How to Sauna: Heat, Löyly, Cool, Rest, Repeat

A simple guide to using sauna the way it was meant to be experienced.

There are plenty of rules floating around about how to sauna.

Exactly how hot it should be. Exactly how many minutes you should stay inside. How many rounds you should complete. When you should cold plunge. How long you should recover.

We think that misses something important.

Sauna isn't a test of endurance. And it isn't a spreadsheet.

It's a practice built around a remarkably simple rhythm:

Heat. Löyly. Cool. Rest. Repeat.

You get warm. You throw water on the stones. You stay until your body tells you it's time to leave. You cool down. You rest.

And if it feels good, you do it again.

That's really it.

Everything else is learning to listen.

Start clean

Before entering the sauna, take a quick shower.

You're about to spend time sweating in a warm room with other people, often sitting directly on natural wood. Starting clean is better for the sauna, the benches and everyone sharing the space.

Then grab some water and leave most everything else behind.

You don't need much in a sauna.

A towel.

Water.

Maybe some good company.

Your phone can stay outside.

The sauna is one of the increasingly rare places where there's absolutely nothing you need to accomplish.

Let it be that.

Get warm

Enter the sauna and give yourself some time.

You don't need to immediately start throwing water on the stones or watching the clock.

Sit down.

Breathe.

Let your body adjust to the heat.

A traditional Finnish sauna commonly operates somewhere around 160–200°F, but there isn't one magic temperature that makes a sauna “correct.”

A 170°F sauna with good löyly can feel wonderful.

So can a hotter sauna.

The number on the thermometer matters less than the quality of the heat and how your body feels sitting in it.

And remember: where you sit matters.

Heat rises, which is why a properly designed sauna places the bathers high in the room. The upper bench is where you'll generally experience the best heat.

Once you're comfortable, it's time for water.

Throw water on the stones

This is where sauna really begins.

Löyly is the Finnish word commonly used for the steam and wave of heat created when water is thrown onto hot sauna stones.

Take the ladle.

Pour some water over the stones.

Then put the bucket down and feel what happens.

The water flashes into steam. That hot, humid air rises and moves through the room. A few moments later, you feel a wave of heat roll across your body.

That's löyly.

You don't need to flood the heater.

Start with a ladle and see how it feels.

When the room settles and you want another wave, add more.

Water on stone isn't a trick for making the sauna hotter.

It's part of sauna.

Stay until you've had enough

This is where we intentionally don't give you a stopwatch.

Ten minutes might feel perfect one day.

Another day you might want longer.

You may enjoy hotter, shorter rounds. Someone else may prefer a slightly cooler sauna and stay longer.

Your tolerance can change based on the temperature, humidity, how much water you're throwing on the stones, how hydrated you are and simply how you feel that day.

The goal isn't to prove that you can stay inside for 20 minutes.

If you're uncomfortable, lightheaded, nauseated or simply feel ready to get out, get out.

Sauna rewards paying attention to your body much more than paying attention to a timer.

Cool down

Step outside.

This part matters.

You can take a cold shower.

Get into a cold plunge.

Jump into a lake.

Stand barefoot on the deck.

Let the rain fall on your skin.

Or simply sit outside in the cool Pacific Northwest air.

You don't have to turn cooling down into another endurance challenge either.

The purpose is contrast.

After sitting in intense heat, cool air can feel extraordinary.

Your breathing changes.

Your senses wake up.

The world outside the sauna suddenly feels a little sharper.

Take your time.

Rest

This is the step people tend to skip.

Don't immediately race back into the sauna because you're trying to complete another round.

Sit for a while.

Drink some water.

Talk to whoever you're saunaing with.

Or don't talk at all.

Let your body settle.

There is something important about the space between hot and cold.

You're not doing anything.

You're just there.

When you start wanting the heat again, that's usually a pretty good sign that it's time to go back inside.

Then do it again

Return to the sauna.

Get warm.

Add water to the stones.

Enjoy the löyly.

Stay until you've had enough.

Then step back outside.

Heat. Löyly. Cool. Rest.

A lot of people enjoy two or three rounds. Sometimes one is enough. Sometimes you'll want more.

There isn't a finish line.

Your last round is the one after which you don't feel like going back in.

What about the cold plunge?

Cold plunging pairs beautifully with sauna, but it isn't required.

This is worth saying because sauna and cold plunge have become almost inseparable in modern wellness culture.

You can have an exceptional sauna practice without ever getting into a tub of ice water.

For many people, simply stepping into cool outdoor air between rounds provides plenty of contrast.

If you enjoy cold water, use it.

If you don't, don't force it because the internet told you that you're doing sauna incorrectly.

The sauna came first.

Don't chase the numbers

Temperature.

Minutes.

Rounds.

Cold-plunge temperature.

Recovery time.

There is useful science around sauna, and we'll explore more of it elsewhere.

But numbers can also become a distraction from something humans have been doing for generations without an app telling them whether they did it correctly.

You don't need to maximize every sauna session.

You need to experience it.

Feel the heat.

Listen to the water hit the stones.

Breathe when the löyly rolls over you.

Step outside and feel cold air against hot skin.

Talk to the person beside you.

Sit quietly by yourself.

Then go back in when you're ready.

Sauna is a return to self

We spend an enormous amount of our lives being asked to pay attention to something.

A screen.

A notification.

A meeting.

A deadline.

A place we need to be next.

Sauna asks almost nothing from us.

There is heat.

There is water.

There is breath.

There is time.

There is also sisu—the quiet Finnish spirit of resilience, presence and inner strength that doesn't need to announce itself.

And there is the simple presence of other people.

Sauna has always made room for connection: a conversation that unfolds without hurry, a shared silence, a friend beside you, family gathered after a long day. You don't have to perform or entertain. You simply share the heat, the quiet and the time.

That's part of why we believe sauna is more than another wellness product to put in the backyard.

It's a ritual.

A place to slow down, reconnect with the people around you and, occasionally, sit quietly enough to reconnect with yourself.

You don't need to be good at sauna.

You just need to get in.

Heat. Löyly. Cool. Rest. Repeat.

Sauna is a return to self. A welcome home.