a certain kind of reverence and awe that's not present in sauna. Sauna is sacred in the same way as your favourite blanket and pillow are. Always there, always comforting, never a bad time to enjoy them. Sauna is a part of Finnish life as much as the forests are, part of the essence of what being a Finn means. I guess that'd make sauna a spiritual place then. Not sacred like cup stones and seitas and such, but spiritual like midsummer bonfires.

[@kannuksenkennedy2176]

Remember to pour a bit of beer in the sauna water. When you throw it to the stove it gives wonderful bread like smell to the sauna. It's offering to sauna tonttu and/or elf

[@Eddieouh]

Lappajärvi is such a beautiful place. I'm from there and i go there every other weekend.

[@IrishinFinland]

Awesome 💪🏻💪🏻

[@jmth1974]

I'm a Finn and 10 minutes at a time is way enough for me, then cool off and back in. Repeat as many times as you feel that day.

[@ronanobrien836]

Man, I used a sauna all the time when I lived in Dublin, shoutout to the Deaf Village gym in Cabra, they had a sauna and a steam room, I used them every morning .....theres even a mobile sauna in wicklow called Bosca Beatha!

[@arishtat4523]

Electric sauna, harsh. Wood burning sauna, mellow. Smoke sauna, heaven.

[@peterkurg8169]

I am across the gulf in Estonia, and I love your enthusiasm for sauna. I share it bigly. Last year I moved here from Australia, and I agree that it is not possible to have the experience we have here back home. [Although Australia does provide some benefits for us with eucalyptus and titree oils.] There is something magical about sauna, or saun, and it has a special place in our history and culture, just like in Finland. Last September, I had the opportunity to experience a smoke sauna [wood burning sauna?] in the south of Estonia. It was amazing - it took hours to get the water bubbling and for the smoke to clear. Time seems to become meaningless, and to stand under the stars cooling down was a wonderful experience. Sauna is such a great way to get to know people, it's brilliant. I do not think that it is possible to exist without it. I love this video, wonderful stuff mate!

[@IrishinFinland]

Cheers Peter!

[@juholaitakari1305]

You do heat up smoke sauna with wood however wood burning sauna doesn’t have to be smoke sauna.

[@marttivuorinen8475]

Smoke sauna IS amazing. Wood burning sauna 2.0 There IS no chimney so smoke comes in the room through fireplaces rocks. And before bathing it is ventilated. The löyly IS amazing but there is two things to know about smokesauna/savusauna.. First..dont lean on walls that tar sticks on your skin and is hard to wash off. Second..leave smokesauna heating to someone who knows what he is doing. Because of that tar smokesaunas can be bit flammable and if you try to heat them up too fast you have a good bonfire for your sausages but no sauna 😂😂

[@kilppa]

Yep, the smoke sauna, or savusauna, is a whole another style of wood burning sauna. A very old, primitive style. They are rare even here in Finland, but still many exist and some prefer them enought to still build new ones. I wonder what waiting for water to bubble was about, though?

[@gadi70]

@@IrishinFinland Well the smoke sauna as in most primitive form is just a small tight barn with huge pile of rocks on a campfire. There's not really a real exhaust. When the fire has been stalled, rockpile is blazing hot and the smoke has been ventilated, the sauna is ready.

[@ApocalypseRider]

Awesome video!! You left me nearly out of words, but luckily you asked at the end what it means to me. Shortly; it is a sacred place. Many people go to church on Sunday, I go to sauna on Saturday-evening instead. I have done it like this since little kid as far as I remember. Next thing for you to explore further into sauna evolution is pre-heated wood burning kiuas or maybe straight to smoke sauna. Cheers!

[@IrishinFinland]

Awesome 😎 I'm the same, it's my own peaceful church

[@teemupatinen7516]

Duude,you have to try the next step,the savu sauna (smoke sauna)it will blow your mind😉more sauna for the people 💪🇫🇮

[@oh2mp]

We are always joking with my friends that an electric sauna is just a sauna simulator :)

[@Dakota77d]

I had a log cabin sauna experience in Ely MN- so wonderful- it was a rented space for the weekend by a lake. 😊 I did not know about jumping in the lake- next time. The craftsmanship of that property was amazing!!

