Sauna and Finland: An introduction to sauna - By: Paul Symonds

The term ’Sauna’ has actually come from the Finnish Sauna. The Finnish Sauna is Finnish steam bath. ’Sauna’ is the general term used for steam bath. A Sauna is also known as "sweathouse," or "sudatory."

Actually sauna is a specially designed small room or house to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or steam session. The steam in a sauna is usually produced by heating water. The word ’sauna’ is sometime used metaphorically to describe an unusually hot or humid weather conditions.

The word ’sauna’ is an ancient Finnish word. The etymology of the word is not clear, but it seems that the world might have been used for a ’winter dwelling’ of sauna kind. The Finnish Sauna is typical part of the Finnish culture.

Sauna for the Finnish people is a place for physical and mental relaxation. They use the place for easing with friends and family. Sauna is viewed as a thing of necessity in Finland rather than luxury. There over two million saunas in Finland.

A sauna may offer steam warmed to 80-100 degrees Celsius (176-212 degrees Fahrenheit) of temperature. The participants in a sauna session usually socialize, disrobe and sit or recline to enjoy warm steam bath. A sauna is usually designed and meant for relaxing and sweating.

A 10 to 20 minutes sauna session increases the heart rate by 50-75%. It helps ward off several heart problems. It increases the blood flow and helps to improve blood circulation in the body. It helps to increase the blood flow to the skin as high as 50-70%. The increased blood flow helps the blood vessels in skin to expand and accommodate more blood. The process is known as vasodilation that helps to bring important nutrients to subcutaneous and surface tissue, promoting cellular activity and growth.

Sauna session also helps body sweating that further helps emulsifying fat located in the skin’s sebaceous glands, and thus helps remove the sebum and bacteria lodged in the fat. Thus sauna helps enhance the development of collagen, and helps make the skin glowing, fresh, elastic, and wrinkle free.

Sauna improves the detoxifying capacity of the skin by opening pores and flushing impurities from the body. It also helps to improve the immune system of body. It is beneficial in warding off several respiratory problems, as steam inhalation is an excellent therapy for respiratory problems. Sauna also helps to kill germs, bacteria and insects, e.g. lice, on the body.

Saunas have become extremely popular all over the world, particularly in Europe and America. Most of the college/university physical education complexes, health clubs, sports centers, and gyms in North American and Western European have Saunas. Hotels of top vacation destination usually provide sauna facilities. Sometimes swimming pools also offer sauna facilities. Some people have their private saunas.

About the Author

Relaxation, sauna and health. Paul Symonds also writes for the Oriental Belly Dance site.

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