Last modified 15.3.2011 at 13:19

A place for sweat and nudity

Text: Laura Myllykoski Photo: Milan Kolarovic

Finland is the proud home country for over two million saunas so I guess it is unnecessary to say that Finns like their cultural speciality. For Finns a sauna isn't a luxury but a necessity and almost every household has its own sauna.

An old Finnish proverb says that if booze, tar or sauna doesn't help the illness is fatal. Sauna is one part of Finnish national identity and it can be found even in the Parliament. So when you come to stay in Finland for a bit longer period of time you will probably get an invitation to the sauna.

A Finnish sauna is a small room or house designed as a place to experience heat sessions. Finns have had saunas for hundreds of years and they have always used it for bathing but also for example to child-birth and washing the dead since the environment is almost sterile.

In such a cold climate the sauna allows people to feel the warmth, or should I say the hotness, even in the middle of winter. Though going to the sauna is as popular in summer as it is in winter.

Total pornography?

People usually go to the sauna naked at least when they are bathing with the family. Families also usually bathe together regardless of the gender but for example swimming halls have separate saunas for men and women. Some people also wear a towel or such when going for example to a public sauna.

The conventions concerning different sexes and nudity when going to the sauna vary according to the situation and the people. Even though the possible mixed gender nudity the sauna is a completely asexual place and it is considered extremely indecent to act otherwise. In Finland the word sauna means only sauna, not a brothel, sex club, or such.

Because of the Finnish sauna culture nudity is not considered a great taboo in the Finnish culture. For example the Finnish Board of Film Classification has agreed that the amount of nudity in a movie doesn't really have an effect on the age limit of the film.

Wellness for mind and body

For Finns the sauna is a place for relaxation and sometimes even for a social gathering. It is common to arrange so called sauna nights that include social interaction, snacks, drinks and of course going to the sauna. Sometimes people continue from a sauna night to the bars. Drinking a beer or two after sauna is also a widely appreciated habit.

The lightning in saunas is dim and the temperature is usually between 70°C and 110°C. Even though it is a fact that people burn more calories during a sauna session than just by sitting in front of a television the Finnish sauna is not intended for weight loss, actually it predates all this kind of ideas. Sauna is not a form of exercise either although it increases one’s heart rate and promotes sweating. But according to a Finnish lore the human body is the most beautiful thirty minutes after a sauna session.

Sauna-dictionary

Kiuas: Kind of a stove that contains stones which are heated with wood, electricity or such to generate the hot atmosphere of sauna. Sauna-goers throw water on to the stones to generate steam and increase the humidity and heat of the sauna.

Löyly: Loosely translated it means the heat of the sauna room and especially the heat that generates when water is thrown on the hot stones of kiuas.

Vihta / vasta: A tied bundle of birch branches that are used to whip the users skin (somewhat gently) in order to increase the blood circulation.