“How does that feel?” asks Siiri, as the spikes of the juniper branches relieve the itch on my back and the spicy scent surrounds my body. “Peaceful,” I respond, so relaxed that one-word answers are ...

Sauna culture is heating up, and not in the quiet, niche way it once did. What began as a regional tradition closely ...

Last year Finland produced a series of tongue-in-cheek national emojis that it said embraced Finnish "weirdness." Naked sauna-goers were one of the first they released.

Deep underground in a disused iron mine and under the bluish glow of a flashlight, a small crowd emerges from a sauna, steam rising off their bodies as they plunge into a crystal clear turquoise lake.

The sauna (which means “bath” in Finnish) is a ritual -- almost even a rite -- which Finland’s 5.5 million inhabitants carry out at least once a week. A sociable event that once lent a sense of ...