Feeling the Heat: Public Saunas Cool Again in Finland

After sauna-ing ourselves silly in Germany, one of the pressing questions nosotros had when we arrived in Finland was the existence of the mystical sauna adjacent to a frozen lake, with a hole cutting into the ice. Here'south what we learned almost Finnish sauna culture during our two-month stay.

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The first question we had about saunas when nosotros arrived in Finland was whether the sauna-plus-icy-hole-cutting-into-a-lake thing really existed. And if it did, was it for locals only? Or role of an ovepriced tour? I hateful, they wouldn't only allow tourists wander into these ridiculous 100°C > sub-zero temperature situations by themselves, right?

Correct?

Well, information technology turns out they do. I'm writing this web log having survived numerous eyeball-melting saunas followed by icy lake dips – without having a heart attack or being dragged into the inky depths past a lake monster (a very real business concern for me when it'south dark and I'm naked and helpless in a huge lake, in a strange country).

Finnish sauna tradition

Every calendar week more than five million Finns visit saunas in Finland to cleanse their bodies and souls with the help of the estrus.

Did you know that in that location are more iii million saunas in Finland? In addition to all the public saunas, at that place are also thousands of saunas in office buildings, in individual homes, and of form, merely about every vacation home has one. The warmth of the sauna feels wonderful subsequently an active 24-hour interval exterior in nature. It also seems to be very good for your digestion and sleep.

Sauna lifestyle

In Republic of finland, a sauna isn't something you lot care for yourself to one time or twice a year, equally information technology may exist for other countries. Finnish sauna culture is a fashion of life. It means cleansing and boosting yourself physically and mentally, and letting become of everything for a while (including your dress).

Although the Finns are generally known for being quiet, they exercise talk in the sauna. Businessmen and politicians go to the sauna together, and you tin can even think of the Finnish sauna as the ultimate place to make business organisation deals, because you literally get closer to each other. Information technology'south frequently said that all the best decisions are fabricated in the sauna.

I asked ane of my friends in Helsinki, Pinja Virtanen, to weigh in on the sauna lifestyle (and fact check this article – thanks Pinja!). Although saunas are still as popular equally always, she feels sauna culture has changed, and continues to change for the younger generations. Younger people tend to utilize their private saunas for relaxing and fifty-fifty meditating, rather than socializing:-

"My belatedly granddad was a career political leader and the one-time wooden sauna at my family'due south summer cottage apparently served as a backdrop to many meaning political agreements. These days, though, we warm up the aforementioned sauna to relax and sweat there quietly without much political contend."

The origin of Finnish sauna culture

Information technology'southward a popular belief that sauna tradition originated in Republic of finland. But the history of saunas crosses many continents and dates dorsum centuries – so we'll never know for sure who discovered this nirvana of relaxing heat and steam.

In winters that can see temperatures plummet beneath -thirty°C, the Finnish sauna culture was likewise an important part of surviving winters. Finnish women dorsum in the "olden days" ever gave nascency in saunas due to it beingness a warm and sterile environment.

What to do (and what non to do!) when you lot're at the sauna

For Finns, a sauna is nigh a sacred place – a place where you should deport reverently. Information technology'south a bit like existence in church. Only anybody is naked.

Saunas have numerous rules of etiquette surrounding them. Clothed, unclothed, who gets to cascade the water on the coals, talking or no talking, etc. So the post-obit should generally be observed during a sauna visit.

In most saunas, clothing and swimwear is not allowed. This is mainly for hygiene reasons. A towel is sometimes okay. When inbound the sauna, you need to cleanse and shower. This is usually done with a thorough wash using water, soap, and shampoo in showers that are provided.

Later on your shower, you can take a seat in the sauna room.

Recall not to stare! If you've never been in a modest, sweaty space with a bunch of naked strangers of varying shapes, sizes, and ages, your first sauna can be a bit unnerving. Just be chill, and recollect why you came to the sauna in the first place.

Look the boilerplate temperature in the sauna to be nearly 80°C to 100°C. The Finns don't mess around with the heat hither.

After about ten-20 minutes, your heart will offset chirapsia noticeably faster as your body tries to keep you alive, your skin will showtime to feel like it'southward purging 20 years of coffee and pizza from your organisation, and you lot'll find that you (and anybody else) is sweating like crazy. Are you about to dice? Who knows! Stay with me here, nosotros haven't got to the proficient part.

When yous feel you've had all the heat yous can handle, and your eyeballs can't accept it anymore – information technology's time to go exterior and absurd down.

True Finns cool off by taking a refreshing dip in an ice hole ("avanto" in Finnish) or past rolling effectually in the snow, but nigh public saunas offer a cold shower or a slightly less cold pool. In the summer, the lakes aren't as cold – but pond afterward your sauna is a good combo at whatsoever fourth dimension of the yr.

Cooling down properly is an important of the sauna process. Information technology not only provides the fresh, invigorating feeling that your body will be craving right about now, simply it's also benign for your blood circulation and your body's resistance and recovery process.

