swedish sauna experience
Summer 2023 has been a more grounded summer than I’ve had in years. Last summer I was gone from the city almost every weekend for weddings/bachelorette parties/etc… and this summer I decided to teach yoga on Fridays and Sundays for a couple months to be grounded in the city and to have a calmer summer since I didn’t have any weddings after Costa Rica. Some days it’s been great being in such a routine, meeting new friends at the yoga studio, and reconnecting with the things I enjoy doing in the city on the weekends. Other days i’ve been craving time away.
I knew in August I’d be going to Sweden for a couple weeks which I make a priority every year. And now I’m writing this from Sweden, before heading down to the bathhouse where I go every day now as part of my vacation routine here.
I’ve been coming here every year since I was a kid and while it is vacation, it also feels like coming home. It’s where I can truly disconnect from real life. I’m off my phone most of the time and I take walks by the sea every day, read, spend time with family and friends and it’s a place where I can truly live in the present.
I’ve recently become more interested in the benefits of using saunas and cold plunges at home so while I’ve always known the routine of going to the bathhouse is pretty big here, I decided this trip to try the bathhouse that I’ve walked past every summer.
I bought a 10 pack so it would be motivation to walk down there every day no matter the weather (Swedish summer weather can be anything but consistent). I go without my phone, take the path by the sea to spend an hour going from sauna to sea on repeat. The first day I felt so out of place because I just had no idea where I was going and everyone there seemed to know exactly what they were doing. It’s funny those times we do something for the first time. I walked in with my towel wrapped around me only to step into the sauna where every woman was sitting naked and I quickly realized this was a different bathhouse experience than I had ever experienced in the US. And later as I left I read the rules of the sauna, one of the top rules was “No clothing.” And it’s funny because how strange it felt at first to be sitting there totally naked, having conversations with all these strangers, it all of a sudden just felt normal, and freeing in a way. To walk totally naked from the sauna to the sea and back to the sauna, having deep conversations with total strangers who you have no idea what their names are but know everything about their relationship, about their ex husbands, about when they train every day to then just say a friendly “see you around” before putting your clothes back on and getting on with your day. And feeling so clear headed, refreshed and lighter after that hour. I now totally understand why this routine is such a major part of life here and as one lady in the sauna said yesterday- she’s tried so many forms of mindfulness and this is the only routine that truly relaxes her. And now, I get it.
And it also is such a reminder how no matter where we are in life, no matter what language we speak, so many of us can connect in so many ways and go through similar things. One lady was telling me how she used to be such a city person and on the go all the time but as she’s gotten older she’s realized how she needs to be by nature and have routines that keep her grounded. She asked if I knew any at home workouts so I had to tell her about Melissa Wood Health which she said she’d try and let me know next time we run into each other at the Bathhouse.
It’s the most zen social hour I’ve experienced that I get excited for every day now. And on that note, I’m going to get ready to go on my daily walk there and disconnect for a bit. Eight down, two to go.
Namaste