"The sauna is not a place to be hot. It is a place to be present."
Most people treat the sauna as a side activity, something you do at the gym before going home. A few minutes of heat, a quick shower. We believe it is one of the most effective practices for physical recovery and mental clarity available to a person, when done with intention.
This guide is our version. It is not the only version. Sauna culture varies enormously across Finland, Russia, Japan, Turkey, and beyond. What we describe is a structure that works, one that you can make your own.
Before you begin
Hydrate. Drink a glass of water before entering. You will sweat significantly and your cardiovascular system will work. Start well.
Do not eat a large meal beforehand. A light snack is fine. Heavy digestion in the heat is uncomfortable and reduces the effect.
Bring your hat. Put it on before you enter, not after you start to feel the heat on your scalp. It is not a reactive tool, it is part of the preparation.
01, Heat
Enter slowly and sit low for the first two minutes if you are sensitive. Higher benches are hotter. Give your body time to accept the temperature before moving up.
The target is a sustained, even heat, not a shock. Temperatures between 80°C and 100°C are standard for a Finnish sauna. Your hat creates a buffer for your scalp, allowing the rest of your body to absorb heat fully without discomfort at the crown.
If the room has a kiuas (wood-burning heater or electric stove), you can add a small ladle of water. This creates a burst of steam , löyly, that raises perceived heat intensity without raising air temperature significantly. It opens the pores faster. Some add a few drops of essential oil to the water: birch, eucalyptus, or cedar. This is optional.
02, Breath
Once the body has settled, bring attention to the breath. Slow and nasal if possible. The heat opens the airways and the sinuses. Let it. Chest breathing shortens sessions. Belly breathing extends them.
Some people find it helpful to count breaths. Others prefer a loose focus on a fixed point on the wall. The goal is not meditation in a formal sense, it is the quiet that heat creates when you stop fighting it.
03, Pause
There will be a moment when your body tells you it wants to leave. This is often around the ten to twelve minute mark. It is not necessarily the right moment to leave.
Stay a little longer. Not punishingly, mindfully. Breathe. Notice the discomfort without obeying it immediately. This is where adaptation happens. The body is recalibrating its heat response. The hat makes this possible by protecting one of the most heat-sensitive areas of your body.
A full first round is typically 12–20 minutes for most people. Listen to your body. This is not a competition.
04, Cold
Exit the sauna and cool down with intention. The options, from mild to intense: cool shower, cold shower, natural lake or river, ice pool or plunge barrel.
The contrast is the medicine. When your hot body meets cold water, blood vessels constrict rapidly, circulation surges, endorphins flood the system, and the nervous system resets. This is not folklore. It is physiology. The Scandinavians knew it for centuries before sports science confirmed it.
You do not need to stay in the cold for long. Thirty seconds in a cold plunge is meaningful. Three to five minutes is advanced. Let it be gradual.
05, Rest
After the cold, rest. Wrap up, sit outside if the weather allows, drink water or herbal tea. Do not rush back into heat. The rest between rounds is where much of the recovery effect is consolidated.
Ten to twenty minutes of rest between rounds is standard. Use the time to be still, not to check your phone, not to plan, not to talk about work. The sauna is one of the few contexts in modern life where doing nothing is the correct thing to do.
06, Repeat
A full session is typically two to four rounds. More than that and the body is simply depleted rather than recovered. The Finnish tradition often involves three rounds over ninety minutes to two hours, with rest and cold contrast between each.
Finish with a final cold immersion if possible. It closes the pores, settles the nervous system, and leaves you with a specific kind of alertness, calm, embodied, and clear.
Care for your hat
After a session, hang your hat to air dry. Do not store it damp. When it needs washing, roughly every three to five sessions hand wash in cold water with a small amount of gentle wool wash. Reshape while damp and lay flat to dry.
Over time, the felt will compress slightly and take on the shape of your head. This is correct. It is becoming yours.
On frequency
Two to four sessions per week is the range most associated with meaningful cardiovascular and recovery benefits in the research literature. Daily use is common in Finland and not harmful for healthy adults.
What matters more than frequency is quality of session. A single unhurried ritual is worth more than three distracted ones.
Coming to Kickstarter
The hat completes the ritual.
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One email when we launch. That is it.