[@juhal1594]

Spot on! Wood burner by a lake where you can go skinny dipping between sessions is the best. Smoke sauna is a fascinating variation too. If one is shy about nudity in saunas, it isn't like somebody is going to tear off your swimming suit and go Tsk Tsk on you. In some public saunas it has become common to wear swimming suits while having sauna... but I for one prefer the traditional way. Just get in there in your birth suit. Nobody is going to judge you there. Outside, maybe, but not in sauna. There remains a little bit of magic in there still. 🤗

[@zprkl8706]

Difference of wood-fired sauna and electric is huge. Electric saunas sometimes have dry air allso (not a fan of those). Sauna's are like some kind of shrines to us Finns :D

[@junka22]

I just moved to a bigger place with my own sauna and I'm absolutely loving it, been using nearly every day since I moved. I think the sauna tier list is electric sauna < wood heated sauna < savusauna or smoke sauna, the smoke sauna takes the longest to prepare but it's also the best and most traditional experience.

[@IrishinFinland]

Need to try a smoke sauna this summer!

[@Ounouh]

@@IrishinFinland It's truly something else. The smoothness of löyly and since heating it up, every surface inside is pitch black from soot so it's really easy just stare into nothingness and unwind while enjoying the heat in the dim light. Of course there's the lingering smoke aroma in the air that pairs really well with a beer or whiskey ;)

[@junka22]

@@Ounouh Well described!

[@PeteCookingAndTravelling]

Bro, I'm a Finn living abroad past 20+ years. The only thing I'm really missing from Finland is sauna and the culture around it. What you said is really well said within the experiences you have in only few years in Finland. But it's so often said that Finns and Irish do have a strange bond in many levels!

[@lordoverflow]

Even some political agreements have been made in sauna in Finland.

[@MikkoRantalainen]

As a Finn, the reason most electric saunas suck is because inadequate airflow. Even a pretty small wood burning sauna (called "puusauna" by many Finns, though I think it's just "sauna" and the thing without wood burning is electric sauna "sähkösauna") uses minimum of 50 cubic meters per hour of air to make the burn process possible. If you have to move 50 cubic meters of air, or 50000 litres of air every hour through the sauna, you'll understand that it has a lot of airflow (14 liters per second). And the air intake for the fireplace is from the bottom of the fireplace. If you have electric sauna with air outlet near the floor of the sauna moving *minimum of 10-15 liters of air per second,* you'll have very good sauna experience even in electric sauna. If you want the sound of wood burning, you can use a speaker setup for it. But for the quality of sauna experience ("löylyt"), the airflow is the most important thing. And if you have air intake so that it pushes fresh air on top of the stones, the experience will be even better. Many electric saunas even in Finland have airflow less than 3 liters per second.

[@EKIsArtGallery]

Excellent words at the end. On the dot.

[@iam5085]

Finnish peacekeepers, and so forth, built saunas everywhere - even in hot climats, as the outside temps are often more bearable after the sauna sessions.

[@IrishinFinland]

Interesting! And can totally agree 😂

[@DavidTimberDKT]

Puulämmitteinen sauna,, wood burning sauna. I'm an American, half finnish and the other half mostly Irish and some English. I have family in Finland, so I've quite a bit of sauna experience. I have been in both electric and wood burning saunas. By far different but love them both. Yes, the wood burning has a more earthy and deminisional aspect. Smoky warmth component seems to be unique quality that you don't experience with the electric. The birch wisp made up of batch branches and leaves can be used in both saunas you didn't mention. The term is vihta for this birch whisp. Love sauna, wish Americans embraced saunas more also. My gym doesn't allow you to through or pour water onto the stove , that's not true Finnish sauna experience without pour water onto the rocks, hot rocks that is.

[@IrishinFinland]

I did see an article that said Americans are doing more saunas nowadays!

