Greetings fromSompasaunain Helsinki. Today we visit with Yana who takes us through her deep connection to sauna, from Aufguss at the large public saunas in Germany, to the Danish Sauna Association, and now with her employment withStudio Puisto, a Helsinki based architectural firm that focuses onsustainable hospitality and sauna design. Here we have a look at their new commercial sauna project Saunaravintola, Northeast of Tampere, Finland. Sompasauna To be able to Sauna Talk is one thing, and to be able to Sauna Talk on the bench is another. And today, it was a treat to be Sauna Talk with Yana by the shores of the brackish Baltic Sea atSompasauna, the world’s only free public sauna open to all at any time day or night. Sauna Aid Yana shares with us the origins ofSauna-Aid, and her involvement with the initiative. The brainchild behind it, and the relationship with the organizations like theInternational Sauna Association.* Yana introduced herself to me at this year’sWorld Sauna Forumin Tampere, Finland, along with Heikki Riitahuhta, Partnerwith Studio Puisto. We later met up for sauna in Helsinki. Hearing her story compelled me to bring out the recorder, and share her love and passion with you. Yana is part of a young generation of sauna enthusiasts. And, like many of us, Yana is motivated to more than just enjoy time on the sauna bench. Sauna-Aid Participating organizations: Japan Sauna Spa Association, Lithuanian Bath Academy, Association of Professional Bathmasters, British Sauna Society, Finnish Sauna Society, Polish Sauna Society, German Sauna Association, Norwegian Sauna Society, Danish Sauna Association, Finnish Embassy in Poland, North American Sauna Society, Swedish Sauna Academy, New Zealand Sauna Society, The Australian Sweat Bathing Association, Finnland-Institut Berlin, Austrian Sauna Society, and the Czech Sauna Association. (More organizations to follow.)
Today on the bench we hear from several guests attending Sauna Days 2022 at Larsmont Cottages. What a great time we had, sharing our collective and individual passions about sauna. We came from all over, but are united in spirit! Let’s here from: 1. Katy,Sisu & Löyly, Grand Rapids, MN. Who has a sauna by the Lake Superior shoreline, build and converted from an old Fish House on site. 2. Eric,Voyageur Saunas. A big fan of the sauna tribe, and sauna builder from Twin Cities, Minnesota. 3. Dan from the The Banya House in Burnsville, Minnesota. 4. Alex fromBsaunas USA. He initially won the Eric ConoverSauna Magicbook. as he traveled all the way from Buffalo, NY. 5. Keegan Kittock, Deep Wave Sauna. Building saunas for several years. Meeting new people who share the same passions, with like minded people. 6. Justin,Cedar & Stone Nordic Sauna. “Our world right now is starving for connection… Almost every single time, sauna is the best way to relieve stress.” New people who have never heard about sauna are coming to sauna. We are drawing on tradition. We get to create together and be part of a community.” In Duluth, access to trails are only 1/4 mile away. Nature is right next to us in 218. Justin doesn’t own and run a sauna company, he owns and runs a stress destroying company. 7. Meinrad Signersaunameinrat.com. Manitoba. Sauna rental or group sauna guide. We are living in a climate very similar to Finland and the Baltic states. A lot of his customers are Russian born. 8. Tom Carlson,a Sauna Map Championfrom Madison Wisconsin. 9. Darin Mays, Urban Wing Co. Sauna confessions. I’d be in the hot room, and Darin in the cool down room, during Covid. Urban Wing sellspatented designed sauna vents. Sleek, clear cedar. Part of a morning dip Sunrise dip into Lake Superior. We adapted theMindstrong Harvey 5/15. 10. Nick from Arizona. Surprised his wife that Sauna Days is his gift for his wife for Mother’s Day. 11. Andrea and Art,unwind-body-mind.comSpa wellness center in Wisconsin. “Sauna brings what is real.” More meaning and connection. We can serve a lot of people with sauna. 12. Beau, Ben from Hayward, Wisconsin. Beau is starting a sauna rental and sales business in Hayward, WI. 13. Jean, up for the community and experience. Bringing friends in, like Kate. “when you love something, you bring it to the one’s you love.” Let’s go Sauna!
Dr. Jonathan Bricker is a Professor of Public Health Science at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and University of Washington in Seattle. A recipient of over $25 million dollars in research funding, and author of over 110 scientific publications, Dr. Bricker’s research focuses on developing and testing health habits that prevent cancer. He has been enjoying sauna since his first exposure in 1991 as an exchange student in Oulu, Finland. He now enjoys his backyard sauna which he constructed with his family and friends. It’s always a great treat to Sauna Talk on the sauna bench, as opposed to via Zoom, as was the case with many previous episodes during Corona. But today, Jonathan and I were able to sweat it out together in my Minneapolis backyard sauna. As you will hear, Jonathan was in town to visit a studio film set to record a master class on how to quit smoking. In the SaunaTimes post introducing this podcast episode, you’ll find a link to Jonathan’s Bricker’s 2014 Ted Talk e...
Why are there no saunas in elderly homes?” “I work with infrared, but it is more of a treatment… Infrared is not connected to the Norwegian culture of badstu (sauna).” Today on Sauna Talk, we visit with Lasse Erikson, reporting in from the outskirts of Oslo, Norway. Lasse is a Sweat enthusiast with a mission to bring more sauna and sweat experiences to the world. He is head of Norges Badstulaug, a Board member of International Sauna Association, and VP Aufguss WM group. Aufguss: “We are story tellers. That’s who we are.” Listen to the steam. Feeling it. These are some of the tasks in which he loves to contribute.
