The REAL Sauna Experience: What Finland Knows That We Don’t

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Most of us think of a sauna as just “a hot room.”

In Finland, it’s a way of life, a ritual, a community practice, and surprisingly a powerful tool for training the mind.

In this episode of It’s Brain Surgery, Dr. Andrew Brunswick sits down with Lassi Liikkanen, one of the world’s leading experts on Finnish sauna design, tradition, and research. His books The Secrets of Finnish Sauna Design and Finnish Sauna: Steam, Wood, Stone, and How to Build Your Own have reshaped how the world understands authentic sauna culture.

We dive into:

• Why Finnish sauna culture is nothing like the “sauna” trend in the U.S.
• How heat trains the mind like surgery: presence, discomfort, clarity
• The true purpose of steam (löyly) and why humidity matters
• Sauna as meditation, community, and digital detox
• Why infrared is not a Finnish sauna—and what the research says
• What Americans consistently get wrong about sauna design
• How sauna shapes honesty, connection, and vulnerability
• Why even infants in Finland go to the sauna
• The right way to think about temperature, cycles, and cooling
• How to build a sauna that actually works (and why most don’t)

If you’ve ever wondered what a sauna really is or if you’re trying to deepen your own practicethis episode will change how you think about heat forever.

 Guest Information
Lassi Liikkanen
Author, researcher, and one of the leading authorities on Finnish sauna design.
Books:
• The Secrets of Finnish Sauna Design
• Finnish Sauna: Steam, Wood, Stone, and How to Build Your Own