[@treeoflife91]

Hey, I hava a couple fun/weird sauna stories I thought I might as well tell since I love it as well! 1. My irish friend has a finnish mum right, and they went and built a whole ass sauna in their back yard (I have a hard time remembering the details because it's been ages since I talked to him, this was some years ago). They have a lot of friends and they always somehow got dragged into the sauna while drunk or hungover, and then their friends ended up coming. So now, in the middle of nowhere in a county that shall not be named, there's a very chaotic and crowded little sauna the local lads swear cures a hangover. 2. When I was in the mental hospital I had a massive meltdown. I mean, I wasn't great to begin with but like it was at the point where they were considering shoving me into one of those silent rooms (which I usually actually like, it's very nice to not be overstimulated all the bloody time). In that mental state I was absolutely NOT having it. But by instinct I ran into the sauna - which they do have in institutions here too - instead and to the very back corner under the benches and just sobbed like a baby. It was cold, not in use, there were no people anywhere near to that side of the building even. But it was cosy, quiet and it let me cry and be mad without there being anything to break or hurt myself with (they put like grills over the rocks even), as good as the insulated freakout room. In like fifteen minutes I was calm and thinking about what plants I would put in the common garden if I worked there. Idk it just felt like... Running to your mum to cry when you were a kid and scraped your knee or got spooked. I just really like them as spaces and all the lore and superstition and everything, it's very easy to believe they have wee helpful spirits living in them.

[@joonasvahasalo6635]

Yes. The ultimate sacred chillout is a wood burning sauna

[@lintu25]

Its place where like you say go to relax, enjoy. But you must try the smoke sauna, i think you loved that too. It kinda same thing, but with a twist.

[@hopoheikki8503]

In a country with population of 5.5 million people, it is estimated that there are from 1.6 to 3.2 million saunas in Finland. It's hard to calculate but the realistic number might be somewhere around 2.6 million saunas. So almost one sauna for every two people.

[@mattiL]

Happy to see that You have also kind of spiritual bond to our sauna and culture behind it. For me personally its almost a holy place. Specially after my open heart surgery. I almost felt like born again!

[@ArchieArpeggio]

Sauna has many meanings for me. It is sacred place when i go there by myself. It is sometimes spiritual place where i just want to relax and be alone. Some times i use it just for bathing. Some times it can be happy place to grab few beers with friends. Even that mostly it is not considered sexual place, it could be that too. When we wen´t to my ex´s parents, it usualy was only place where we could have a quickie wihout bothering anyone or other wise.

[@reinokarvinen8845]

you got it. as soon as there is people visiting there is a call put on the sauna

[@A___Way]

Great story :-) skip the bathing suit, its not natural fibers and at spa contains chlorine residue. Towel is ok :) and do,try other saunas, like smoke sauna (savu sauna) where they preheat hundreds of kg of stone with fire and after it has heated the mound of stone, the fire is removed or ran out. Walls are black from the sooty smoke. The feeling is devine. Keep testing different saunas :)

[@takasalo]

I have 3 Saunas(wood stove) at home and Two saunas at my summerhouse😁 I go to Sauna every day.I jus love it and can’t live with out it.Cheers from Nokia! Everybody is equal in sauna!

[@IrishinFinland]

Sounds like heaven!

[@takasalo]

@@IrishinFinland I am hooked thats for sure.I can give anything but my everyday Sauna.I wash all the troubles away every day and after that I am born again.

[@Jon1xed]

Sauna is best thing ever

[@markopelaa]

warming up kiuas/sauna with wood is comfy :)

[@Jouco]

We have an old log savusauna from 1854 converted into a regular puusauna. I would gladly relinquish many of my earthly posessions but never my old log sauna.

[@lokkikissa]

A long long time ago, a friend and me rented for a week quite ex tempore a cottage by the seaside. With us were his kid and mine, both about 6 years old. Nice place it was, but best was the little sauna further down towards the sea, wood burning, of course. We were constantly heating it, besides experiencing our surroundings, riding the boat and having long discussions about life. It was a wood burning sauna, of course. We were at that time both living at places without a wood burning sauna (now I have one in my garden and it's one with such a great löyly). The kids were absolutely enthusiastic about it. Every morning they rushed to wake us grown ups after a quick survey of their surroundings: "Get uo! Why isn't the sauna heated? We are going to the sauna now! " Such an enjoyable holiday for all of us.

[@nrphototube]

I would say you hit all the little nails on their individual heads with this one. Really, it's the first video by a "foreigner" about the finnish sauna experience I can 100% say is accurate. Especially the thing about sauna being a place where you just want to be, just excist. I find that when an activity is attached to the sauna experience, it is not genuine anymore. You know, like in popular culture the sauna is often sexualized, which is baffling to me! Well done!