Many Finns take a beer or ii with them to refresh and hydrate afterwards a sauna – or in betwixt sauna sessions. At i local sauna they even had a BBQ outside where you could pay a couple of Euros and stand around in the snowfall eating pipage hot sausages with bread and ketchup. Genius! Be prepared and stash a cold beer in your purse when you lot go. You can thank me afterward.

If yous don't experience fully relaxed after your sauna session, start from scratch and repeat the procedure of cleaning, heating, and cooling. A sauna session ordinarily ends with a thorough launder, followed by a soothing scrub to clean and moisturize your skin.

What to expect in the sauna – tips for beginners

Friendly locals will try to talk to y'all in the sauna while your eyes and lips are on the brink of catching fire.
Friendly locals will laugh at yous while yous scream and hurl obscenities at the gods equally you descend into the icy lake
If you lot were paying attention in school, yous'll know that higher you go inside a sauna, the hotter it gets. If you're nervous virtually the heat, always sit down on the lowest seat in the sauna, closest to the door.
Sauna boards – this a barrel-sized piece of thin board used as a bulwark betwixt you and the very sweaty sauna bench. You rinse it subsequently use and hang it upward for the next person to utilise.
Sauna shoes – bring your own to make the sub-zero walk to the lake more than pleasant on your feet. Some saunas have loan shoes you tin employ.This is the only time I accept always had to wear Crocs. I will carry this shame with me forever.
Sauna beer – we kept forgetting to bring any, but it'southward common to take an icy cold beer with your sauna session.
Oddly shaped hats – yep, even at boiling indicate inside the sauna, in that location are people wearing wool hats. These are used to protect the scalp and ears from estrus, and they also help to regulate body temperature.

Health benefits of Finnish saunas

Fancy sitting in the sauna later on working out? Bliss! X minutes in a sauna cabin is enough to repair all those small musculus tears. So it's ideal after your daily run or force training. Information technology'south also great all-over trunk therapy for better resistance, deeper sleep, and healthier skin.

The intense sauna rut raises your trunk temperature to about 39°C, and raises your heart charge per unit. This makes yous super sweaty, which ensures waste matter products are eliminated from your torso.

The estrus too causes your blood vessels to open up further. This means that more than blood flows through your organs, and also through the pare. Your skin is better nourished this style. And because you sweat so much, your skin receives a thorough maintenance and cleansing session.

Regular use of the sauna also improves your resistance. Due to the large temperature differences between the sauna and the outside air (or the common cold shower, or the insanely frozen lake), your torso becomes less susceptible to temperature change. This ways your trunk can develop improve resistance against seasonal illnesses such every bit the flu. It'southward sometimes claimed that sauna utilize also accelerates the healing process for colds and flu symptoms.

I saw a tiny, aboriginal, raisin of a lady going happily back and forrard from the lake to the sauna. She was outswimming and outsweating everybody. She looked healthy, strong, and had a contagious, beaming grin the whole time. I compared my pathetic moaning about the cold to her fearlessness, and admired her ability to stay in the h2o and sauna longer than people half her age. She was immediately my hero. Sauna ability, yo!

While 'saunas are for everyone!' is my personal battle cry, the sauna is not an endurance test similar some people seem to retrieve. Ten minutes for ane person might simply be 30 seconds for you, and that'due south okay. Leave the room when you experience that the heat is getting too much for you.

And e'er cheque with your doctor first if you have medical weather condition that may make yous sensitive to extreme heat and cold.

6 unique types of sauna experiences to try in Finland

A sauna on the edge of a lake
Republic of finland has a lot of lakes, and so most Finnish saunas have a big or minor lake nearby. Later a while in the hot sauna, a dip in the cool water is a great boost.

A floating sauna
This sauna is located on a wooden raft that floats on the Gulf of Bothnia, which separates Republic of finland and Sweden. It's a unique location, and a sauna where live bands occasionally play while you're relaxing.

Sauna yoga
In the blissful warmth of a sauna, y'all perform guided yoga exercises that are peculiarly adapted for the sauna environment. A fleck similar Bikram, but not as creepy.

A sauna in a eatery or on a Ferris bike
Sweating in an absurd place is possible! In the capital letter Helsinki, among other places, you will find both a Burger King eatery and a ferris wheel where you lot tin can rent a sauna cabin. (The ferris bike is totally on my listing for next time.)

A sauna motorcoach
Yep – you read that correct. A sauna on a coach. With the sauna bus, you can cross Finland while enjoying a toasty warm sauna. Ideal for long journeys!

A sauna where you can experience an infusion ritual
In some saunas, water is poured onto hot stones with natural oils, causing the sauna to fill with fragrant steam.

Amazing Finnish sauna civilization experiences

A Finnish smoke sauna in Helsinki
A sauna in Nuukso National Park
A traditional Finnish firewood sauna
A local sauna plus expert training in the Tummo animate technique
Finnish sauna and swimming in Rovaniemi
Sauna, swimming, and Northern Lights feel

Finland'southward sauna festival

If yous like festivals, the mobile sauna festival in Finland is definitely something you want to experience. Information technology started in 2006 with 18 crazy mobile saunas.

Yous can now visit this festival and come across almost 50 unique saunas. It's held in Teuva in western Finland. Two rules apply during the festival – the sauna must be mobile, and have infinite for at least one person. Other than that, the sauna builders are left to their own wild creative imaginations to run into what they tin can build.

