Episode Details

What happens when the exploding UK sauna movement meets the rapidly evolving North American sauna scene?

Recorded live at Sauna Days 2025 on Minnesota's North Shore, this episode of Sauna Talk features a wide-ranging conversation with Jake Newport of Finnmark Sauna in the UK. Together, Glenn Auerbach and Jake explore where global sauna culture is headed next — from grassroots mobile saunas and floating bathhouses to luxury urban wellness spaces, aufguss experiences, and the rise of social sauna culture.

Jake shares the remarkable story behind Finnmark Sauna and the transformation of sauna culture across the UK over the last decade. What was once dismissed as "hot dry boxes" in hotels and gyms has evolved into a thriving movement centered around contrast therapy, community, craftsmanship, ritual, and meaningful human connection.

Topics include:

• The rise of sauna culture in the UK and parallels with the USA
• Mobile sauna movements, beach saunas, and floating saunas
• Othership, guided sauna experiences, and modern wellness trends
• Authentic sauna culture vs. commercialization
• Aufguss and curated sauna rituals
• Building community through heat and cold
• Sauna entrepreneurship and the future of the industry
• Why education and experience matter more than marketing hype
• The importance of purpose, connection, and slowing down

This episode also features audience discussion and insights from leaders helping shape North American sauna culture, including conversations around social sauna spaces, accessibility, manufacturing, wellness businesses, and preserving the roots of authentic sauna practice.

If you care about where sauna culture is going — and how to build it without losing its soul — this is an episode you won't want to miss.

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