Communal sauna

In Finland where the sauna and, more importantly, sauna culture first developed, the most popular way to experience a sauna is with family and friends. In other words in groups in a large communal sauna room.

In this part of Northern Europe the sauna is very much a social event where friends, work colleagues and even complete strangers get together in a group to experience the relaxing, healing and revitalising effects of a sauna. Having a sauna on one’s own would seem very unusual and slightly odd to most Fins.

In the USA, great Britain and most other English speaking regions of the world this communal sauna enjoying experience has yet to become popular. This is probably why the sauna kits, which typically cater for anything from one to four people, have become so popular.

Why communal sauna taking has yet to be popularised in other countries can probably be put down to old fashioned social values, reserve and a general discomfort with nudity or partial nudity in public.

Large saunas

When it comes to saunas in Finland, a statistic that is often quoted is sauna ownerships and the number of saunas in comparison to the country’s population. The figure quite amazingly equals approximately one sauna for every household or family in the country. This becomes an even more astounding figure when you consider that many of these saunas can cater for eight to a dozen people and frequently more.

Also of interest is the number of saunas that are not in individual ownership. Many people will take a sauna after work and they will go to the sauna in the same way that people in the UK or USA might go to a swimming pool or a bowling alley.

Taking a sauna in a much larger public or privately owned sauna room has a number of practical advantages.

Firstly essentials like towels and gowns are provided and the tidying up and laundering of these items is left to those who operate the establishment.

Secondly, and more significantly, important additional facilities like ice cold baths, showers and a bar will be to hand on the premises. This means that the routine of taking a very hot sauna, followed by taking a dip in a very cold bath, and then repeating this course of action several times is much easier.

Another factor that has become ingrained in Finish society is, not only to relax in a sauna, but also to conduct business in one. It would not be unusual or surprising to have one business colleague invite another for a sauna in order to discuss some item of business. This would be done in the same way that someone of Anglo Saxon ancestry might invite a business colleague to a bar or pub for a drink. It is simply a different social protocol.

Outside of Finland the communal sauna is far less popular and, although small saunas like the home installation sauna kit, have become popular, larger saunas have not. This may change in the future, however the use of communal saunas in Finland is something that has evolved over decades and centuries, so it may be a while before group sauna taking achieves the same popularity in London or New york.