As you might guess from his ayurvedic experience, John is not a sauna person. Or, at least he thought he wasn’t – he’d never tried one before. (Turns out he was right.) Laurel, on the other hand, has longed to be a sauna person, but has never managed to succeed. So we decided we’d better put ourselves in the hands of the experts. The Finns invented the idea of the sauna, several thousand years ago – we figure they’ve worked out the kinks by now. (Get it?)
A few details about sauna culture before we get steamy: sauna traditions seem to be very old indeed – perhaps as early as fire? – but the earliest attestation is in the 12th century. The experience is very much linked to Finnish culture. Most families outside of larger cities have their own, and build them even before they build homes. Up to the end of the 19th century, most Finns were born in a sauna, and families often spend time together in the sauna. At least until the teenagers stop wanting to hang out with their parents (some things are universal). Despite the nudity, sauna is not sexual. Public saunas usually divide men and women, and one sometimes wears a bathing suit. But in private saunas, everything hangs out.
We’ve been told that one should behave in a sauna as one behaves in church, i.e., quiet and respectful. But we’ve also seen Finns chatting away in the sauna (usually pretty quietly, though, and to people they know). It is courteous to end a conversation when someone else enters the sauna, because these are places of relaxation.
Rocks are heated, or wood is burned, to heat up a darkened wooden room to a temperature of 80–110 °C/176–230 °F. We know from being honorary physicists that heat rises; the higher on the benches you sit the warmer it gets. There are also smoke saunas, which have no chimney to ventilate (and so the temperature is higher). You begin with a shower, and then in you go. The cycle goes like this: stew for 10-15 minutes, until you can’t take it. Get out and jump into a cold pool, staying in there for as long as you can stand it. Then sit, usually in a towel, to lower your body temperature. Then begin again. The whole process can be a fairly short one – two cycles, say, running about half an hour, or can take many hours.
In order to increase circulation, sauna-goers sometimes beat one another with branches of silver birch (the vihta); this is also reputed to help with mosquito bites. And pouring of water onto hot stones creates löyly, steam, which also temporarily increases heat . Sauna is reputed to have many therapeutic and hygienic effects, including cardiovascular, stress reduction, pain reduction, and even weight loss. We don’t know about any of that, but it sure is relaxing.
Now: to our experience. We went to Löyly, located right along the Baltic coast, because it allows men and women to sauna together. (John wasn’t about to allow Laurel to sneak off after what happened in India!) It was utterly lovely, with steam and smoke saunas. And the experience was fantastic! At least for Laurel. Super-relaxing, with a couple of nice Finnish women who helped her figure out what to do when. John still doesn’t like being sweaty. Very much recommended.
It turns out that what Laurel didn’t like about sauna in the past was not about sauna at all, but about her life. She used to find it difficult to sit quietly in a dark room, or to sit still at all. She worried about that one email or how much time she had until the next thing. Great news: being retired has drastically cut down on the number of emails, most of which go unanswered anyway. And a typical day includes appointments only for lunch and dinner, both at negotiable times. So she loved it! Including, yes, jumping into the Baltic (55°C/12°F) and paddling around a bit. She even had the pleasant feeling of floating, which many sauna fans cite as a sign that you have correctly performed the complex calculations of increasing and decreasing body temperature.
There’s also good news for John: Löyly has a lovely restaurant and bar, where he retired after a couple of cycles. And – good news for us both – one is typically starving after a sauna, and beer and sausages are the usual remedy.
