About sauna

Have you ever felt the warmth of the sauna revitalizing your mind, body and soul? Does experience of sauna attracts you and you know benefits that time spent in this warm room bring? There are different types of saunas, but the most common are Finnish ones, known for more than thousand years. Other Scandinavian and Baltic people know benefits of sauna, while Turkish people outspread Hammam, the wet sauna or steam bath. However, Finnish people brought sauna to all parts of the world, even to Sinai.

What is a sauna?

Word ‘sauna’ comes from Finnish language and means ‘wooden room’. The temperature inside is between 70 and 100°C. A sauna can be part of the bathroom or house. Often, in Finland it is a cottage near the lake. Visiting sauna, warming the body, then cooling in the shower, in the pool or in the lake, once a week, with the aim of preserving the health and strengthening the organism. In Scandinavian and Baltic countries sauna has social and spiritual value. Moreover, science proves benefits of the sauna for health.

Different types of sauna

There are different types of saunas, which differ according to their origin and type. The most popular sauna is the Finnish type of sauna, wooden room, very dry with high temperature. The traditional Finnish sauna is dimly lit, there are no smells except fresh birch and natural tar. The ideal temperature for traditional Finnish sauna is higher than 70° C measured where a person is sitting. Throwing some water on the heated rocks controls humidity in the sauna.

Totally different, in the Turkish bath or steam sauna the humidity level is 100% and the temperature is lower than in a traditional Finnish sauna. The benches are usually on one level and the temperature is controlled by a thermostat reaching from 40 to 60° C. Smell of essential oils has a healing and relaxing effect. High level of steam stimulates sweating and hydrates the skin. As Finnish people bring sauna all over the world, as Turkish people or travelers who meet sauna in the country of origin, make steam sauna popular almost everywhere.

Types of sauna differ according to heating. Traditional Finnish saunas are wood burning or smoke saunas. Modern sauna is electrically heated, while Turkish sauna is steam room. Sauna with infrared technology that warms the body from the inside has an origin in America.

Long history

History of Finnish sauna is thousand years old, but first written evidence comes from the 12th century. Sauna has an important role in Finnish everyday life as a part of socialization, ritual, tradition and beliefs. According to scientific research, sauna prevents heart diseases and dementia, also has a beneficial effect on the skin, reduces stress, stimulates weight loss and detoxification. Don’t forget, there are rules of behavior in the sauna, recommendations, and warnings for use with the aim of improving sauna experience for its users.