Finnish sauna
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The sauna is a substantial part of the Finnish culture. There are five million inhabitants and over two million saunas in Finland - an average of one per household. For Finnish people the sauna is a place for easing with friends and family, a place for physical and mental relaxation. Finns think of saunas not as a luxury, but as a necessity. Almost every Finnish home has a sauna. There are also public saunas at such places as swimming pools, dormitories and gyms. It is not usual for men and women to go to the sauna together, except for members of the same family and close friends. Public saunas are almost always single sex.
One undresses completely, takes a shower (without soap) and enters the sauna. In the sauna the temperatures range from 60ºC to over a 100ºC, but the heat can be regulated by sitting higher up on the benches, called lauteet. One sits back and lets the heat penetrate one's body and open the pores of the sweating skin.
The stones on the furnace (kiuas) in the corner are very hot and when water is thrown on them (called throwing löyly), a damp cloud of steam fills the room. The löyly makes the sauna feel more hot. One throws löyly as often or seldom as one wishes. After about 10-30 minutes leaves and cools down outside, by having a cold shower or alternatively by going for a swim in a lake or the sea. The process is repeated at least twice, but there is no upper limit. The whole sauna bathing process usually takes from 30 minutes to two hours. At the end a shower is taken with soap and shampoo.
Many Finns have a summer cottage with a sauna at one of the tens of thousands of lakes in Finland, and a sauna bath is not normally complete without a refreshing swim, when one leaves the sauna for a break. In winter sauna veterans even cut a hole in the ice and take a bath in the icy water (approx. +1ºC to +4ºC) or they roll around in the snow. They can also use a vasta or vihta, a strong wisp or bundle of birch twigs (only the Silver Birch, Betula pendula, is appropriate for this). It is immersed in warm water and then used to beat oneself gently with it. This peels the skin, cleaning it, and relaxes the muscles.
External link
- The Finnish Sauna society (http://www.sauna.fi/englanti/englanti.html)