About

Our Roots

Hi, we’re Jen & Mike!

Our journey into the world of sauna began a few years ago with intensive research and personal experimentation. What started as curiosity evolved into a transformative experience that we're now passionate about sharing with others. The catalyst was our first sauna—a Morzh tent and stove system imported from Russia—which proved to be far more than just a wellness amenity. For both of us, it became a gateway to profound mental health improvements and positive lifestyle changes, including our decision to embrace an alcohol-free lifestyle. We began sharing this experience with friends and family and it started a sort of ripple effect.

Like many Michiganders, Mike had experienced the weight of seasonal depression. The sauna experience offered an unexpected but powerful antidote, demonstrating how this ancient practice could be reimagined for our modern context. This personal transformation sparked a clear vision: making authentic sauna experiences accessible to everyone, recognizing its potential to enhance both physical and mental well-being.

The Definition

SAUNATY [saw·nuh·tee / sow-nah-tee] — A transformative state of consciousness where mind and body find their perfect equilibrium through the ancient wisdom of thermal contrast. Coined in 2022 by Mike, this fusion of 'sauna' and 'sanity' echoes the time-honored Finnish concept of 'saunarauha' (sauna peace) – both terms capturing the sacred intersection of physical practice and mental serenity. Like spiritual siblings born centuries apart, saunarauha and saunaty speak to the same truth: that in the embrace of heat and cold, we discover our deepest stillness.

Like a meditation written in sweat and steam, saunaty emerges when we surrender to the rhythm of hot and cold – each cycle washing away the mind's static while awakening the body's innate wisdom. It's that sublime instant when thoughts crystallize in the heat chamber, when worries dissolve in icy plunges, when the chaos of modern life yields to the profound quietude that Finns have long revered in their saunarauha tradition.

This isn't mere relaxation – it's a reset of our whole being. In saunaty, the body's intelligence rises to meet the mind's clarity, stress melts into strength, and fragmented thoughts fuse into sharp insight. Through intentional heat stress and cold exposure, we cultivate a resilience that transcends the physical, tapping into an ancestral wellspring of vitality where mental fortitude and physical vigor become one.

It's a practice as old as human ritual yet perfectly tuned to our modern need for balance. In the dance between warmth and chill, we discover our center – that sweet spot where physical sensation elevates mental clarity, where discomfort teaches presence, and where the boundary between body and mind dissolves into pure, crystalline awareness. Think of saunaty as saunarauha's American cousin, inviting a whole new generation to discover what the Finns have known all along – that sometimes the best way to find your mind is to lose yourself in the heat.

The Mission

Saunaty LLC aims to:

• Create a new paradigm for outdoor recreation during Michigan's indoor months

• Foster community connections through shared wellness experiences

• Provide an innovative solution for year-round social engagement and FUN!

• Transform how we approach winter wellness in West Michigan

We envision a future where public saunas become as integral to Michigan's lakeshores as our beloved craft breweries have become to our communities. This movement represents more than just wellness—it's about creating spaces for connection, rejuvenation, and community building throughout the year.

The Vision

Picture a typical Michigan winter day: slate-gray skies loom overhead as wind whips across the lake, sending snowflakes dancing in wild spirals. The temperature has dipped well below freezing, and the world feels hostile, metallic, unforgiving. Like most days, we've spent hours lost in glowing screens, our attention fractured into a thousand pieces, our spirits dulled by the endless stream of digital dopamine hits that leaves us feeling somehow both overstimulated and empty.

But there, on the shoreline, a warm glow beckons – SAUNATY's mobile sauna, with wisps of steam rising from its chimney like a welcome signal through the gathering dusk. Inside, the ancient aroma of cedar mingles with the gentle crackle of burning hardwood. As you step into the 185° embrace of the sauna, the week’s tensions begin to melt away. Your shoulders drop. Your breathing deepens. Stressful thoughts fade to blessed silence.

The science behind this transformation is remarkable. The heat-cold contrast triggers a cascade of health benefits: a 60% increase in norepinephrine (supporting focus and attention), a threefold increase in dopamine (enhancing mood and motivation), and a significant boost in cold-shock proteins that help repair neural connections. Regular practice has been linked to a 40% reduction in all-cause mortality rates and up to 65% reduction in cardiovascular-related conditions.

But perhaps most striking are the mental health benefits. Research shows that regular sauna use can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety by up to 50%, largely through the release of endorphins and the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system – our body's "rest and digest" mode. The practice has been shown to lower cortisol levels, improve sleep quality, and enhance mental resilience. In our age of digital overwhelm and chronic stress, these benefits aren't just luxury – they're necessity.

This transformative journey begins in the warmth of our wooden sanctuary and culminates in the bracing embrace of the lake's cold waters. Sauna is a place where we can shed the artificial barriers between ourselves and nature, recognizing that these barriers exist only in our minds. While most people retreat indoors during Michigan's long winters, SAUNATY offers a different path: a return to the elements, a celebration of contrast, and an invitation to rediscover what it means to feel truly alive, truly present, truly connected to both our bodies and the natural world around us.

This isn't just about getting warm or getting cold – it's about awakening our body's innate ability to adapt, heal, and thrive in response to environmental challenges, just as our ancestors did for thousands of years. It's about finding moments of profound peace in the midst of our busy lives, and building resilience through the wisdom of traditional practices that are now backed by modern science.