Sauna Night

Julie - At my home there is a tradition of "sauna night." Any time in the winter that a friend calls to say, "Sauna?" we do our best to clear the calendar and round up some others for a good sweat.

Last year was not much of a sauna year.  By the time sauna season rolled around we were deep into cancer world.  But last night we re-inaugurated the sauna at the request of a college-aged friend who is home for winter break.

Everyone knows their part and people come with bags of fruit and greens and bread.  We chat, cut up after-sauna fruit, and make soup while the wood-fired sauna heats up.  When it's declared time we take off our clothes and jewelry and grab yogurt containers of water and troop off across the grass or snow to the sauna.

The first rule of the sauna is "no politics in the sauna" -- a rule that has only been broken when our friend was home on vacation from his UN job in Baghdad.  Conversation always comes around to "How hot is it?", and our team for the international sauna competition, and who's going to fix the sauna door.  But it's mostly chat about life and quiet stretches of sweating and private thoughts.  When it gets too hot some go lie in the cold stream complete with shouts and screams, some just go outside and play in the snow, and I tend to move down to a crate on the floor near the stove where it's just a touch cooler.

After the sauna we come in, shower, and take our choice of about a dozen robes, many that have been donated for the cause.  We eat fruit as we put the finishing touches on Bob's squash soup -- always a little different, always good.  The second rule of the sauna is, "If you go home hungry it's your own darn fault!"

Before we eat we sit and hold hands around the kitchen table.  Relaxed, warm, clean, and cleared of stresses, we sit in silence and absorb the love of our friends.  Last night it felt particularly important to me.  The stresses of the past year have impacted the spirit of my husband and me as individuals and the spirit of our marriage.  It's been a tough time.  It felt so healing to bring extra love and hands and energy into our home and expand our circle.