Finnish Sauna
Articles with information on Finnish sauna bathing etiquette and customs, and building a Finnish sauna cabin.The Finnish sauna gets its name from the fact that it originated in Finland, where almost every family owns and uses one. The Finnish sauna is an ideal means of relaxation, but in Finland it is also a means of familial and social bonding. It serves as a communal meeting-place, since almost everyone in that land uses a sauna at some time during the day. The traditional way of using a Finnish sauna (or ‘kylpy’, as the Finns call it) is to strip, shower and enter the sauna room. This room contains steam that has temperatures ranging from 70°C to over 100 °C. Benches line the sauna room and users sit on these, absorbing the heated steam. The skin’s pores open up during the sweating process, ridding the body of accumulated toxins and providing deep muscular relaxation.
Unlike the technology-based saunas that the West uses these days, the Finnish sauna uses steam generated by throwing water over heated stones within the sauna room. The produced steam is invisible yet effective, and the hot stones add to the room’s heat. One does not use the Finnish sauna for long periods at a time, but exits the sauna room to rinse the body in cold water. Thereafter, the user spends a while cooling off outside before entering again. A typical Finnish sauna session also includes rounds of beer and food delicacies during the process.
Finnish saunas form a part of almost every Finnish home. Apartment projects may feature a communal sauna. The corporate sauna is an important part of Finnish business hospitality and visitors usually share a session in these with the people they are meeting. Even the Finnish parliament features a sauna. Partaking of a genuine Finnish sauna is also a preferred activity for tourists traveling through the country. In Finland, the concept of a public sauna may also include paid sexual services. Overall, a strict set of etiquette rules over the Finnish sauna culture.
In the West, the Finnish sauna is more of a luxury than a necessity. Modern variants of the original provide most of the benefits of a Finnish sauna, and are far more serviceable. However, owning a genuine Finnish sauna is a major status symbol. Nor can modern, compact sauna types match the overall atmosphere available in such a setting. It is possible to modify the concept of a Finnish sauna and adapt it for use in a standalone property such as a country cottage, hunting lodge or bungalow. The process of heating stones and creating steam by dousing them with water may not always be feasible and certain compromises are often called for. However, the feel and culture of a Finnish sauna is replicable to near exactness if the homeowner is willing to invest in a separate wooden structure to house such a unit.
Users of Finnish saunas – or any kind of sauna for that matter – must be knowledgeable about certain precautions. For instance, it is highly inadvisable to use a sauna while deeply intoxicated on alcohol or recreational drugs. The heated steam acts as a soporific and causes significant change sin breathing and other metabolic patterns, too. In the social context, people who use saunas together do not follow any kind of social or corporate hierarchy while using a Finnish sauna. People suffering from heart disorders or certain types of skin ailments must also consult their physicians before using any kind of sauna.
Unlike the technology-based saunas that the West uses these days, the Finnish sauna uses steam generated by throwing water over heated stones within the sauna room. The produced steam is invisible yet effective, and the hot stones add to the room’s heat. One does not use the Finnish sauna for long periods at a time, but exits the sauna room to rinse the body in cold water. Thereafter, the user spends a while cooling off outside before entering again. A typical Finnish sauna session also includes rounds of beer and food delicacies during the process.
Finnish saunas form a part of almost every Finnish home. Apartment projects may feature a communal sauna. The corporate sauna is an important part of Finnish business hospitality and visitors usually share a session in these with the people they are meeting. Even the Finnish parliament features a sauna. Partaking of a genuine Finnish sauna is also a preferred activity for tourists traveling through the country. In Finland, the concept of a public sauna may also include paid sexual services. Overall, a strict set of etiquette rules over the Finnish sauna culture.
In the West, the Finnish sauna is more of a luxury than a necessity. Modern variants of the original provide most of the benefits of a Finnish sauna, and are far more serviceable. However, owning a genuine Finnish sauna is a major status symbol. Nor can modern, compact sauna types match the overall atmosphere available in such a setting. It is possible to modify the concept of a Finnish sauna and adapt it for use in a standalone property such as a country cottage, hunting lodge or bungalow. The process of heating stones and creating steam by dousing them with water may not always be feasible and certain compromises are often called for. However, the feel and culture of a Finnish sauna is replicable to near exactness if the homeowner is willing to invest in a separate wooden structure to house such a unit.
Users of Finnish saunas – or any kind of sauna for that matter – must be knowledgeable about certain precautions. For instance, it is highly inadvisable to use a sauna while deeply intoxicated on alcohol or recreational drugs. The heated steam acts as a soporific and causes significant change sin breathing and other metabolic patterns, too. In the social context, people who use saunas together do not follow any kind of social or corporate hierarchy while using a Finnish sauna. People suffering from heart disorders or certain types of skin ailments must also consult their physicians before using any kind of sauna.
The 1000-year History of the Finnish Sauna
The Finnish sauna is still the center of Finnish life as it has been for a millennium. The history of the sauna, from smoke saunas to the modern infrared sauna.
Build A Finnish Sauna Cabin in Your Backyard
How to build a traditional Finnish sauna cabin from a kit. There are several designs to choose from and each sauna cabin can be assembled with a few simple tools. No framing or insulating is required.
Finnish Sauna Etiquette And Customs
How to take a traditional sauna the way the Finns do.
How to Bathe in a Finnish Sauna?
There is no one right way to take a sauna. Above all you should be in good company, so that you can enjoy the experience in peace. Beginning users should use the sauna judiciously to start. As long as you feel comfortable, you may stay in the sauna, or repeat a hot-cold cycle as often as you wish.