Sauna – a traditional practice with modern health and beauty benefits
By Anna

Having a sauna is a traditional ritual practiced in many countries in the Nordic region, but mainly in Finland. Not only is it relaxing, but also has health benefits such as cleansing your skin by allowing the pores to open and sweat out any impurities that may have been stuck in the deeper layers of your skin. It also softens your skin and the heat can help remove tension in your muscles. However, it’s not as simple as a sauna is a sauna. Different kinds of saunas feel different and some much better than others. One particularly horrific one I had the experience of visiting was actually carpeted! There were also signs strictly prohibiting the throwing of water on the rocks, löyly, which is one of the integral parts of the sauna experience. What Finns refer to as “Swedish” sauna-bathing is also frowned upon by purists – saunas tend to be much smaller in Sweden, and people use less water and sometimes even read in the sauna!

A traditional sauna is usually situated next to some body of water, such as a lake, a river or the sea. It is usually built of logs, and the inside is completely wooden. There is a stove filled with rocks the size of a fist that are heated up by fire underneath. This is what provides the heat.

Older saunas have a very large area that is the actual sauna with space for washing inside, newer ones tend to separate the warm area from showering areas. The best kind of sauna is a traditional savusauna, one without a chimney where the smoke is only let out just before use. An alternative to a savusauna is a wood-burning sauna with a chimney, which feels practically the same but is usually much quicker to heat up. Some wood-burning saunas can take up to eight hours to heat up, these are the ones that feel the best on your skin, the heat feels gentler even if it may be tens of degrees hotter than an electric sauna. Saunas heated with electricity are popular in cities since the wood-burning ones usually take up a whole building. Electric saunas provide the heat, but not as much atmosphere. They are really seen as a substitute until you can get out to a proper sauna. Their main advantage is that they can heat up in about half an hour.

How to: Instructions and etiquette
If you’re reading this section you probably don’t have your own sauna so I won’t bore you with detailed instructions on how to heat one I’ll focus on how to get the most out of your experience instead! Setting aside about an hour and a half is recommended for a relaxing sauna, any shorter and you may feel rushed. You may not need this much time, but planning to spend longer is always better than getting stressed out at the end because you’ve been in for too long which would undo all the relaxing you’ve just done!

One of the most common questions people ask is “What do you wear in the sauna?” The answer is generally nothing, that’s the traditional way to go about it and it will give you a better experience as well. People won’t stare, really! Unfortunately, many saunas I’ve been outside Finland to are next to the pool in gyms rather than by the showers in the changing room so stripping off may not be appropriate! Wearing a bathing suit is actually very unhygienic, and in Finland it’s banned in most saunas, but sometimes you don’t have a choice. A towel wrapped around your body is far better. Not being naked in a single sex sauna is considered bad form.

The traditional procedure when having a sauna would be along these lines:
First, have a shower to clean your body. It softens the skin and of course removes any sweat or dirt that would cause an unpleasant odor in the sauna. Not showering before a sauna is considered very bad etiquette.

Second, go into the sauna. Bring a towel, cloth, or similar to sit on. Lying down is more relaxing, especially if you are self-conscious about being naked. If there is space, most people tend to lie down.
Then throw some water on the rocks on the stove to make the sauna more humid, this is called löyly. When you’ve had enough, go out and either take a cool shower, a dip, or a roll around in the snow depending on what’s available to you. Afterwards, unless you took a shower, have a quick rinse and go back into the sauna. Now your skin should be sufficiently softened up to use the vihta. The vihta is a bunch of birch twigs with the leaves still on tied together. Wet the vihta and either hit yourself with it, or have someone else do it for you. You can use quite a lot of force, the leaves soften it and it doesn’t actually hurt. It increases circulation and a bonus is that it smells gorgeous!

After your second go in the sauna, you can repeat that process as many times as you like. Then, have a proper wash when you wash your hair and use any products you may wish to. The sauna should have cooled down somewhat after this, so if you feel the urge you can go lie down there again after cleaning yourself. When you’re done, have a quick rinse, pat yourself dry, and go out into the changing room and have a cool drink and a salty snack to replenish your lost fluids and electrolytes. It is traditional to have grilled sausages and beer after a sauna, but if you do not like that you can have whatever you feel like. Take your time and wait a little while before putting your clothes on since you may still be sweating from the sauna. Remember to bring a clean set of clothes to change into, changing into your worn clothes won’t feel as pleasant. Relaxing in a towel or dressing gown is very common before getting up and getting dressed.

