For people in Minnesota, the sauna is a link to the past and a way to form new bonds. Feb. 17, 2024Jumping in a hole in a frozen lake during a subzero Minnesota winter evening is brutal. On the banks of Lake Minnewashta in Excelsior, just outside Minneapolis, the answer lies in a dimly lit, wood-burning barrel-shaped sauna a few feet away. Minnesotans have begun partaking in a version of this ritual in droves as a tradition imported by the state’s Nordic settlers in the late 1800s has gone mainstream. While cold plunging is not obligatory — and some opt out — most of the new sauna venues encourage even mild forms of cold exposure, like dumping a bucket of cold water on your head.

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Locations: Minnesota, Lake Minnewashta, Excelsior, Minneapolis, Midwest