This past weekend, my family and I rented a farmhouse and had all the fun and drama you'd expect at a holiday gathering doused with wine. After several days and late nights of cooking and a whole lot more togetherness than I am used to, I was starting to feel a little surly, though. A modest in-home sauna saved me from an exhaustion melt-down.
It was about the size of a small shower, lined with cedar and tucked into the downstairs guest bathroom of the rental. There was a nice hot tub out on the deck, too, but the in-home sauna was an entirely new experience for me. And frankly, I'm sold on the idea.
Saunas in various forms have been around for a long time and are supposed to be therapeutic for lots of ailments. I know from personal experience that the hot, steamy air provides relief for respiratory issues like asthma, and some studies have shown that saunas help you recover more quickly from colds.
But all that's just icing as far as I'm concerned. Spending a few minutes in a sauna lets you shake off the remnants of your day. It's like you're sweating out every negative thought and experience along with all the toxins. I stepped out of that small sauna and literally said "Ahhhhhhhh."
There are public saunas and many gyms and spas offer a reasonable day-use rate. But how much better would it be if you could hop in at the end of a hard day without any planning — especially if your home sauna looked anything like the featured example, which appeared in a small roundup on Fopple. Yes please!
A little online research tells me that having a home sauna isn't prohibitively expensive, but it's definitely too heavy for Santa's sleigh. Add it to the list for someday, when I've been a very, very good girl.
Image: Fopple
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Comments (7)
:( I want a sauna at home so bad it hurts. Mostly in my back :P
I lived in Estonia and everyone had saunas in their homes (and sometimes their company offices). It was a life saver during those brutal winters and a big social event in Scandanavia, the Baltics, & Russia. If I'm ever rich enough, I'd love one in my home.
I'm Finnish, so saunas are something I gre up with. In our first apartment, there was a communal sauna space in the basement, and each tenant had a time slot for the use of the sauna.
Later on, several saunas and homes later, even my 1-bedroom, tiny, about 500 sq foot apartment had a sauna of its own. The sauna was almost as big as the bedroom, lemme tell ya. Since it takes a lot of electricity to heat it up, I rarely did, felt bad as it was just for me.
But now that I'm living in SF, I miss having one.
Thankflly the Finnish American Home Association in Sonoma has an excellent sauna for rent, and a pool, too!
also a finn--(well, half) and my grandparents had a sauna in their home when i was growing up. every weekend we had a sauna. it was a major part of my childhood that i loved, and i miss it a lot.
now that i'm a (very recent) homeowner, one of my major goals is getting a sauna built in somewhere. i want to keep the weekly tradition alive with my little family.
There was (is) a sauna inour house. We disconnected it because we needed the power for our dryer. (previous owners had a gas dryer). Not into getting sweaty and pitting out for no reason.
We learned about saunas in Finland and when we moved to Canada, we had built one in our basement (a traditional one, not infrared). It's like a DIY package, not really hard to make. Unfortunately Canadian regulations don't allow the sauna to be really hot (as in Finnish standards), but it's okay for us. Perfect after a day x-country skiing!!
The boyfriends parents have one in their backyard. Score!