SAUNAHOITO = Sauna Wellness

 

My souvenir mug from Hoito circa 1995

For many years, our family took vacations along Lake Superior's North Shore in Minnesota. My dad in particular was drawn to the agate beaches for rock hunting. Near the Canadian border, the quest for rocks continued near Thunder Bay, Ontario where we would hunt in open pit amethyst mines and find treasure. One of our favorite stops in town over the years was a restaurant called the Hoito on Bay Street. It was a simple, church-basement-style cafeteria founded in 1918 by union-minded Finns to provide affordable meals to the working class (sadly, the historic building where it was housed burned down in 2021). Hoito means 'to care' or 'look after.' It wasn't until I encountered the term Saunahoito, a Finnish phrase for 'sauna care', the wellness therapies practiced in the sauna, that I realized the meaning in the name of my favorite Thunder Bay café. It really refers to a place where people take care of each other. In my sauna adventures, it is a concept that I seem to return to over and over: sauna as a place to care for self and others. It is certainly what I had in mind when I organized a recent presentation for FinnFest 2026 on sauna wellness.

 Participants in my workshop "Mark Your Sauna Towel" embroidered a puumerkki
(a traditional Finnish family symbol) in red thread on a rustic linen towel 

FinnFest 2026

FinnFest is an annual event to honor and share Finnish culture. I was invited to offer a craft activity and I was pleased to offer something in the area of my passion and interest, embroidery on linen sauna towels. When I discovered that there would not be a FinnFest Sauna Seminar like the one we attended in 2025, I wanted to pitch an additional idea. I turned to Karen Rue, of Saunamekko (maker of the most comfy sauna-inspired clothing), to brainstorm a topic and panel of speakers. We wanted to shine a light on the traditional role of women as sauna keepers, those who prepare the sauna and guide its caring and healing experiences. Those things include ancient traditions of health care from weekly bathing to caring for the sick, noting rites of passage and building community. We wanted a panel that represented the next generation of sauna keepers, the sauna and spa entrepreneurs, the trend watchers and the traditionalists who are devoted to practices rooted in the old ways.

The changing image of Finnish sauna

While the image of Finnish sauna is often portrayed as the place family and community gather for a good time, it also has an important history as a place of therapy and healing. Saunahoito (sauna care) used to be the primary way that people maintained their health. For thousands of years, the sauna was a sterile, comfortably warm and relaxing environment where wellness treatments were often performed. This included wet cupping (verikuppaus) to draw out bad blood, peat treatments to reduce muscle stiffness (turvehoidot) and bone setting (jäsenkorjaus) to balance the body. Beliefs about health were both practical and mystical: an incantation could stop bleeding (verensammutussanat); songs (runolaulut) and rituals of the sauna could heal and protect people from evil. Saunottajat (sauna healers or practitioners) used heat and water to create the sacred löyly, steam, along with herbs and vihta (birch whisks) to treat physical and spiritual ailments.There are recent efforts to preserve and protect these traditional sauna therapies (perinnesaunottaminen). On June 26, 2026, traditional sauna healing was officially added to Finland's National Inventory of Living Heritage. 

FinnFest 2026 took place at the Minneapolis Hilton, September 17--20. The conference floor was buzzing with hundreds of attendees. There was music, dance performance, lectures and a particularly interesting tori (market fair--I am a fan of handmade and imported items). Our panel of sauna keepers convened on Saturday afternoon and consisted of:

Kathleen Matalamäki, a storyteller who grew up in Floodwood, Minnesota (located in the Midwest's "sauna belt"). She brought a familiar tone of understated humor and Finnish-American touchstones that our audience instantly responded to. She recounted her pre-wedding night sauna celebration, which included the minister; a tale of the importance of the sauna for starting a partnership out on the right foot.

Sierra Blake, a well-known consultant, trend watcher and psychotherapist who spoke about the interest in healing and health as a driving force in sauna's current popularity. She explained the brain-body connection of sauna activities such as thermal cycling (from sauna to a dip in cold water) which creates a sort of positive stress that ultimately relaxes the body.

Karen Rue, creator of Saunamekko saunawear, invited people to touch the soft, featherweight Merino wool of her clothes while she discussed how she was inspired by the fact that not everyone wants to be naked in the sauna. In fact, in the arena of public sauna experience, the norm is to wear a bathing suit. Suiting up or covering up reduces self consciousness and allows people to simply relax and enjoy the wellness experience of the sauna.

Nell Rueckl who runs Watershed Spa near the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. It is a top destination for wellness in the Twin Cities and sauna is central to its concept. Nell strongly believes in communal bathing and combines Watershed's sauna with a diverse menu of healing therapies. It is a great example of sauna and spa combined.

Gloria Nash of Homestead Saunas brought a selection of vihtas that she uses for wellness treatments in her custom built saunas. She is an expert in the use of herbs and plants in the sauna and has come by her knowledge through living close to nature and apprenticeship in Slavic bathing tradition which has much in common with Finland’s old ways.

Photo from a U.P. Michigan family sauna

The event was well attended and we needed more time for the panelists and for questions and stories in the audience. I am so grateful to these women who responded to the call and shared their wisdom and views on this topic. My takeaway from it all is that questions remain and deserve more recognition, exploration and discussion. Saunahoito, Finnish sauna wellness, has a deep and fascinating history and it is important not to lose touch with it; much remains to be learned. At the same time, the practices of sauna wellness are evolving in ways that are simply a reflection of our diverse and global society. One thing we can learn from the Finnish idea of sauna wellness is that it is something we should share, Hoito style.