The Story of FarWell
FarWell grew from a personal search for healing.
After an injury and a long period of physical therapy, I began visiting a small lakefront sauna north of Chicago. At first I came simply hoping the heat might help loosen muscles that would not release.
But something else began to happen.
Week after week, the sauna became a place where winter felt lighter, stress softened, and a small group of regulars gathered quietly around the simple act of sitting together in warmth.
We came for the physical benefits — circulation, recovery, better sleep — but we stayed for something less measurable: the steady rhythm of showing up.
FarWell was born from that experience. I invite you to experience it for yourself.
—Sharla Paul, Founder
p.s. What’s in a name?
The name FarWell comes from a short story by the South Side author Stuart Dybek, in his collection The Coast of Chicago. In the opening scene of “Farwell,” the collection’s first story, the main character walks toward the lake on a snowy night:
“Snow had obliterated the outlines of sidewalks and curbs and that night the pier looked as if it was a continuation of the street, as if Farwell lengthened out into the lake. I walked out toward the beacon. Ice, sculpted by waves and spray, encrusted the pier. The guard cables and beacon tower were sheathed in ice. In the frozen quiet, I could hear the lake rasping in under the floes and feel the pier shudder, and as I walked back towards the apartment building I thought I heard singing.”
I hope FarWell sauna is your beacon in the chilly dusk and on frosty mornings, a place to find community and solitude, a place to find wellness in this great city of ours on this beloved lake.
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