There’s that multi-sensory image of taking the ladle in hand, scooping water from the cedar sauna bucket. The light is usually subdued within its wooden walls, there’s a welcoming smell.
Then there’s a gentle pour, and it should be.
The water cracks and hisses as it hits the piled rocks that look like a jigsaw puzzle. You are showered slowly by the rising heat that wraps around you, finally releasing that slippery sweat from within. You relax with its soothing embrace.
On the back roads, there are many saunas at cottages/camps in Northern Ontario. We most likely have taken a sweat in one.
Like Indian yoga, Iranian rug making and the Argentinian tango saunas have the notoriety of being an international cultural icon beyond the back roads.
In 2020 Finland’s sauna culture was added to ‘UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.’
Sauna statistics
There are about 3.5 million saunas in Finland, a Nordic country with a population of 5,619,881. Almost two-thirds, per capita, that is to be expected. Almost 90 per cent of Finns go to a sauna once a week. Traditionally, Saturdays were sauna days, but today Finns go to the sauna any day of the week — about 200 million times a year in total.
Finland represents 0.07 per cent of the world's population, and Finland ranks 117th in the world for population.
We don’t know how many saunas there are in northern Ontario with a population of about 837,000 (circa 5 per cent of the province’s population; 88 per cent of the land mass), (Ontario has more than 16 million people – Canada is not considered a Nordic country, is just shy of 40 million - 36th ranked). Artificial Intelligence (AI - Gemini) suggests 143,645 or 0.4 per cent of the Canadian population identify as Finnish. There are large “Finn” communities in Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie and Kirkland Lake.
Using AI it says there are roughly 18 million saunas in the world. The sauna and spa market is expected to grow rapidly, with an estimated revenue of $3.5 billion by 2032.
Discovery of the Perfect Sweat
It is hard to overstate the importance of the sauna in many cultures.
The ancient origins of saunas are thought to date back to around 5,000 BC in northern Europe. The first saunas were likely simple pits dug into the ground, covered with animal skins, and heated with a fire. The smoke from the fire would warm the earthen opening and help sterilize the living space.
In a sauna, people cleanse their bodies and minds and embrace a sense of inner peace. It is actually a state of mind rather than a ritual of cleanliness. Who would know all about this?
Once again it was a challenge to find “the” sauna expert but then presto!
Mikkel Aaland authored the book Perfect Sweat, which really started the more contemporary journey of exploring of saunas, transcending the warmth of the experience to delve deeper into the unique places and individuals that define the sweat-bathing culture. He was located in San Francisco.
What he finds is an explosive rebirth of the ancient bathing traditions, traditions which include community rituals “that are meant to revive the human spirit and change the world.”
This led to the television series of the same name Perfect Sweat, which illuminated the fascinating world of saunas. He teams up with hosts and retraces his steps in search of the perfect sweat.
What question would I ask this guru? It had to be something different.
Bill: “So your life with saunas...would your life have been as adventuresome if it wasn't for the sauna? (I suspect the sauna, for you, is as the back roads are for me?)
(Mikkel had previously said to me: “Hey Bill, I just took a look at your back roads website and I must say that my tagline is also yours. “It’s all an adventure!”)
He then said, “It’s hard to answer your question what life would be without sauna/sweat because I can’t imagine it.
“The sauna /sweat bath combines the physical, the spiritual, and the mental under one roof and I can’t think of another human activity that does that. Perhaps eating… Or sports… Anyway, I’ve been on many adventures in my life, but the sauna/sweat is a place where everything comes together.
“Ever since I wrote Sweat, the book, 50 years ago, I have been sharing my passion. It’s so satisfying seeing others make it a part of their everyday lives.
We also share a penchant for rocks! We discussed the chi within.
