Monday 12 March 2012

The Finnish Sauna

When people ask me what do I love the most in Finland, I have three words to say: “Revontulet” (or Northern lights), “Pulla” (typical Finnish pastries) and “Sauna”. Of course I definitely love the stunning beauty of Lapland´s different seasons, mostly winter, plenty, plenty of snow, and many other things, but those 3 small details always make my day.

People, especially Finnish, are very shocked when I say I love sauna, because I come from a very warm place (Barcelona!) where the last thing you would think about is to get into a closed hot room. If you want to sweat, you just have to wait for summer and you will sweat every minute of the day and night. But sauna is different. Sauna is not about sweating, is a place to rest your body and your spirit. It is a tradition in Finland, every home has a sauna and from children to grandparents, everybody uses it.

It is important, nonetheless, always to take some precautions: you need fresh water close to don’t dehydrate yourself; if you feel it’s starting to become hard for you to stay on the sauna, go out and refresh a bit if you will stay longer; and don’t do any efforts inside, just relax.

To be honest, the first sauna is often overwhelming. It is hard to stay in such a hot and small place, especially for not very open minded people. But you should not give up, no way! Because when you get used to it, it becomes the best part of the day, you feel how your muscles relax and your skin is cleaned and you just let your mind fly away somewhere. Be careful, because sometimes it flies so away you can fall sleep! But, afterwards, you really feel like heaven.

Traditionally Finns have some branches of young birch tied together in a whisk they call “vasta” that use to hit gently on the skin. It helps the skin to “open” and be better cleaned. Personally I have never used one of those, but what I love to do while saunabathing is something most people think is crazy: I just LOVE to run to the snow and jump on it and then return fast to the sauna. Believe me when I say it feels great!


There is something more which is traditional for Finns and that most of the foreigners can’t really do. Finnish people go to the sauna naked, because it is place to clean your body and spirit, where nothing else matters. I’ve been living quite a long time on a dormitory where there was only international students, and most of them could not “deal with it”, and keep going with swimsuit and feel embarrassed to look at the rest of the people. In that cases I use a Spanish idiom that says “Allá dónde fueres, haz lo que vieres”, what means you have to embrace the culture of the places you visit, so in that case, don’t feel any shame!

Ester

Pictures are from Isokenkäisten Klubi, a place with five saunas, one of them a smoke sauna and one a lake side sauna, the rest electric saunas.

Thursday 1 March 2012

Sauna – The Essence of Finland

This is not only a title of a book by Keijo Taskinen (published Kirjakaari, 2011), it is the truth about Finnish sauna. Us Finns have a very special relationship to the sauna. It is a weekly routine, but also a place to retreat to and find peace of mind and physical relaxation and wellbeing. For us the sauna just needs to be hot, we know just how to enjoy the heat and the silence. A wood heated sauna has the sound of burning fire and that is very relaxing…

The book “Sauna – The Essence of Finland” presents the Finnish Sauna with its meanings and traditions and makes it understandable to foreigners. Sauna is Finnish Wellbeing, but it is by no means a spa experience. In the book our strange and very strong connection to the sauna is well described, in words and with pictures. There are for sure many surprising things you will learn about Finnish Sauna, e.g. that even dogs love it, there are concerts held in a sauna and that the sauna tradition includes also the things you do after the sauna.

Another fascinating thing is that a sauna is not a fixed, defined space, there are many, many different saunas in Finland. The mother of all saunas is the smoke sauna, the most traditional one, these exist since “the beginning of times”. Finns living abroad miss the sauna and I have heard about a tent sauna being put up on a beach in Thailand as well as in a suburb in South Africa. We are also very good at reinventing the sauna, time and again. The ice saunas have become quite popular and it is a surreal experience to have a hot bath in a building made of cold crystal clear ice.

Picture is from Isokenkäisten Klubi Seven Stars Smoke Sauna
The Finnish Sauna is a way too wide and important thing to write only one entry about. Therefore we will share a series of sauna experiences with you, reflecting on how Finns and foreigners feel about the sauna. You are most welcome to share your sauna experiences and thoughts, comment and ask questions!