“How does that feel?” asks Siiri, as the spikes of the juniper branches relieve the itch on my back and the spicy scent surrounds my body. “Peaceful,” I respond, so relaxed that one-word answers are ...

THE SAUNA AT THE FINNISH PERM REP, BRUSSELS — It’s very hot in here. But not hot enough, according to my Finnish hosts. The time has come for a ladle’s worth of water to be poured onto the pile of ...

There’s a word in Finnish which evades translation: löyly. It’s commonly used to describe the steam that rises when water is poured onto hot stones in a sauna. But it also signifies spirit or life ...

Contemporary sweat baths reflect the country’s architectural past — and propose a future in which simple, sustainable buildings can still be sublime. The lowest and coolest area in traditional Finnish ...

What if I Told You About Finland’s Sauna Obsession? Welcome to Finland, a country utterly obsessed with saunas. The sauna is the most important social forum in Finland. There are more saunas than cars ...

It’s a sticky, steamy business. Two or more do it naked in a small, dimly lit room. Suomi (Finland) as it is referred to in Finnish, I got a rare opportunity in April this year to visit this Nordic ...

One recent evening, I went to a foreign embassy and got naked with about 20 strangers—mostly Hill staffers, journalists, and a few Finnish people. This was a formal, and very exclusive, event held by ...

I’m in the eastern reaches of Finland, in the Lakeland region that includes scenic Lake Saimaa, which has 14,000 islands and more shoreline than all of France. As the sun sinks slowly into the ...

In a small, enclosed room, people sit side by side on wooden benches. Water thrown on hot stones releases clouds of scalding steam and temperatures soar to a scolding 80C. This is sauna bathing, a ...