“Many sweat bath cultures discovered that rocks could absorb the power of fire, and thereby acquired spiritual significance. The Omaha Indians, for example, referred to the rocks as Grandfather, symbol of earthly endurance, and moved them from the fire into the revered sweatlodge. When water was splashed over the rocks, the vapour produced became another medium for the transfer of heat and another object of worship. The Finns named this vapour löyly, spirit of life. The Fox, another American Indian tribe, believed that Manitou, a friendly spirit, dwelled inside the rocks and was released through the vapour to penetrate the skin of the bathers and drive out sickness.”
I asked about his best sauna. “I’m a member of the San Francisco Dolphin Club and I’m heading to the bay now to swim in the cold bay. Afterwards, the club sauna…and that will be the best one I’ve taken to date.”
Two resources
Contact was made with the Finnish Sauna Society in Helsinki and the International Sauna Society also in the Finnish capital.
The International Sauna Association (ISA) is an association of national and other sauna societies, organizations and private people. It was founded in 1958. I heard back from its President, Risto Elomaa about an innovative program – Sauna Aid.
“Sauna Aid is a multi-country initiative, sponsored by the International Sauna Association (ISA), to provide movable sauna facilities and supportive services to people facing natural and man-made disasters.
“During the 2011 Fukushima tsunami and nuclear plant accident, ISA and the Japanese Sauna Society maintained a tent sauna for five weeks and used it for decontamination and cleaning of over a thousand locals.
“Sauna Aid is now focused on the war in Ukraine. The sauna, or laznia/banya, as it is known among Ukrainians, is an important part of everyday life and provides a means of hygiene, stress relief, socialization, psychological comfort, and social identity. It is not considered a luxury, nor is it only about cleanliness. It is a social event that brings together the young and the old, the rich and the poor and promotes peace and a common sense of humanity."
Have a look at the ISA’s Sauna Channel, so many resources and Mikkel’s work inspired it.
Northern Ontario
Like around campfires, some of the best conversations and stories occur in a sauna.
A 2005 book ‘Sweating with Finns: Sauna Stories from North America, and one of the authors, Jorma Halonen, resides in Thunder Bay. He explained the evolution of the book. At the time Jorma was the chair of the Thunder Bay Finnish Canadian Historical Society.
"Many of the contributors to this book claim sauna bathing is not simply a washing ritual but an exercise in meditation and healing. Some archaic aspects of sauna practices bear resemblance to the sweatlodge rituals of many North American Natives."
The book is a collection of short stories, poems, and academic articles. Some are in English, others are in Finnish and a few are in both languages. It goes well beyond sauna-building techniques and suggested bathing procedures.
He said the background for the sauna book was a writing competition of people’s sauna experiences in North America.
“Both Raija Warkentin and Kaarina Kailo (co-authors) were academics, Raija being an anthropologist.
“Raija approached the Society to see if we were willing to sponsor the competition. I sought and received the Society’s approval. So the competition was then promoted as an undertaking by the Society in the Finnish language newspapers, both in Canada and the US. It was also advertised in the Thunder Bay English press.
“We decided to publish the best ones in a book with translations of the winning ones into the other language. I translated the winning Finnish one into English and Raija translated the English one into Finnish.
He ended up writing the preface, the short précis on the back cover and came up with the title.
Local research
Erin Alexiuk is a University of Waterloo PhD candidate in the field of autoethnography a qualitative research methodology that centres the self in social and cultural analysis.
She explored her maternal family’s history as Finnish immigrants to northern Ontario. Her mother’s grandparents immigrated to Canada from Finland just before Finnish independence (1917), and the end of the First World War (1918) and settled in Sudbury.
Within her research she cites: Approximately 20,700 Finnish immigrants arrived between 1901-1918, representing a third of the Finnish-Canadian
“Like many others, my great-grandparents settled in a pesdpäikat (nesting places or Finntowns) along what would become known as the ‘sauna belt’ in northern Ontario around Lake Superior.
"Today, saunas are one of the most recognizable cultural symbols of Finland and their importance to rural Finnish-Canadian communities cannot be understated.
