Sauna 101

So, last night I had my first Finnish sauna experience. In case you ever find yourself in a Finnish sauna situation, here is a guide to help you fit in.

First, change into your sauna towel.

Next, take a quick shower.  The water at this point is warm and the goal is to just rinse off. Apparently, you want to wash off anything bad on your body that could "grow" in the hot sauna. At least that it was I was told. Ew.

Enter the sauna!  Take your towel with you but it really only serves as something to sit on, as everyone is au naturelle.  There are no body issues here.  The point is to cleanse the body and soul, through sweat and meditation.  No one has time for, or is interested in, your hangups about your body.

In other words, I hung out in the sauna, au naturelle, with women from Estonia, the Netherlands, China, Japan and France.  We talked about everything you can imagine: what we were all doing in Finland, how long we were staying, our favorite items at breakfast, how being cold all day is okay because there is always a sauna waiting for you.  Perfectly normal, easy conversation.....completely naked. Good times.

It is warm.  Actually, it is HOT!  Every few minutes someone pours water over the heating element to generate steam.  It feels amazing! The temperature ranges form 60-80 Celsius or 140-176 Fahrenheit.  They tell me that in some saunas the temperature can rise to 100 C or 212 F.  As my friend Paul remarked in astonishment, "I bake custard at that temperature!". Call me Custard.

So, after cooking for about 15 minutes, you get up, go back to the shower and jump right in.....with cold water.  It is all about extremes.  You go from hot to cold without any time to process it or wonder who thought this was a good idea.  It still feels amazing.

After your little shower, you put your towel back on, get your bottle of water, put on your flip-flops and walk out the the common area to sit for a bit.....with other people in their towels.  In this area, the men can join you from their sauna as well. Also, in their towels. So, at this point, I'm hanging out with a Dutch woman, and Estonia woman, a Serbian man and a Swedish man eating cookies.  All in towels. More good times.

After about 10 minutes of this, you repeat the whole process all over again about 2-3 more times.  When you go to sauna, make sure you block out a few hours. And bring cookies.

I must confess, I really enjoyed this experience.  Everyone was so relaxed and just doing their thing.  And, it was okay to be social and talk or to just sit quietly and meditate and reflect on your day.  I have also been rather congested for the past week and 15 minutes in the sauna did more for my symptoms than all the cough drops and syrup you can imagine.

Note to self: must build sauna in home upon return.