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Finnish Sauna Culture - Suomen Saunaseura ry Vaskiniementie 10, 00200 Helsinki Kahvio/kassa 050 372 4167 (saunojen aukioloaikana) Yhteystiedot |  Aukioloajat Etusivu Saunaseura Yhteystiedot Johtokunta ja toimikunnat Saunaseuran tarkoitus Tutkimus ja kulttuuri Säännöt ja ohjesäännöt Jäsenyys Jäsenhakemus Miten jäseneksi? Kunniajäsenet Jäsentietojen päivitys Jäsenkokoukset Syyskokous 2017 Kevätkokous 2017 Kevätkokous 2016 Syyskokous 2015 Syyskokous 2016 Kevätkokous 2015 Syyskokous 2014 Kevätkokous 2014 Saunaseuran historia Löylynhenki-palkinto Palaute Saunaseura 80 vuotta Saunan päivä – adressi: Suomalaisen saunan päivä liputuspäiväksi Suomen satavuotiaat saunat Saunatalo Vaskiniemen saunat Aukioloajat Hinnasto ja oheispalvelut Hieronta-ajan varaus Esittelysauna Saunominen ja saunatavat Sauna Unescoon Yleistä Hankkeesta Miten mukaan? Hankkeessa mukana olevat saunayhteisöt Sauna-lehti Esittely ja mediakortti Sauna-lehden vuosikerrat Saunatietoa Kiuas Vihdonta Saunakulttuuria Vienan musta kyly ”Liian myöhään saunassa” Sauna-aatteen synnystä Saunavihta Vihdantekoa mestarin ottein Vihta vai vasta? Saunavihdan laatuohje Sauna ja terveys Saunan terveysvaikutukset Lapsi saunassa ja saunomassa Sauna ja uni Saunan rakentaminen ja käyttö Saunan paloturvallisuus Saunojen seitsemän sukupolvea Saunan rakennevaatimukset Saunatilojen hygieniasta Hyvä savusauna Saunoja muualla Saunomisohjeet maahanmuuttajille Jäsensivut In English International Sauna Association The Finnish Sauna Society Membership Sauna House Information Fees Administration Services and swimming Opening hours Recommendations for sauna wits Sauna House Saunas Aino, number 1 Väinö, number 2 Louhi, number 3 Harald, number 4 Sampo, number 5 IKI-sauna Stoves Development of the Finnish Sauna Sauna with Chimney Ground Sauna Stove for Continuous Heating Other Kinds of Stoves Development of the SaunaTowersElectrical Stove Smoke Sauna Sauna Information Sauna Terminology Introduction to sweat baths Sauna and Health Sauna in Finland Today Finnish Sauna Culture A Recommended Sauna Procedure Finnish Sauna Culture — Not Just a Cliché   ”There is nothing that Finns have been so unanimous well-nigh as their sauna. This unanimity has remained unbroken for centuries and is sure to protract as long as there are children born in their native land, as long as the invitation still comes from the porch threshold in the evening twilight: ”The sauna is ready.” Maila Talvio 1871-1951   The ins and outs of a true sauna In the undertow of centuries, many nations have practised sweat bathing. In some places the practice died out, elsewhere it disappeared for a long time and was later picked up again. The Finnish sauna is moreover a sweat suffuse but of a distinctive kind. It has been influenced by both the Eastern and Western suffuse cultures but has moreover ripened some genuinely national features. The tradition of the sauna, carried on unbroken for well-nigh two thousand years, is tightly rooted in the nation’s way of life. Sauna bathing is part of the Finnish identity just as substantially as rye specie is part of the customary diet.     Age-old origins At its most primitive, the sauna was probably a pit dug into a slope, with a heap of heated stones in one corner. The dugout ripened into a four-cornered log hut with an earth floor and a chimneyless stove; this served as both a primitive dwelling and a bath. There was smoke in the room when the stove was stuff heated, but succeeding it vanished, leaving overdue a smoky smell. The smoke sauna, with some modern adaptations, is nowadays rhadamanthine quite popular again. The next step in the story of the sauna was the wing of a chimney to the stove, which was then heated just once each time; still later came a newer type of stove which could be kept hot by continuous heating.   Today the Finnish word sauna may refer to a towers or just a room with wooden walls, floor and ceiling. There is a stove, tabbed kiuas, which is heated with wood, electricity, oil or gas. The top of the stove is covered with a thick layer of natural stones, which radiate the heat to the room.   Humidity is regulated by small doses of water ladled repeatedly onto the kiuas stones. The resulting vapour, rising from the stones, is tabbed löyly. The temperature varies between 70 and 100 °C, depending on the size of the room. Bathers warming up in the hot room help perspiration by using whisks made of tender birch twigs (vihta or vasta). Warming-up is followed by washing and cooling off; arrangements for cooling off in the unshut air are welcomed.   