Meet Sauna Bro and Sauna Hottie
Plus bathing happenings and Sauna Aid
Hi Everyone,
For our second newsletter, we’ve been pondering the new identities emerging in the bathing scene. Grace Pandola casts a satirical eye on the men dominating the bathhouse. Who would you rather share the bench with – a Sauna Bro or a Sauna Hottie?
It’s been a bumper week for bathing news and happenings, we round up some of our favorites.
And for Giving Tuesday, may we suggest supporting the stellar work of Sauna Aid.
Elena, Jane and Robbie
Sauna Bros vs Sauna Hotties
We signed off our last post with a clip of Jamie Dornan mentioning the Russian & Turkish Baths. Besides being one of our favorite bathing establishments, it is one of our favorite Instagram accounts. From the comfort of our mobile devices, we can check in on two of bathing’s new archetypes – the Sauna Bro and the Sauna Hottie. If you aren’t familiar, allow us to introduce you.
The Sauna Bro
Listens to the Huberman podcast
Wears an Oura ring or similar biometric tracking device
Unprompted, will tell you everything he knows about hot-cold therapy (surprise: you’ve been doing it wrong)
The Sauna Hottie
Seemingly crafted by the gods
Young
Attends a weekly ceramics class
Are there still old men schvitzing at the Baths? Yes. But these two new characters personify the friction and overlap of the ‘proctocol’-ization of the sauna from ritual to regiment.
As more men seek to live forever (kill me), more men are entering saunas to reap the health benefits. Countless podcasts pontificate the benefits. Numerous studies attempt to identify the exact temperature and time one should spend in the sauna and the cold plunge. Armed with this knowledge, a Sauna Bro can optimize his cells to decrease his stress and increase his lifespan.
But he may be sucking the fun out of the room…
This is why the Sauna Hottie is so important. Hot people make being together more enjoyable. Lest we forget, a significant health benefit of bathing is social connection. The bathhouses of ancient Rome were places to gossip, to shop, to workout, to eat and to bathe (The Roman work-day usually ended around 2 pm and then it was off to the baths).
Oh and cruising. The bathhouse has been a prime place to cruise for millennia.
The democratization of beauty and pleasure is widely needed. Sauna Hotties remind us of this. The bathhouse strips us of our external signifiers and status symbols. In the bathhouse, there’s an opportunity for the richest, most powerful person to sit on the bench next to an average Joe and share a primal experience. There’s beauty in witnessing sweat run down another’s body. There’s a universal understanding of moaning as the heat rises and the gasps and exclamations that escape on entering the cold plunge.
And honestly, with forgiving lighting and steam, we can all be Sauna Hotties ;)
Grace Pandola
**This is a satirical piece. While we appreciate the fine physique of a Sauna Hottie, we're all about celebrating the sauna as a space for every body to enjoy and share together.
Sauna Aid
As Giving Tuesday approaches, we highlight one of our favorite charities. Founded in 2022, Sauna Aid’s mission is to bring portable sauna facilities and supportive services to crisis-stricken areas, starting with Ukraine. During visits to the war-torn region, Sauna Aid co-founder Mikkel Aaland saw how beneficial providing mobile saunas could be to those facing extraordinary hardship.
So far, Sauna Aid has delivered five saunas to Ukraine and funded a trauma training program for bath masters. The foundation has also collaborated with Ukrainian charity Repower to provide saunas for 100 front-line medics taking part in week-long healing retreats in Denmark. Aaland said “This collaboration underscored the power of sauna culture as a tool for recovery and resilience, highlighting the positive impact that spaces of warmth and calm can have in a recovery-focused setting.” Sauna Aid is working to raise €100,000 to fund a public sauna complex on Nebo Beach, just outside hard-hit Kharkiv city limits.
Please consider supporting the work of Sauna Aid by raising funds, volunteering or offering materials.
In the news
“Networking happens inside a steamy 200-degree box” reports Angel Au-Yeung in the WSJ as she explores the bathhouse as the new place for investors and founders to socialize and raise money.
“You feel unbelievable after”. The Athletic reports on Sweat equity: Why the sauna is a hot recovery tactic for NHL players.
“As the world spins ever more wonkily on its axis and chaos reigns, more and more people are seeking refuge in warm pools and hot rooms”. The FT reports in Take the plunge: Where to soak, steam and sauna in NYC.
Happenings
Wyld floating sauna opens today at Liverpool’s Princes Dock. Book your seat here.
Book tickets to Canada’s first sauna conference, the West Coast Sauna Summit at Loon Lake, Maple Ridge, BC, Canada, 17-19 January 2025. Connect with other sauna lovers, entrepreneurs, builders and wellness pioneers while relaxing, recharging and dreaming big in the Pacific Northwest rainforest – with four lakeside saunas!
One Last Thing
The original Sauna Hotties…
We’d love to hear what you think - send us a DM, or email info@cultureofbathing.com
Thanks grace!
This will help me develop my current Venn Diagram of The Sauna Bro.