Creating a sauna experience that promotes wellbeing and health takes many aspects into account. For a start, the sauna experience has to be safe and clean. Read more about safety and equality in sauna bathing. When the bather is able to calm their body and mind because of the environment and additional services, they experience the “sauna flow”.
Hydration: Drinking water should always be available. If your customers will be drinking tap water, be sure that glasses are available nearby. You can also offer bottles of water or a water dispenser for your bathers to have a drink whenever they like. Hydration should be kept in mind at all phases of the sauna experience.
A good sauna consists of surprisingly many elements
All the main elements of the sauna must be in good order. The sauna must be well-maintained, the heater topped with a sufficient number of stones, and the löyly buckets and scoops in good condition. The benches should also be in good repair, with no splinters or loose screws that could come in contact with bathers’ skin. There must be a safe route up onto and down from the benches. The area around the heater must be safe so that no one will accidentally come in contact with the heater or the hot stones.
Cooling off: If a body of water is available for your customers to swim in, the path leading to it should be well-marked and any seasonal changes in its condition taken into account. In the winter, for example, you might offer slippers to make it more pleasant to walk outdoors. Make sure that there is sufficient lighting on the dock or shore. Ice swimming should not be allowed without the help of a guide. Hats, gloves, and water shoes are needed, for example, and the ladder must allow safe access to the water.
Additional services elevate the experience
Everything needed for sauna bathing should be available at the facility: seat covers, towels, robes, spa slippers, and toiletries. There should be soap, shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, and hair driers and hair products available for guests to use.
Unhurriedness: The opportunity to prepare one’s mind for the sauna experience and a feeling of calm in the dressing room both when arriving and when leaving are extremely important. Feeling hurried to leave spoils a pleasant experience.
Finally, ensure that your bathers have the opportunity to buy something to eat, to sit, cool off, and rest, and to hold onto their feeling of wellness in a calm environment, perhaps in front of a fireplace. It’s important to help your customers hold onto the relaxed feeling of sauna bathing — their experience of “sauna flow”.