“For Finns in North America, no matter how poor they were or how humble the building, it was the sauna that gave them stability and a link with the past that was almost as necessary as food or shelter. In rural areas such as Beaver Lake and Wanup, it became part of a circular farmstead landscape featuring a house, barn, hayshed, ice shed, milk house, woodshed, tool/implement shed, root house, outhouse and garage.
“This is how I was introduced to sauna: as a social bathing practice shared among family and occasionally among friends. Through autoethnography, I realized that the ubiquity of saunas across North America – in health spas, hotels, gyms, etc. – had diluted my understanding of the ancestral bond I shared with the practice. Only through purposeful awareness well into adulthood did I come to recognize an unbroken link back through my maternal lineage to Finland.”
Her perspective on sauna practices transformed from a very practical one – bathing – into a deeper understanding of how sauna had worked in my family as a form of cultural continuity.
“It is a way to connect with the land; an embodied, spiritual practice; a routine bathing practice; a doorway to cultural roots and institutions; a space for cultivating inner wholeness; and a central figure in our family history.”
The traditions of sauna bathing are repeated over and over again in Finnish songs, mythology and storytelling traditions.
“People were born in a sauna, they have thrashed out their lives in a sauna. Furthermore, they have washed their dearest for their last rites in a sauna.”
One of Erin’s favourite sauna stories: “Particularly amusing to a northern audience may be the use of drill cores in my aunt and uncle’s sauna on Lake Panache as opposed to the smooth river rocks you would usually. They pack tighter and make for an incredibly hot sauna!”
Bill's sauna story
My sauna story relates to a past November canoe trip we had summitted the Ishpatina Ridge, Ontario’s highest peak, crossing the upper Sturgeon River, accessing it by Scarecrow Lake. But it was not without some peril, finding ourselves very cold and very wet from the onslaught of sleet, and approaching that level of mild hyperthermia, late in the afternoon. It was one of those times when shelter and warmth were becoming immediate priorities.
Off in the distance on the far shoreline, there was the outline of a remote cabin.
Naturally given the statistics there was a sauna, unlocked with wood and kindling at ready. “It saved our bacon,” is the phrase. In far-flung locations, most hunters/fishers keep their saunas open for that very reason. We left a note of kindness in their sauna journal.
Getting a feel for it
By definition, UNESCO’s intangible living cultural heritage refers to practices, representations, expressions, knowledge and know-how. The aim is to raise awareness and protect the significance of important aspects of cultural heritage worldwide, like saunas.
Take a look at the Finlandia Foundation National (USA) website for sauna quotes and proverbs. Two anonymous favourites: “In the sauna, one must conduct oneself as one would in church,” and “All people are created equal, but nowhere more so than in a sauna.”
And if you did not know how the sauna rocks work. The rocks serve as a diffuser to spread heat evenly while pouring small amounts of water on them. The purpose of the water is to evaporate and transfer heat into the air, creating a humid environment.
As per studies from the North American Sauna Society, transitioning from the hot temperature of a sauna to a cooler water temperature increases heart rate and narrows blood vessels. “The result: A rush of adrenaline and endorphin that's sure to make you feel simply amazing.”
A couple of tips. Add a drop of eucalyptus oil or an essential scent to a snowball and place it on the sauna stones. The snowball will melt and spread the fragrance throughout the sauna. You can also rub freshly produced snow on your body for a metered effect.
So, keep this in mind for an immediate feeling, there’s nothing like having a sauna at this time of the year and then doing a snow angel. There will be some loud ooohhhs and ahhhs.
Jumping in fresh snow is preferred. Older snow crystallizes and can cut soft sauna skin like a knife: very much ouch.
Later you may frolic in the snow or take a plunge in the lake or a tub; whatever the transition you choose it makes you feel calm and centred. You stand outside looking at the night sky and as steam billows off you think with a grin: damn that felt better than good! And the neat thing is that you can go do it all over again.
Remember it is the Finnish pronunciation “sow-nah,” not (saw-na) on the back roads.