Mikkel Aaland

I'm passionate about saunas and traditions involving sweating. In researching the topic, I kept coming across this book. Unfortunately, it is out of print, and physical copies have gotten very expensive, so this I acquired a digital copy as an ebook.

As the title suggests, the scope of the book is ambitious, and Aaland gives an excellent delivery. In the seventies, Aaland spent three years traveling the world, partaking of various sweating traditions (Finnish Sauna, Russian Bania, Japanese Mushi-Buro, Native American Sweat Lodge, Mexican Temescal, Islamic Hammam, etc.). During his travels he meticulously documented these traditions, and compiled many illustrations, contemporary and historical. The last quarter of the book is about building your own sauna.

As anyone that loves the sauna might be inclined to believe, sweating practices are near-universal across traditional cultures of the world. For many of these cultures, sweating was a fundamental aspect of their medicine. You have to wonder how many of our modern ailments are in-part due to our aversion to sweat.

If you're a sauna enthusiast, this book will help to ground you in the tradition and provide you with inspiration for how to deepen into your practice.… (more)