2: Happiness for Tourists? (Rebekah Bledsoe)

 Saunas and Happiness 

    If you would have asked me a week ago if I thought saunas were fun, enjoyable, or overall beneficial to my health, I would have told you that you were crazy. As a Texas native, I pretty much spend as much time in the air conditioning as possible. I get enough heat just walking to my car in the morning, and now you're telling me to  purposely go sit in a boiling hot room for fun and relaxation? Yeah, no thank you. However, my view on saunas have radically changed since having my first real experience with one this past week. 

    As I was sitting in the sauna, I could feel myself start to sweat, my heart rate increased steadily, and my skin felt like it was on fire. At first, these feelings were uncomfortable and a little scary. However, the longer I sat there and accepted the heat, the better it started to feel. As I started to relax physically, I let my mind calm down from the hecticness of the past couple of weeks. This was the most beneficial aspect of the sauna for me. The ability to have a space where I could completely relax was exactly what I needed after days of traveling and making a new country my temporary home. Leading up to my first sauna, we learned about the history and medicinal aspect of saunas. While there have not been many physical benefits to saunas proven, there is no doubt that there is a mental health healing component to saunas. As long as people are feeling the relaxation aspects of the saunas, I do not see a problem with the saunas themselves. If saunas are what works to help someone get back to being themselves, then sauna can be their sort of "medicine". 

    The author of the article, Britta Lokting, set out to find happiness in the happiest country in the world. She was determined to figure out the secret to their happiness and apply that directly to her life. During her experience, she tried all the things that claimed to be the reason for the happiness of the Finns. While she enjoyed them in the moment, she found herself right back where she started when she returned to America. After much time and reflection in the States, she finally realized the secret to the Finns' happiness: enjoy the little things. And the "little things" look different for everyone. For some, it is the birds flying through the sky or a walk through a park, it can be anything. For me personally, it is sunsets that bring me the most peace and happiness. Every time I am driving home from a busy day and I see a beautiful Texas sunset, it brings an overwhelming sense of peace to me. 

    The main conclusion from the author is that everyone's happy is different. Happiness is not a one-size-fits-all. This is a beautiful thing because each person gets to define what their happy is. For many people on the island of Norderney, saunas are their happy place. The sauna is where they are able to find peace and let their minds and bodies rest. I can attest that a sauna is a wonderful place for this. Whether there are physical benefits or not, the peace that the saunas bring is a medicine in and of itself. I believe it is important for everyone to find their happy place where they are able to fully relax and get away from the busy every day life so ingrained in our society. 

Thanks & Gig'em, 

Rebekah Bledsoe