Sauna Week Returns To Scandinavian Cultural Center In Newton

NEWTON, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A green wooden trailer is back at the Scandinavian Cultural Center in Newton for a sweat-and-steam-filled weekend.

Got Sauna is running sessions at the center through Sunday in honor of National Sauna Week.

Finlandia Foundation holds the event annually during the last weekend of February to raise awareness and appreciation for this aspect of Finnish culture.

Read More: Four Nations Championship Game Benefitting Boston Businesses

This is Got Sauna's fourth year in Newton, but the company's owner Mark Babson has been running saunas for decades.

"You’ve got a hot room in there, you’ve got a little dressing room, but it looks like a tiny home," Babson told WBZ NewsRadio Friday. "It’s great for relieving stress, because you’re in there and in your little Zen zone and life is good, you’re gonna slow down."

Each session can have up to three people and involves pouring birch or pine tar-infused water over flame-warmed stones to create steam, followed by a dip in an ice bath.

"We’ll come outside, we’ll have a nice après sauna lounge where they can sit down," said Babson. "We’ll bake up some makkara, which is sausage."

The sauna not only gives Americans the feel of Nordic culture on their skin, but to remind Finnish natives of home.

"In Finland, it was mostly like your bathroom," said Gunvar Lowe, who was born and raised in Finland. "You had the toilet, but sauna was where you washed yourself at least once a week."

"It’s become really huge and sells out every year," said Kerry Lavin, the Scandinavian Cultural Center's executive director. "And it does have some mystical thoughts behind it, but it’s also kind of a detox and a purification for people after they are in the heat and then they go into the cold."

WBZ's Jay Willett (@JayWillettWBZ) reports.

Follow WBZ NewsRadio: Facebook | Twitter | Bluesky | Instagram | iHeartmedia App | TikTok