Tips for making your experience even more rewarding
Recently there has been a huge increase in products available to improve your sauna experience. Now there are special oils available for mixing in your water before you throw it on the rocks. These are generally used in electrical saunas in cities. Birch oil is a very popular choice. It smells like the vihta, and can be a good substitute when there is no vihta available. Eucalyptus is another popular choice, especially in the winter time when people tend to have colds. Tar-scented oil is also popular, but personally I don’t like the smell at all. Pine is another popular oil. Never throw pure essential oils on the stones, but mix them with water in your ladle first. Bizarrely, throwing beer on the sauna is also very popular, it gives off a smell similar to toast. Again, it must be diluted before throwing it on the rocks. It is not necessary to use special sauna oils, normal essential oils work just as well, but do not use absolutes, they will be too strong and since they tend to be expensive it would also be a waste of money. Never throw soft drinks on the sauna, the sugar in them will burn to the stones and give off an unpleasant smell.

If you would like to deep-condition your hair, the sauna is an excellent place to do so. The heat helps conditioners penetrate deeper and your hair should be in very good condition afterwards. The same applies to face masques you may wish to use, but be careful if you have experienced irritation from the masque before since then the heat might aggravate it. The last time I had a sauna I took a wet flannel in and exfoliated using that. It was very effective, not to mention cheap, although do be careful until your skin has softened up properly.

You can have a sauna as often as you like – doing it every day would not harm you in any way. This probably isn’t very convenient for most people and personally I only do it that often when I go skiing to warm myself up after a cold day on the slopes. Once or twice a week is very common. You may notice an increase in blemishes a few days after having a sauna; this is because impurities have been drawn out from your skin and after a few saunas this should stop being a problem. In fact, you will probably experience a decrease in blemishes over time if you have saunas at least once a week.

It is advisable to take some sort of drink into the sauna. Beer or cider are common, but it is obviously much healthier to take a non-alcoholic drink, preferably water. Personally I like to take water or a soft drink unless I’m in Finland, in which case I’ll take a Lonkero, a grapefruit flavored alcoholic drink which is about as strong as beer. I always take a beer in to throw on the rocks, but not to drink, simply because I don’t like it.

Things to consider
Although the sauna definitely offers numerous health benefits, it is not always a good idea to have a sauna. One such situation is if you are ill with a contagious disease. If you are, only use your own sauna, and only alone. If you have a fever having a sauna is not generally considered a good idea because it will probably make you feel faint. Also, it is not recommended to take a sauna if you are under the influence of alcohol. This is not to say that you cannot drink at all when in the sauna or have had any alcohol before, but if you are feeling affected the sauna might make you feel too light-headed.

Contrary to popular belief, it is perfectly safe for children to go in the sauna. I would lose count if I tried to remember how many “No children under the age of 16 allowed” signs I’ve ignored. When there were no hospitals nearby, poorer Finns who lived in the countryside used to give birth in their unheated sauna because it was the cleanest place they had. It is, however, advisable to have children sitting lower down in the sauna where it is not as hot. It is also safe for pregnant women to go in the sauna, but it is recommended to have the temperature slightly lower than usual. About 70ºC/160ºF is advised for pregnant women as opposed to about 90ºC/195ºF, which is the typical temperature in the sauna. Saunas are often hotter than 90ºC, but public saunas tend not to be. Normally in places like public pools there will be two saunas, one kept at 70ºC and another kept at 90ºC.

How to find a sauna
Finding a good sauna can be difficult. The ones in gyms tend not to be the best, the one at my gym is very dry and feels much hotter than it is, I have no idea where the stove is and you can’t throw löyly, and of course it’s by the pool. If you live in an area where there are a lot of lakes there are likely to be saunas. If there is a Nordic community in your area there is also likely to be a sauna somewhere, and this is probably the best way to go about finding a good sauna. In the UK if you see places advertising “Sauna and Massage” they tend to really be advertising a different kind of service, and while I’ve never actually been in one, their locations seem to make actually having anything but an electrical sauna impossible. If you do manage to find a good sauna, take advantage of it, they seem to be quite rare outside Finland!

Sauna links

www.sauna.fi : The website of the Finnish Sauna Association
http://www.sauna.fi/pages/viinikk2.htm Article on health
http://www.nordicsauna.com/ Manufacturer of some of the better electrical saunas
http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=26077 Sauna for beginners
http://cankar.org/sauna/index.html General sauna site
http://www.finn-tastic.com/index.php Site selling products for use in a sauna and sauna parts