black and white bed linen

Learn How to Use a Sauna

Your beginner-friendly guide to get the very best out of your first Finnish sauna experience.

The Famous Finnish Sauna

The Finnish sauna (yes, the one with the stones) is becoming ever more famous. Loved for its relaxing warmth and unique ritual, this calming and restorative experience is now being discovered around the world.

The bursts of steam is what deepens the heat and humidity in a traditional Finnish sauna. But as lovable as it is, it can feel intense to a beginner. How exactly is that heat to be tolerated? And how should a sauna be used in the first place?

Finnish Sauna For Beginners

While many guides may explain the basics of sauna, they often fail to answer the main question: how do you actually tolerate the heat?

This beginner-friendly guide fills that gap with clear tips, practical steps, and illustrations. It shows you not only how to use a sauna, but how to get the best out of your first try. Along the way, you’ll get cultural insights into the Finnish way of life, traditions, and sauna etiquette.

"This guide really showed me how to enjoy sauna and embrace a way of relaxation and calmness that I now always look for."

Ioanna, Greece

★★★★★

Know Your Sauna

Around the world, different traditions have shaped their own versions of heat, steam, and relaxation. Here are some of the most common types you will find:

Steam Room and Hammam

Steam rooms and hammams, with roots in Middle Eastern bathing culture, are built around moist heat. The air is filled with warm vapor cleanses the skin and relaxes the muscles.

Infrared Sauna

Infrared saunas, found at gyms and spas, use gentle light waves to warm the body directly. The temperature feels lower, offering a very different take on recovery.

Finnish Sauna

The traditional Finnish sauna is known for its drier heat, wooden benches, and the ritual of löyly — the steam that takes over and the heat moist when water is poured over hot stones.

More on The Art of Heat

Join Our Sauna Journey

Get expert tips and Finnish sauna secrets