Useful Finnish sauna terms

Löyly – the steam produced from tipping water onto the hot sauna rocks. This is a Finnish word that used to also mean 'soul' or 'spirit' but these days is exclusively used to mean 'sauna steam'.

Kiuas – the sauna stove

Vihta – a bunch of fragrant, dried birch leaves. You lot can often see these for sale at the markets. They are used to gently whip the trunk in the sauna to improve circulation and move the heat around.

Avanto – the pond hole cut into lake water ice

Saunatonttu – the elf-like spirit believed to inhabit the sauna

Recommended saunas to visit in Republic of finland

Arlan public sauna – Helsinki

The Arlan Public Sauna is one of the oldest public saunas in Helsinki. It was congenital in 1929 and is nevertheless hugely popular. The sauna offers traditional birch twigs for visitors to (gently) beat themselves with in order to improve circulation. Equally a public sauna, it has a casual and laid-back atmosphere – dissimilar well-nigh of the individual spas. It'south a good place to relax and experience an authentic Finnish sauna.

Visit the Arlan sauna here

Rauhalahti fume sauna – Kuopio

We went to Kuopio to run into Finnish merry-metal band Reckless Love playing live (twice. Don't guess me!) If you come up here for any reason, make sure you check out this sauna in the central metropolis. The Rauhalahti Smoke Sauna is the world's largest smoke sauna. It also has a eating house and spa in the complex. If you're wandering around fundamental Finland and looking for a more traditional sauna experience, the countryside location gives y'all a much more natural, rustic setting than saunas in Helsinki.

Visit the Rauhalahti sauna here

Kesän floating sauna – Oulu

In Oulu (our tertiary fourth dimension seeing a Reckless Love gig…) nosotros checked out the famous floating Kesän sauna – a small wooden raft with a sauna on it that takes visitors for an ocean voyage in the Gulf of Bothnia off the coast between Finland and Sweden. Information technology's a unisex sauna, and it's merely open during summer.

Visit the Kesän sauna here

Rauhaniemi sauna – Tampere

Our last stop in Republic of finland was Tampere, and we were excited to notice out that in that location were several public saunas. Two of these saunas are shut together on the shores of Lake Näsijärvi, a 20 minute double-decker ride from the city centre, and these are our choice to visit.

Rauhaniemi is a public sauna, with ii sauna rooms of varying sizes. It is an quondam complex dating back to 1929, then it feels like you lot're getting the existent deal when yous come here to sauna.

Visit the Rauhaniemi sauna here

Kaupinojan sauna – Tampere

When we arrived at this sauna, 1 of the locals took us bated – he couldn't assistance but find that we were:

a) foreigners; and
b) standing by the very large, frozen lake looking terrified

His instructions were to shower, sauna, stand around outside for a minute or so, take a dip in the lake, shower, and then go back to the sauna. Repeat until you're suitably invigorated. This method helps to ease the body into the extremes of hot and cold that are about to happen to information technology.

If you take into account that the sauna temperature is around 100°C and the exterior temperature can easily be -20°C or below, your body will appreciate any slight adjustments in your sauna routine to make things easier.

Kaupinojan was my choice of the Tampere saunas. Information technology was clean, it has loan shoes and so you tin walk from the sauna to the lake in relative comfort, and it has an outside sausage grill. You tin bring your own sausages or buy them at the door. Information technology was one of those weird and wonderful life experiences to stand around in -25°C wearing a bikini and enjoying a toasty warm snack.

Visit the Kaupinojan sauna hither

Warming upwardly at Kaupinojan (with sausage #ii) afterwards a lake swim

My last thoughts on sauna civilisation in Republic of finland

I initially wanted to feel Finnish sauna culture to tell everyone I did the thing. Y'all know, the part where yous horrify your New Zealand family, gain other sauna-loving friends, and go a bunch of weird looks at social gatherings past sharing your decease-defying and nude icy escapades.

Just saunas helped me gain a new appreciation of my body and its capabilities. When you lot sauna and swim you'll take many moments where you'll be marvelling at your ain mysterious inner human workings for beingness able to survive such massive extremes of temperature in a curt space of time, while still managing to feel glowing and magnificent subsequently.

It's also a very torso-positive activity. If you're a bit low in the self-esteem department, and the thought of sweating away in a tiny room amidst tightly-packed strangers makes you anxious, and so honestly, this could be only the thing for you. All ages, shapes, and sizes volition be sweating away alongside you. Nobody cares about your cellulite, saggy boobs, or poochy belly. Nobody. Information technology's very levelling, and very human. And I guarantee you'll feel a lot more comfy virtually your own size and shape afterwards.

A Finnish sauna is a cultural experience at its finest, and when you visit, you'll find the locals are very happy to talk to you near their rich sauna traditions.

rachael freelance copywriter digital nomad taco and bean

Author bio
Rachael is a full-fourth dimension digital nomad and freelance copywriter for B2B and SaaS companies. She's worked with brands like Unbounce, Biteable, Datacom, Viddyoze, and Owler.

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