Across Oregon, sauna-and-plunge rituals are turning up the heat on connection, calm and date night written by Cathy Carroll Sitting naked in a rustic cedar sauna in the forest along the Breitenbush River, steam rising through slots in the wood floor and sweat beading down my back, I felt my core approaching the same temperature as the earth’s—unsurprising in a sauna perched atop a capped geyser of volcanically heated water from thousands of feet underground. Pushing open the door, I plunged into a clawfoot tub of frigid water—a bracing slap that brought me to my heightened senses. I returned for sweatfest part two and emerged onto the snow-covered deck feeling triumphant, renewed, invincible. Giddy with geothermally induced vigor, I sat on a snow-covered ponderosa pine log, wearing two well-positioned fern fronds and posed for my Christmas card photo. It was years ago, and recipients thought it proved the practice required…