Sometimes it is a simple wood-paneled room, with an electric heater and a thermometer on the wall, letting us know how hot it is. It may be at the gym, or fitness center, or maybe in your own home. Sometimes it will be a small freestanding building in a wooded glen with an authentic wood-burning heater. “It” is a sauna, and saunas bring different images to mind for different people. Saunas were largely unknown in this country before the 1950s, but have steadily become more popular as the source for both good times and therapeutic benefits. Pronounced “SOW-na”, it is a Finnish word that describes both the process of the…
