In my master’s thesis, I examine the sauna in the area of present-day Estonia as a space of holistic experience that brings together the body, the mind, and even spiritual dimensions. In doing so, I draw on the experiences of my interlocutors, sauna enthusiasts who mostly live in the rural areas of southern Estonia. I write about the motivations for regular sauna bathing, which are based on pleasant bodily sensations and social events that take place in the sauna. Experiences of sauna bathing are marked by the (non-)self-evident nature of nudity and by decisions regarding whom one usually goes to the sauna with. Spatial aspects of sauna bathing also occupy a large part of the master’s thesis. I define the sauna as a created space, inseparable from its surroundings, with which it is largely intertwined. One’s own home sauna reveals individual views on what constitutes a »proper« and the »best« sauna – through the construction, modification, and adaptation of the sauna, value judgements concerning different types of sauna are also expressed. The sauna space and its broader spatial setting are important for the holistic experience of sauna bathing. Sauna bathing in Estonia is thus an intertwining of bodily and spatial practices, while the sauna functions as a space that extends beyond its own boundaries. My interlocutors perceive the sauna space as a safe and pleasant space, which I present through imagery that shape memories of sauna bathing and saunas.
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