Almost all of these operations are no-frills, and many are built for mobile use—this is a seasonal bathing experience, after all—while the saunas themselves are all designed with their specific mode of use in mind. (For example, at Big Towel, there are no clocks, to take away the regimented feel of many urban bathhouses.) So too does the location often instruct the experience, with floating saunas proving especially popular. “Being in a natural body of water is liberating, whereas sometimes climbing into a cold plunge tank, it feels like a health and wellness thing,” says David Jones, the founder of Von Sauna outside of Seattle. “Everyone should have access to this kind of special experience.”
This connection to nature and the feeling of escape it fosters is one reason for the sauna’s rise in popularity—but perhaps the most incredible escape is that it forces you to abandon technology. “You have a very primitive response to fire—we all do,” says Crimmins. “Having to separate from technology in that way allows you to have these rewarding moments of connection or even self-connection. It’s almost like a drug.” It can also be tied to the increasing popularity of devices like Brick, which encourage us to spend less time on our phones and computers and more time connecting with the world around us. “As saunas are too hot to engage with our devices, this omnipresent urge to do something productive or mindless completely vanishes,” Jones adds. “It is such a freeing feeling and allows you to either zone out or to engage with others in the room with your full attention.”
In many ways, these community saunas are becoming a third place for those living in these cities—much like they’ve been across many Nordic countries for centuries. For this reason, there’s been what some have described as a “gold rush” mentality around small sauna businesses right now, as sauna owners large and small are teaching masterclasses on best practices, setting up businesses, getting loans for a sauna space, or even how to build a sauna.
While some fear the “Soulcycle-fication” of the community sauna, for now, these spaces remain, for lack of a better word, sacred. Devoid of technology, of clothes, of clocks, and of expectations, strangers do behave differently. “They start out a little shy.” Sibilia says, “And then, after they do the rotations [in the cold ocean and heat], they’re giggling, they’re laughing, like kids at a playground.” The Finnish have a saying: Everyone is created equal, but nowhere more than in a sauna. Find your own community sauna, and you’ll see what they mean.
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