Show Notes
I've had the pleasure of sitting on the sauna bench with well over a hundred guests for Sauna Talk. Whether you're listening in your car, out for a walk, or sweating it out on your own bench, my goal as host is to help keep the conversation flowing. Like good löyly, Sauna Talk rises, rolls, and wraps around us—natural, unforced, and alive. That same spirit was there last night with Chris Heck. Chris grew up in Northern Minnesota, made his way into engineering school, and deep into his electrical engineering career. He spent a couple years living in Finland—where sauna isn't a luxury, it's an everyday way of life. He travels to Finland regularly working for Wärtsilä a global company with over 10,000 employees, a leader in innovative technologies for the marine and energy markets. Big equipment for ships and energy plants. We met on a late fall afternoon under cool rain and heavy clouds. The last time I stood in his backyard was several months previous. His sauna was still just a shell—bare studs and roof. Seeing his completed sauna brought a different kind of warmth. Before round one, I snapped a few photos, smiling at the thought that my Sauna Build book helped Chris bring his own health and wellness backyard retreat to life. Once we settled onto the bench, the talk found its rhythm—thermally aligned in good spirit. Just like a good sauna round, it built naturally, with heat, laughter, and a shared appreciation for how something so simple can feel so good. As the rounds went on, so did the conversation—about work and life, Finland and Minnesota, and how sauna has a way of connecting it all. That's what Sauna Talk is about: real people who recognize that good heat knows no borders. So grab your towel, pour a little water on the rocks, and join us for this session with Chris Heck.
More from Sauna Talk
In this episode of Sauna Talk, Glenn Auerbach sits down with Risto Elomaa, outgoing president of the International Sauna Association, on the eve of the International Sauna Congress in Oslo. After 16 years as ISA president—and two decades on its board—Risto reflects on a lifetime shaped by sauna, beginning with his first smoke sauna at just four weeks old. He shares stories from decades of sauna culture around the world, from Finland and Germany to Japan, South Korea, China, and beyond. The conversation explores what defines a real sauna, the importance of good löyly, European sauna standards, the future of sauna research, and why Risto believes researchers need common protocols if sauna science is going to advance responsibly. Glenn and Risto also discuss Sauna Aid and its work supporting Ukraine, the growth and regulation of Aufguss, sauna diplomacy, birch vihta traditions, raising children with sauna, smoke sauna culture, and some of the memorable people Risto has met on sauna benches around the world. And when asked what matters most in a good sauna? For Risto, the answer is simple: good löyly, good löyly, and good löyly. Join us for a wide-ranging conversation with one of the most influential international voices in modern sauna culture as he prepares to pass the torch at the International Sauna Congress. For more sauna stories, resources, and authentic sauna culture, visit SaunaTimes.com.
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.
In Sauna Talk Episode 138, Glenn sits down with longtime friend and fellow "thermal soul brother" Jeff Pyzyk—a Wisconsin sauna enthusiast with more than two decades of experience and an estimated 3,500+ sauna sessions under his belt. Jeff shares how one lakeside sauna and a cold plunge in 1998 turned into a lifelong pursuit. From building his own saunas and experimenting with wood-fired heat to helping inspire the low-profile Kuma stove, Jeff has developed his perspective the old-fashioned way: through years of time on the bench. The conversation moves from good heat, löyly, rock mass, bench height, and cold plunging into some unexpected territory: pizza, espresso, vintage Volkswagens, and why hands-on experience matters more than internet theory. At the center of it all is Jeff's simple message to anyone suffering from sauna analysis paralysis: There is no perfect sauna. Build your damn sauna. Glenn and Jeff also talk Sauna Days, friendship, the growing North American sauna community, and that special moment a few rounds into a sauna session when the fire settles, the rocks are hot, and everything just clicks. This episode is sponsored by Sauna Build: From Start to Finish by Glenn Auerbach. If you've been thinking about building your own sauna, Glenn's book is a practical guide designed to help take you from idea to finished hot room. It draws on years of hands-on sauna building experience and covers the key decisions that matter most—from layout and bench design to heaters, ventilation, materials, and the details that help create good heat. Buy the physical book here. Buy the e-book here. For anyone feeling stuck in research mode, it pairs perfectly with Jeff's message in this episode: learn what matters, make a plan, and build your sauna.
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.
In this episode of Sauna Talk, the roles are reversed as Mossy Ben interviews Glenn Auerbach about Sauna Days 2026 at Larsmont Cottages on the North Shore of Lake Superior. Glenn shares the origin story of Sauna Days, from a small gathering of roughly 25 sauna enthusiasts to a sold-out celebration of sauna culture featuring mobile saunas, presentations, breathwork, cold plunges, artisans, builders, operators, and sauna people from around the world. They discuss the beautiful weather, the importance of maintaining enough bench space, the soul of the original Larsmont sauna, and the delicate balance between commerce and "kumbaya." Most of all, they reflect on the community that forms when people gather around good heat, cold water, and a shared appreciation for authentic sauna culture. You'll also hear stories from the benches, the shoreline, the Lake Room, and the spaces between sauna rounds—where strangers quickly become friends and conversations move well beyond sauna. Topics include: The origins and evolution of Sauna Days Sauna Days 2026 highlights Sauna culture in Northern Minnesota The SaunaTimes tribe and spirit of community Mobile saunas, sauna builders, and vendors Lake Superior cold plunging The balance between business and authentic sauna culture What makes Larsmont Cottages an ideal home for Sauna Days A look ahead to Sauna Days 2027 Learn more about authentic sauna culture, sauna building, events, and the Sauna Talk podcast at SaunaTimes.com. Until next time, we'll see you on the bench.