Finnish Sauna Culture
My roots are from Finland. And even though I’m born and raised in Sweden I have at least some of the Finnish traditions embedded in me. Like the culture of sauna.
If you don´t know what sauna is its like a small hothouse, where the interior is decorated with wood. In the house or the sauna room a heater with rocks get heated up to 650-800 degrees Celsius.
The optimal sauna temperature is some where between 70 – 100 degrees Celsius.
The cultural importance of sauna
Historically sauna was a Saturday thing. After a long week of hard work everyone went to sauna to do a deep clean and clean of the week’s work dust. But the sauna is more than just a place to clean your body, and ever since the first Sauna was invented it has been a place of both birth and healing.
The oldest saunas in Finland are over 10 000 years old and in the year 2020 UNESCO added sauna to the list of important intangible cultural heritage.
A traditional healer treating a woman in sauna in the year 1932
How to Sauna
One of the most important steps is to wash your self BEFORE you go into the sauna. After washing yourself thoroughly with water and soap you may enter the heated sauna. Bring a small towel with you, this towel will be used to sit on.
In the sauna the benches are usually built in different levels and depending on your preferred amount of heat you can choose where to sit. The lowest level is the coolest one and the top one is the hottest. It´s also good to remember that the heat generated from the water thrown on the rocks (löyly) usually travels in one direction. This means that if you are the first one to get the heat it will be hotter than if you are the last one getting the heat.
Place your little towel on your chosen place and sit down.
I don´t know what exactly is going on in this drawing by C.P. Elfström from 1808, but try to avoid to Sauna like this
Sauna is a quiet place, a contemplative place and you do not only clean your body here but also your mind. Sauna is a place where you get grounded to the earth once again.
Many problems have been solved in a sauna and many difficult discussions have calmly been solved here. Sauna is there for not only a place to cleanse your body, but a place for purity and peace. Respect this.
Precautions
If you start to feel dizzy or uncomfortable you should get out of the sauna. Also remember to drink water to re hydrate yourself after the fluid loss you experience while sweating.
When you get out of the sauna you can take a nice shower or, if the sauna is by the sea – take a swim! The contrast between the hot sauna and the cold water is invigorating and many Finns swim in the sea all year around!
Winter bathers in Finland in the 1950s-1960s
Nakedness in sauna culture
Nakedness is viewed as a natural thing and to be fully naked in a sauna is normal and even seen as the norm. Especially if you are going to your own private sauna with family or relatives.
In public saunas you sometimes use swimwear and in public mixed saunas you probably definitely should. There are no underlying sexual connotations with the nakedness that occurs in sauna.
Finnish men enjoying sauna in the year 1937
The do´s and don´ts of sauna – Sauna etiquette
There are some rules to how to use the sauna.
- wash your self thoroughly before entering the sauna.
- enter the sauna quickly and close the door. This will keep the heat inside.
- be calm. Respect that sauna is a contemplative place. Enter with calm energy and keep the calm energy.
- be silent or if you have to talk, talk with a low soft voice. Respect that others may want to enjoy the sauna in silence.
- ask before you throw water on the rocks (löyly) and refill the bucket if it´s empty.
- you may exit and enter the sauna as many times you wish. Some enjoy a shower or a swim in the sea and then return to the sauna again.
- after sauna you shower and clean your self properly.
- do absolutely not bring your phone.
Thats it! I hope you get to experience a Finnish sauna at least once in your lifetime. It is very relaxing and you really feel cleaner both mentally and bodily.
If you have encountered an amazing sauna somewhere – let me know! I´m always grateful for ideas and tips 🙂
xoxo/Salla V