[@nrphototube]

I find it hard to call someone who understands sauna at this level a foreigner 😅

[@IrishinFinland]

Thank you for the kind words! 🤟🏻🔥

[@TheAlex29494]

the worst thing is when foreigners think sauna must be a sexual experience because there's nudity involved. Like no that is literally the last thing that should be associated with sauna. I heard someone once say that they'd rather do it in the church than in a sauna. That's how sacred it is

[@IrishinFinland]

Yep! This is pretty much it! And it's annoying as hell

[@RelaxAntti]

It's not even about it being sacred. It's about your heart. If you've ever had sex in a hot sauna, you don't even think about trying it again. It's extremely uncomfortable and it feels like you're about to have a heart attack any second.

[@BullettiAPE]

I'd like to invite those people to actually try having sex in sauna. I've tried it as a curiosity and it's uncomfortable in every possible way.

[@SuuperAlmo]

Here in Australia making lettu, listening to this video and dreaming of my own sauna.

[@mononen01]

I sauna maybe 3-4 times a week. I purchased one 10 years ago indoors. Now I want to build an outdoor with scrap wood and a good stove.

[@Shadelio]

The only reason I can come up with why bathing gear is discouraged here in Finland, is that if you dip into a pool or a hot-tub or other body of water that might have some chemical traces in it (chlorine and the like) then there might be a minimal "risk" of the heat causing some of that chemical to evaporate into the air in the sauna. But at the same time most places do allow bathing gear (swimming trunks, bikini, the like) in mixed saunas for sure. Same gender saunas generally speaking tend to be where people go naked, even without the risk of chemical evaporation, due to the fact that the representatives of the other gender/genders other than their own are not there. So you are there with just either with other lads, other ladies, or other trans/nonbinary/whatever gender and orientation you belong to. And in the case where someone might be visiting a private sauna, you can always talk with the hosts about if it would be possible to go with just the people you feel comfy with. We Finns understand that being naked in a sauna is not a normal thing for most, especially for those who come from cultures where the human body and being naked are frowned upon. We do find such thinking to be a little silly though, but we won't bully you for it. The other reason is just because it is more hygienic and pleasant to go to a sauna in your birthday suit. Aka being naked. Because you don't drag any dirt or pebbles or anything like that with you to the sauna if you are not wearing anything. The temperature in the saunas along with taking a shower before entering one, plus the fact that saunas are generally well maintained and kept clean, are reasons enough why it is entirely safe to be in a sauna naked. Finns even used to sleep in the saunas to get rid of lice and other insects that would die in +50 degree C temperatures, and Finns would even give birth in saunas due to it being such a hygienic, clean and pleasant environment. Some people still do that.

[@magicofshootingstar]

Only thing to add is that not only chlorine vaporates to air (and no, it's not a small chance of that, it does happen, but amounts you have it in your swimsuit is not big enough to actually harm you usually) but also the elastane in your swimsuit doesn't like the heat. So going to the sauna regularly with the swimsuit shortens the lifespan of the swimsuit. 😃

[@olafthebear2327]

I really respect choosing not to bring your camera into the sauna for the video. I remember a few years ago I was on a Lapland trip with students from abroad, and so many of them brought their smartphones into one of the saunas we visited. I was more surprised than offended. More worried their phones might break (which fortunately they didn't seem to). The thought had just never really occurred to me that someone would want to have their phone inside the sauna. I didn't ask, but I suspect they were taking selfies to post to their social media or friends etc. (they were not naked, in case someone's wondering)

[@hannumiinalainen2296]

Sauna for me. Holy room and feeling.

[@lesalmin]

Most saunas outside Finland really are quite pitiful. To get a real sauna experience you have to come to Finland.

[@IrishinFinland]

True!

[@ematt8759]

Or go to where the Finns migrated too.😂

[@jaeger233]

its definitely a sacred place. actually just came from sauna couple hours ago

[@IrishinFinland]

Excellent 😎

[@FiFiCouple]

Sauna is a temple. It frees your mind from all the negative. Best sauna experience for me is a wood burning one in the middle of winter.

[@mikeh2772]

Several have mentioned the savusauna. I highly recommend it if you come across the opportunity to go into one.

[@julmajussi8700]

My mom told me about her childhood once. Her granddads sauna burned to the ground because you dont use the saunawater to put it out, as it was considered as sort of "holy water" and the water pump broke and nearest water source was 500m away.

[@marko4557]

You really should try savusauna (smoke sauna). Those are not so common anymore but if you have possibility to try... take it.

