Something special is happening in the world of sauna research.

In this episode of Sauna Talk, Glenn Auerbach takes us to The Well in Norway, where the Sauna Research Foundation has brought together 15 researchers from nine countries to advance the science of sauna bathing.

For years, researchers studying sauna and its potential health benefits have often worked independently, across different countries and scientific disciplines. Now, they're coming together to share ideas, challenge assumptions, establish common research standards, and build a foundation for future collaboration.

With his handheld recorder, Glenn captures spontaneous conversations in the hallways of this international gathering. We hear directly from researchers studying cardiovascular health, cardiac rehabilitation, mental health, stress, sleep, and the physiological mechanisms behind sauna's potential benefits.

Among the voices featured are Earric Lee of the Montreal Heart Institute, Sam Oliver of Bangor University in Wales, Norwegian researchers Rune Jonasen and Eva Hillan, and Sauna Research Foundation board members John Sabes and Hans Hägglund.

The conversations range from clinical research protocols and long-term health studies to wood-fired saunas, Norway's floating sauna culture, and the importance of simply enjoying the sauna experience.

And perhaps one of the most memorable insights comes from Rune Jonasen, who suggests that sometimes the best part of sauna isn't the heat itself. It's waking up in the morning knowing that today is a sauna day.

What makes this gathering remarkable isn't just the science. It's the openness, trust, and collaborative spirit among researchers who share a common interest in understanding sauna and its place in our lives.

This episode captures an important moment in the evolution of sauna research, told through the voices of those helping move it forward.

Learn more and connect:

SaunaTimes: https://www.saunatimes.com

Explore sauna culture, sauna building, and the stories behind the heat.

Discover Sauna Life: From Heat Up to Cool Down, a coffee table book celebrating sauna through photography, stories, and personal experiences from around the world.

Until next time, I'll see you on the bench.

#SaunaTalk #SaunaResearch #SaunaHealth #SaunaTimes #SaunaCulture

What happens when we stop performing and start remembering who we actually are?

In this live conversation from Sauna Days 2026, Glenn Auerbach sits down with longtime friend Harvey Martin for a wide-ranging Sauna Talk about performance, identity, intuition, nervous-system regulation, and the role sauna can play in bringing us back to ourselves.

Harvey has spent years inside the world of high performance. After playing professional baseball, he worked in player development and spent four seasons doing human performance coaching with the San Francisco Giants. Today, he works privately with elite athletes, musicians, and other high-level performers navigating pressure, identity, and life beyond the performance itself.

But Harvey came to Sauna Days with one word on his mind:

Remembrance.

Remembering who we are underneath the noise. Underneath the information. Underneath the algorithms, expectations, status, and constant pressure to perform.

Glenn and Harvey explore what happens when a profession becomes an identity, why facts alone rarely change human behavior, the difference between performance and presence, and why intuition becomes increasingly important in a world built around information and algorithms.

And, naturally, they bring it back to sauna.

Harvey shares the story of his wood-fired horse trailer sauna in Arizona—with an office in the front and hot room in the back—and why building a fire, tending it throughout the day, and making your own heat forces you to slow down.

As Harvey puts it, there's something different about heat you make yourself.

In this episode:

• Harvey's journey from professional baseball to the San Francisco Giants
• Working with elite athletes and musicians under extreme pressure
• Separating performance from identity
• Why emotional experience changes behavior more than information
• Intuition, presence, and nervous-system regulation
• What algorithms may be doing to our awareness
• Sauna as a practice of remembrance
• Why wood-fired sauna naturally slows us down
• Harvey's Arizona horse trailer sauna and writing space
• The value of making your own heat
• Why sometimes "it takes all day to live"

Recorded live at Sauna Days 2026.

Learn more about authentic sauna culture, sauna building, Sauna Days, and the Sauna Talk podcast at SaunaTimes.com.

This episode of Sauna Talk is supported by Kuuma Sauna Stoves, built by Lampa Manufacturing in Tower, Minnesota.

Until next time, we'll see you on the bench.

What does it mean to be "3 Percent Finn" yet feel deeply connected to Finnish sauna culture?

For Sauna Talk Episode 137, Glenn sits down with Michael Nordskog, author of The Opposite of Cold: The Northwoods Finnish Sauna Tradition, recorded live at Sauna Days 2026.

Michael grew up in the heart of North American sauna country, and his work has helped document a sauna tradition that runs deep through northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and the greater Lake Superior region.

In this conversation, Michael and Glenn get into Finnish ancestry, Northwoods sauna culture, the traditions that took root around Lake Superior, and the way sauna gets passed down through families and communities.

It's also a conversation about place, identity, and why authentic sauna has endured in this part of the world long before the current wave of sauna popularity.

For those of us who believe sauna is more than a hot room, Michael's perspective is an important reminder: the buildings matter, the löyly matters, but so do the stories and the people who keep the tradition alive.

Recorded live at Sauna Days 2026.

This episode of Sauna Talk is brought to you by Homecraft, makers of quality sauna heaters and sauna equipment. Homecraft has been building sauna products for generations and continues to support the culture of good sauna across North America.

Learn more about Homecraft at homecraftsaunas.com.