It’s sauna time
First, let’s get the proper pronunciation out of the way. It’s a sau-na, not a saw-na. The -au is pronounced like owwwww, that sound you make when you stub your toe!
“Sauna” is one of the few Finnish words to be well-known in the English language. A sauna is a Finnish steam bath. This cleansing ritual, a beloved Finnish tradition, is all about the sweat.
A sauna is a log or wood-paneled small room or freestanding building with a wood-fired stove, though most modern-day stoves are electric or gas-powered. The stove is topped with palm-sized, smooth stones (Lake Superior stones work great) so as the stove heats up the stones retain the heat like hot coals. Sauna-goers then ladle cool water over the stones, which creates the wonderful steam (loyly).
Saunas are hot, and how hot is a matter of personal preference. Typically saunas are heated to 150-200 degrees Fahrenheit. Finns always sauna in the nude with family and same-sex friends. Yes, groups of naked men (and women) sit in saunas together! In mixed company towels can be used but for the best sauna experience, throw modesty out the window! Being naked is best.
The common sauna ritual is to take a warm shower before entering the sauna to wash the dirt from your body and open your pores. This allows your skin to fully breathe and sweat out impurities in the sauna steam. After 10-15 minutes, a cold shower or dip in a lake offers a refreshing jolt, similar to the Scandinavian tradition of swimming in icy lakes. Many prefer to then return to the sauna for more steam and repeat this pattern several times.
Finns are not big talkers so sauna conversations are minimal. Eating and drinking (other than water) is a no-no. It’s more of a shared meditative experience in a hot, dark room. For thousands of years, Finns have bathed in a sauna, which some consider the holiest room in the house and the one most closely associated with their wellbeing. With a population of 5.5 million, Finland is estimated to have close to 3.5 million saunas! In Helsinki, you can watch an ice hockey game from the warmth of a stadium sauna box. Even diplomatic negotiations with Finland often occur in a sauna.
Smoke saunas are also an option. The smoke clears through a small hole in the ceiling before you enter, rather than through a chimney. You can still smell the smoke but you do not see it or feel it in your eyes.
Pine scents or real pine or birch boughs are often used in the sauna to gently beat the skin and add a boreal scent to the air. Breathing in deeply opens the lungs.
I find saunas to be exhilerating and very cleansing in all seasons of the year, even on the hottest of summer days. Your mind clears, muscles relax and tension melts away. Those Finns are definitely on to something.
