{"id":13128,"date":"2026-08-02T08:34:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T20:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/?p=13128"},"modified":"2026-08-02T08:34:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T20:34:28","slug":"sauna-revisited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/02\/sauna-revisited\/","title":{"rendered":"Sauna revisited"},"content":{"rendered":"

Went back to the \u201cauthentic\u201d sauna by the beach yesterday with my older daughter Samantha.<\/p>\n

(She used to be the oldest, but now that one sister has gone to be replaced by a brother, that makes her the older of two.)<\/p>\n

It was once again the 5 pm session on a freezing cold Saturday, timed so that we could watch the sunset. The red headed Irishwoman Tina was again in charge. Knowing what to expect, and that the first fifteen minutes would be the hardest, we went down to the beach and paddled our feet in the icy water before hand. Another woman actually went for a swim in the sea; we assumed she was one of the other people booked into the sauna with us, and so she was. This time there were six women. There were no formal introductions, but the others seemed experienced sauna goers, and I think they were two couples, if the mild episodes of PDA were anything to go by.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Not me, I\u2019m older and sweatier, but you get the general idea, including the felt hat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was less chat than last time, but the vibe was pleasant, and to be honest, not significantly different to when testosterone was present. Once again there were three sessions of sweating at 85 degrees, with l\u00f6yley, essential oils and flapping, with two icy sea swims in between. During the last heat session, there was a general cry of \u201cSteam out! Steam out!\u201d which didn\u2019t happen last time. One of the more experienced couples swapped places with us as we were nearest the fire, and didn\u2019t really understand what was going on. Basically a steam out is when the sauna manager just keeps pouring more water onto the hot rocks until the room fills with steam. The heat was intense, I was within a heartbeat of panicking and forcing my way out of the room, but the worst of the heat subsided quickly, and I was able to regain my equilibrium for the last few minutes before our session ended. At least now I know what it\u2019s like to be a vegetable.
\nOn the drive home, I realised I\u2019d left my peignoir* behind, and had to drive back to get it. Tina said it happened all the time, due to a well known syndrome called \u2018sauna brain\u2019.
\nIt\u2019s an amazing thing, a full on traditional sauna experience, it makes you feel really alive, but I don\u2019t know how you could do it multiple times in a week. My new infrared sauna is being put together this week so I will keep you updated on that.<\/p>\n

*a fancy word for lightweight dressing gown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Went back to the \u201cauthentic\u201d sauna by the beach yesterday with my older daughter Samantha.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8Ukf-3pK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13084,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/sauna-studies\/","url_meta":{"origin":13128,"position":0},"title":"Sauna studies","author":"Interloper11","date":"July 11, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"In the Winter a middle aged lady\u2019s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of saunas. 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