[@KarriKoivusalo]

My family summer house is by a small lake, and naturally, has a wood burning sauna. It was built in the early seventies, by my maternal grandparents. The lake shore opens to northwest, so in late summer evenings the setting sun makes the view over the lake an absolute spectacle. Wailing of the black throated loons carry on through the summer. It's a place of great tranquility.

[@SiiriCressey]

Make sure to know where the nail heads on the benches are before you sit down. If you know, you know.

[@stobe187]

It is most definitely a magical place. A place to let the sweet heat melt out the aches and pains, physical as well as emotional. No shouting, no hassle, no negativity (or at least you make it funny if you are complaining about something) and no tomfoolery. Just pure relaxation and being present in a chill way. Many foreigners often have this fear about being naked "in front of everyone" but that's so far from the truth. You're not in front of everyone, you are there together as a group. And you are correct, the wood-burning sauna is far superior to the electric version. The noise of the kiuas, the smell of the wood, the fire lighting up the inside of the sauna if you have one that has a glass pane on the hatch... it's so so good. I find that the electric sauna makes me a bit sleepy, while the wood-burning sauna doesn't. And you are completely correct about that temperature thing. I know people who live on the equator where it's hot as hell during the day and they still built themselves a sauna to get to that 80-90C range!

[@reibocaster]

Sauna is sacred sauna is holy. You forget your worries just relax. That is sauna.

[@alpovratia6488]

There are saunas and there are saunas - good, great or extraordinary. As a rough generalization here in Finland there are three types: electric good, wood-burning great and the (chimneyless) "smoke saunas" extraordinary. The latter are rare and found only in the countryside. It takes 6 hours to heat them and they are fire-prone. In all three types you throw water on the heated stones to create höyry (steam). Especially in northern Europe (down to Poland) you may find the first two types of sauna. However abroad (perhaps esp. in the USA), many so-called electric saunas are cheap "half-breeds" - no water allowed to be thrown to create höyry. In Russia some of these have been marketed as "Finnish saunas" - in contrast to the native banyas where you throw water on the stones... There's more to be said about the world of hot bathhouses, but that's for another time. Cheers.

[@alvarbilly]

Had vappusauna yesterday, as usual feel like a million bucks the next day, today.

[@bloodgoat666]

You can have more than one hour per week on shared sauna. You just have to ask and pay for it of course. We have shared sauna here too, and once a week there's a "lenkkisauna" or commune sauna, where every person living in our building can go to sauna for free. 2 hour for men and after that 2 hours for women every Tuesday. Then I have one hour on Thursday and one Hour on Saturday night. And the Saturday's turn is last, so there's no hurry to get out. You can also take two consecutive hours if there's free times on schedule left. My friend has big family, so they have 2 hour turn, so that they'll all get to go to sauna. Or if there's are family visiting, they can go too to take löylyt.

[@bloodgoat666]

And when you are in public sauna, and there are other people too, there are no CEOs or janitors. No rich or poor. Everybody is naked, and you can't tell who's status is what, when they are wearing only their birth suit. Only place in Finland you can talk to strangers freely is in sauna butt naked and it's normal here. You don't talk with strangers on bus stops, or on busses etc. But you do it in sauna.

[@annina134]

Wood burning sauna = puusauna. And it has a puukiuas. I actually have two saunas and both are wood saunas. The other is inside my house and the other is outside in my yard. 😄

[@annina134]

Sauna for me is a place where we spend time and talk about all things with my friends and family. And relax of course. With some lonkero or Karhu. ☺️

[@raycecil4643]

I'm from KY. I spent a week in the Michigan U.P. and had my first sauna experience at 37 years old. I'm so disappointed that I missed out for 37 years. I'm building one in the middle of my wooded property now. Also...im going to call it SAW-nuh...because that just how we say it here.

[@eastfinn]

The sauna is perfect in summer or winter because it's warmer there than outside. You have to try savusauna (the smoke sauna), it's the original and the best sauna. In summer you can swim in the lake and in winter in the snow, try it.

[@ellajuntunen3131]

There is nothing better than a Sauna its like butter for your soul...I lived in Ireland for five years and in Blanchard town Where some Finns lived in a house and they had build there own sauna form a shed and it where used a lot and all the fins where there every weekend more ore less

[@user-vz4hi4ef3v]

Good man 👌