Let’s Sweat Together

A sauna aficionado shares the skinny.

In southern Austria’s verdant Styria at Rogner Bad Blumau, a retreat known for its thermal pools and funkily fantastic architecture, I haven’t seen my bathrobe or swimsuit for hours. In fact, I’ve been milling around gleefully in the nude as if I didn’t own a closet full of clothes. Free from shame, I’ve boldly moved from sauna to sauna with confident temerity in the spa’s sauna-scape—as the Austrians do. People of all ages, shapes and sizes are doing the same.

As with the reborn trend of cold plunging, saunas and steam baths (long inherently popular with wellness buffs as a component to their health care) are having a huge moment—especially with the Gen Z crowd, who happily embrace communal sweating at captivating new facilities such as New York City’s Othership, an immersive sauna and ice bath outpost with contemporary vibes. Wherever we do it, we’re all seeking wellness shifts via this age-old ritual, part of today’s wellness renaissance.

At Rogner Bad Blumau, I take advantage of the retreat’s 11 diverse saunas, an activity that takes most of the morning. I’ve just left a sauna infused with local Styrian birchwood, which imbued the rustically wood-sheathed, sweltering room with a leathery, musk-like aroma. “Good for toning the complexion,” one woman informed me as we entered. Next up—after a cold plunge, time spent patting my body with ice cubes and a squirt with a cold water hose, I head to the Herbal Sauna, which bears a sign today announcing it will waft the scent of lavender (locally grown, of course)—a known natural relaxant. Before the morning ends, I ruminate in the Garden Sauna with its IKI stove, perspire in a Finnish Outdoor Sauna, scrub down in a Turkish Steam Bath, meditate in the Roman Sweat Room, and reconnect with nature in a Rock Sauna— among other scalding adventures.

Some of my sauna sessions are led by sauna masters. These trained “coaches” guide sauna goers in intense practices called aufguss meant to motivate, entertain, and support those in the sauna as they immerse in the muggy heat. Challenging, a bit quirky, fun in the way a Peloton class can be with an inspirited teacher, the aufguss takes my mind off the heat, enveloping me profoundly in the experience. Sometimes the leaders sing, tell stories or simply whip towels
in choreographed movements that move the herbal-scented steam closer to each participant. Popular, the sessions last just 10 to 20 minutes, packing the saunas with like-minded wellness buffs. Afterward, brimming with endorphin-charged joy and a sense of profound harmony, I float out to submerge in the coldest water I can find. Finally, I exit the clammy sauna milieu feeling grounded and euphoric. Detoxed, invigorated, and alert, my body feels both limply relaxed and charged with vivified energy. My senses have been sharpened, my inner canvas cleansed. Mind, body, and spirit seem to have coalesced to be rewoven for a harmonious, much needed reset.

Rogner Bad Blumau draws health questers for its curing mineral waters, architecture by famed artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, spa treatments, regional hiking, and wholesome local fare. But its immense sauna section seals the deal. Emblematic of traditional Austrian sauna culture and the role it plays in community wellness and personal wellbeing in the small country—and throughout most of northern Europe—Rogner Bad Blumau’s “sauna land-scape” reigns as an integral part of the spa resort’s curative offerings.

“I exit the clammy sauna milieu feeling grounded andeuphoric. Detoxed, invigorated, and alert, my body feels both limply relaxed and charged with vivifified energy.”

— Becca Hensley

Early Sauna Culture: Kitted-Out Caves to Sweat Lodges

While modern Austrian saunas incorporate a range of classic characteristics, sauna culture has worldwide, historical roots. Saunas have been around for eons. Possibly the first saunas were kitted out by humans in caves, enclosed with animal skin doors or perhaps thatched roof. These sacred areas, with stones warmed by a central (eventually extinguished) fire, not only provided natural heat in the night, but also supplied steamy, cleansing air to breathe when (herb-infused) water was poured over the hot rocks. The cultural remnants of this sort of sauna can be found, for example, in the Mayan Temazcal, in Japan’s Mushi- Buro, and in the Navajo sweat lodges.

With evidence of fire-burnt, stone-filled pits in Finland, Sweden, England, Russia, Scotland, Latvia, and other northern countries, archaeologists postulate that the first saunas may date back 10,000 years to prehistoric times—to the Neolithic and Bronze Age in Europe. Rudimentary, these early saunas were likely used for practical matters of livelihood as well as ceremonial purposes. Seen as mystical settings, even liminal spaces, they may have been places to achieve enlightenment, outposts for healing, sacred spaces, and spots to mark the beginning and end of life.

Later, the Romans, devoted bath enthusiasts with sophisticated techniques, developed salubrious, steamy, sauna-like sweat rooms via a system of perforated floors. Heated water placed below misted upward, suffusing the bathers with healing, humid warmth. Roman influence continued through the Middle Ages amongst the empire’s reach, perhaps even inspiring the Turkish and Moroccan hammams, steam bath-style saunas first used for religious purposes throughout the Islamic world.

Today’s modern sauna culture has been attributed to Finland, where saunas remain so popular the country claims they nearly outnumber people. The Finnish, in fact, invented the electric sauna in the mid-20th century, a phenomenon that had a huge worldwide impact. Suddenly rough- hewn, fire-heated saunas were replaced by their newfangled kin, making the sauna ritual more upscale, urbane and easier to use. To this day, both types of saunas can be found, with wood-fired saunas being considered more nostalgic or traditional in focus. Once mostly a spiritual practice, saunas have evolved over time to be a key component to healthy lifestyles for many. For some, they’re also a social activity, especially in northern Europe where friends meet to catch up and business deals get made (though of course etiquette tends to require that those in the sauna don’t speak or stare at one another, so perhaps those conversations happen in the dressing room).

Steaming at 100 to 110 degrees can open airways, hydrate and deep clean the skin, and restore tired muscles.

Health Benefits of Steam Rooms and Saunas

Saunas and steam rooms are the cozy cousins of wellness self-care. They both involve sitting in heated, enclosed areas for health benefits and recovery. While a sauna uses dry heat—and tends to be hotter in temperature—steam rooms envelop participants in fogs of mugginess, often infused with aromatherapy scents such as eucalyptus to further enhance the wellness effects. Use them after workouts for best results. Steaming at 100 to 110 degrees can open airways, hydrate and deep clean the skin, and restore tired muscles. Relaxing, a steam room session can reduce stress, boost circulation, and burn calories.

Saunas, traditionally as hot as 150 to 195 degrees, boast a range of purported benefits from stress reduction to clearer skin to weight loss to relief of muscular pain. It’s believed that they can improve heart health, improve blood pressure and circulation, remove heavy metals and aid in other types of detox, help with breathing, reduce the risk for dementia, ease joint pain, boost the immune system, bolster mood, and improve sleep. They may even burn calories. In Northern Europe, it’s generally considered healthier to sauna in the nude since clothing can contain toxic components.

Sauna and Steam Complexes We Love