These texts are written by the author named on the masthead. They either reflect, or don’t reflect the views of NASS, but regardless bring important aspects to the general sauna discussion.
As a worldwide sauna-goer, enthusiast, devotee, and now full-blown fanatic for more than 40 years, I am the proverbial contented curmudgeon in a hotbox. In fact, many assume that I might have been installed there by the manufacturer as a peculiar add-on, like a ladle and bucket, only quieter.
Naturally, I find myself profoundly baffled by today’s sauna marketplace messages. As our industry steams toward the billion-dollar threshold, we keep trying to situate the sauna into a fancy, marketable, and easily defined box, instead of cherishing the hot wooden space that it has always been. Cardiovascular longevity, mood enhancement, and optimizing our nervous systems? Yes, but in our rush to package the sweat—relentlessly assaulted by hype and influencers—we risk losing the very essence we are trying to preserve.
To understand the soul of traditional Finnish sauna, we might find inspiration from the French Annales school of historians. They argue that true meaning isn't found in great leaders, grand events, or elite movements. Instead, meaning is created in regular, unremarkable encounters, friendships, and routines. Applying this lens to the sauna tradition, the contemporary din softens and its aura becomes clear: the magic of the sauna lies in its astonishing ordinariness.
A dependable public sauna is not a curated experience, but a shared place whose profound power is rooted in its total lack of curation—you never know who will be sitting next to you, and it’s hard to hold glamour in the hot box.
The modern optimization craze fetishizes premium, experiential concepts. Those with means can certainly enjoy their ultra-exclusive spa days and install high-end home saunas. That is fine; please invite us to join you on occasion. Yet a vital part of our tradition is ensuring robust public bathing opportunities and price points—the high and low, the marginal and the sublime. This sauna moment mustn't be solely about making a splash and a profit, but about establishing an inclusive and accessible sauna culture. Ultimately, public saunas will attract new converts to the unfussiness of the Finnish way.
True community relies on accessibility and affordability. We must have venues for the group of students seeking an affordable evening out; for colleagues desperate to escape the relentless ping of their devices; for families maintaining a weekly ritual; and for old friends connecting in a public place to decompress without protocols. We don't go to the sauna to biohack our way to immortality. We are there to sit and do absolutely nothing in hushed mutual contemplation and comprehension of our delicate existence.
Luxury saunas may drive the industry and attract private equity, but public saunas sustain the thermal movement. As NASS members and ambassadors, there are numerous ways for us to support and promote public saunas. We should relentlessly champion co-op and non-profit models, advocate for a wide spectrum of price points, focus on consistency over capex, and humbly educate in the finest Finnish fashion, while gently debunking recurring myths and misconceptions.
As stewards of the North American sauna culture, we know that life is better with more sauna, even imperfect ones. We need not elevate all of them into a luxury good, nor quibble endlessly about temperature, air flow, and bench height. By promoting the affordable, imperfect, and habitual nature of the public bathhouse, we encourage the belief that deep satisfaction is born out of unpretentious habits and shared quietude. The true magic of the sweat belongs exactly where it always has been…in the beauty of ordinary days.
Randall was converted into a sauna true believer as a university student in Tampere, and continued his thermal journeys in Russia, Norway, the US, Türkiye, and Japan.
Randall McNamara
Randall at Kotiharju