“The feeling I get with wood fired (sauna) is so much deeper than any kind of heat I’ve every experienced. I feel human when I get out of a wood fired sauna.” Today on the sauna bench, we are joined by Mindstrong Harvey, founder, CEO, ofThe Mindstrong Project. Many of us may not have heard of the Mindstrong Project, but if you were a pro athlete talking about performance, breath work, contrast therapy, sauna, Wim Hof, or any combination of any of these, I can pretty much guarantee you that you would be well tuned to Harvey Martin and the Mindstrong Project. The thing is, Harvey is very humble and low key about his practice and his company. He, like many of my friends for some odd reason, fall into more of the camp of witness relocation program, vs. major social media marketers. And I can’t speak for my other friends on the witness relocation program, but Mindstrong Harvey has good reason to be low key. The work he does with pro athletes is by reputation only. Harvey Martin’s ma...
Please welcome Alex Blyashuk to the Sauna Talk podcast. Though sauna in Belarus is quite popular, Alex, a native of Belarus, didn’t grow up with sauna (or banya as it is called in his home country) but discovered the Russian style sauna experience through several road trips from his hometown in Buffalo, NY up to Toronto, Canada. Alex and his buddies would pack up their car, often on Fridays, head over the Peace Bridge, through Fort Erie, Ontario and up the QE Parkway to experience the heat, steam, and venik treatment action at a public banya in Toronto. Alex’s experiences at the Russian Banya in Toronto were formative. In our chat, you’ll hear more about the venik treatments, their relaxations between hot room sessions, and how they’d try to stay awake driving back from Toronto to Buffalo afterwards. Alex’s mobile sauna Alex constructed his first mobile sauna, in Eastern Europe tradition. Here we have a modified barrel concept where, instead of round, the walls are vertical, gi...
Today on Sauna Talk, we welcome a random, spontaneous, non rehearsed or edited collection of Finns, talking about sauna. I didn’t make a big deal about this interview process. I simply approached a few Finns on the street today, in Helsinki. I didn’t stick my microphone in people’s faces, but tried to be respectful in approaching a few people who didn’t seem to be hurried, or appeared to have an idle minute or two in their day. I’m happy to say that every guest I approached was kind and respectful to me. As you will hear, all were very open with me about talking about sauna and their life with sauna. Last time in Finland, in 2109, I interviewed 12 guests for Sauna Talk, all in one way shape or form connected to sauna. We had Jasper the Finnish actor and owner of löyly spa, We had Sauna Timo, and Kimmo Helistö, owner of two public saunas in Helsinki, and Jesse from Narvi, the folks from Harvia, Dr Jari Laukkanen, Satu and Carita from Sauna from Finland, just to name a few. Yet...
Today on the bench we welcome Jon Sabes to Sauna Talk. Jon is a successful entrepreneur, founding multiple companies in the health and insurance industries. Jon is a high performing athlete, completing several marathons and triathlons, events that just thinking about their rigor makes me want to hit the “no thanks” button and take the short tour to the sauna bench and cold plunge, and hear about the pain later. Foxo Technologies During our chat, we learn more about his current company,Foxo Technologiesand their work in the scientific field of epigenetics. Epigenetics is cutting edge science that studies how our genes express due to lifestyle and environmental exposures. Jon’s using molecular level analysis and technology to change an insurance industry…and improve the health of its customersfor the better! Knowing how and why genes express healthy or unhealthy outcomes is going to empower people to make better lifestyle choices to extend their healthy longevity. Hormesis What’s...
Hi John, welcome to saunatimes. I thought I’d start by having you share how and when you first got started with the WHM and cold water exposure. Most of my life I’ve had a terrible relationship to the cold. I hated cold water and if it dropped below 60F I would bundle up like I was preparing for an Arctic adventure. In 2013, when a friend let me know about a Wim Hof workshop that was being held in Austin, all I saw was a picture of Wim sitting in a barrel of ice and though “No way!! Why would I pay money to go sit in ice water?!” My resistance was strong enough, however, that it made me curious, and I signed up. Those first two ice baths with Wim that weekend were miserable, but life-changing. The big issue with living in central Texas – a sub-tropical climate – is that cold water is not readily available. It wasn’t until 3 years later after experiencing two years of brutal insomnia that I found the amazing benefits of a regular cold water practice. After spending thousands o...
I’m pleased to present my second Sauna Talk podcast interview with Daryl Lamppa. Who is Daryl Lamppa? A third generation sauna stove builder, born and bread in Tower, Minnesota. 100% Finn, and married to a Finn, Cheryl. After marriage, as a young man, Daryl and his father in law built their newlywed house, and milled lumber for the build from Norway pines on their property. Daryl and Cheryl have lived in this house their entire lives. She a former schoolteacher in town, and he a welder of the Vapor Fire wood burning home furnace and Kuuma wood burning sauna stove. I am pretty sure that Daryl is one of the leading living experts in wood burning technology. And I will put money on it, that nobody alive has spent more time researching and analyzing wood burning technology than Daryl Lamppa. First time I met Daryl Lamppa Over thirty years, recently moved to the area. Interested in building my first sauna, to replicate the awesome experience I had rebuilding a cottage on the Baltic Arch...