- A Finnish influencer living in LA went viral recounting an eye-opening experience at her local sauna.
- She was stunned when gym-goers entered with workout clothes, sneakers, and phones.
- Viewers were dismayed by “sauna culture” in the US given its sacred status in Scandinavia.
A Finnish creator who’s been living in Los Angeles for six years sparked a viral wave of dismay about “sauna culture” in America after sharing an experience that left her shocked and unlikely to enter a U.S. sauna ever again.
While Aurora told Insider she made her TikTok with a “light heart” and didn’t intend to “shame or harm” anyone, fellow Scandinavians were similarly horrified by her viral storytime, given the sacred status of saunas in the region.
Earlier this month, she recounted the experience in a viral TikTok that amassed 700,000 views. Aurora — a wellness influencer with 36,000 followers — said she was initially puzzled upon entering her gym’s sauna by a sign warning patrons not to throw water on the rocks for risk of electrocution.
“That’s what makes it amazing for you,” she said of the rock-splashing. “Otherwise it’s just a dry hot room that’s pulling all the moisture from your skin.”
More horrifyingly to her was the sauna attire. In Finland, it’s “kind of forbidden” to enter public saunas and swimming halls with clothes or swimwear, Aurora said, so she opted for a towel. But she was then stunned by what she saw.
“Everybody else is wearing clothes,” including “full-on workout gear and shoes,” she said. One woman had her phone and AirPods on her, and there was weightlifting chalk everywhere, which she called “unacceptable.”
“I was in shock…The sauna is a very, very sacred place for us,” she said, explaining that Finns used to give birth in them.
As a result, Aurora said she “cannot” go to an American sauna again. Commenters overwhelmingly echoed her dismay: “The shoes in the sauna made me spit out my coffee,” one wrote. “Imagine the sweaty feet in the shoes.”
Aurora told Insider that she hope Americans could experience saunas the Scandinavian way: “It’s much more relaxing,” she said.
In a follow-up TikTok from last week, the influencer shared several other cultural differences between Finland and America, namely that Finns tend to avoid small talk and are more comfortable with silence and nudity. She also said Americans are surprised to hear that Finnish people eat reindeer.
“Finland sounds like an introverts paradise,” one viewer wrote, to which Aurora responded: “Absolutely is.”
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