In due undertow a dressing room and a washing room were widow to the original one-roomed sauna. Sauna suites, wontedly used by merchantry people for entertaining guests, may include other additions such as a sitting room with a fireplace. A small private summer sauna often consists only of the hot room and the dressing room. In any case, modesty and simplicity are traditionally foible of the Finnish sauna; ostentatious decoration of the facilities is out of the question.     Finland – the homeland of the sauna During the last 50 years, the number of saunas in Finland has grown threefold, from well-nigh half a million in 1938 to well-nigh 1.5 million in 1990. For a total population of just 5 million this is a numerical world record of its kind.   The origins of the sauna were rural, but it gradually became part of urban lifestyles, too. Town saunas were first built in the yard outside the living area, then inside uninfluenced and terraced houses and blocks of flats, where they would be shared by all the families living in the building. In towns they moreover wontedly had public saunas. The proverbial saying ”share your tobacco and tinderbox, but not your sauna or your woman” was ignored in those days. Today the principle seems to be regaining respect, as people like to have their private saunas built in individual flats, plane bed-sitters, with the washroom serving as the washing room.   Finns cannot manage without a sauna. Whether an immigrant, a sportsman or an exporter, a Finn will take the sauna with him wherever he goes. Finnish soldiers at war needed their baths just like others and built a dugout or tent sauna whenever possible. Finns serving in the UN peace corps have moreover attracted sustentation by towers a sauna at every wiring they end up at. In 1936, a sauna was built at the Döbernitz Olympic Village for Finnish athletes participating in the Berlin Olympic Games. The diamond was Finnish, and the venture gave publicity to the idea of the sauna in Central Europe.   A sauna is a standard element in swimming baths and sports centres, hotels, holiday centres and camping sites. Innumerable families have sauna cottages by a lake or by the sea. An enterprise wishing to maintain the image of a successful merchantry veritably must have a sauna or sauna suite of its own. Finnish boats and car ferries have long served their passengers with saunas, and plane the possibility of a train sauna is stuff investigated. The number of sauna types seems to be increasing, and the only one which has practically disappeared is the public sauna of the town.     A facility for many functions Our siblings did not use their sauna only for bathing. It was needed for drying flax, preparing malts, curing meat and for many other agricultural or domestic chores. In old times, the sauna was known as the Finnish cure or the poor man’s pharmacy. It was moreover the hospital where folk healers practised their art. They administered baths and massage, and drew blood; cupping was flipside method to suck bad thoroughbred away. The healer woman who went from house to house was a very important person; the darkness of the sauna helped her to develop a power of suggestion over her patient.   The sauna was moreover a place for performing magic, mostly to do with healing or love affairs. At Whitsuntide and Midsummer the marriageability of young women was improved by special sauna baths; the smell of herbs and birch-leaves hung in the air and the wise woman recited her spells. Sauna baths were moreover believed to be useful for improving virility.   In the countryside women usually gave lineage in the sauna. For example, our long time president Urho Kaleva Kekkonen was born in a smoke sauna in 1900.Withouta lineage the sauna was prescribed to the mother as her resting place for several weeks. There were strict rules, strongly influenced by the magic tradition, for the baby’s first bath. This was administered by the woman who attended to bathers and moreover served as a midwife, and it was believed to determine the vital features of the child’s future personality.   The sauna was moreover the place where the sufferer were prepared for their last journey. The sauna was part of Finnish people’s lives literally from cradle to grave.     No risks? Except for severely ill or handicapped persons, practically every Finn takes sauna baths at least occasionally. So do plane those patients suffering from chronic illnesses who manage everyday routines on their own, and so do pregnant women. Bathing small babies is unscratched from the age of a few months. Finns do not recognize any upper age limit for sauna bathing, either. However, for wrecking casualties or patients suffering from vigilant inflammation sauna baths are not recommended. Those who suffer from contagious diseases can waterlog but only in their own private sauna.   Intense heat, prolonged bathing, too sudden or lattermost cooling off and expressly swig all put the thoroughbred diffusion under some strain. A healthy heart stands such strain but for a weak one it may be too much.   Taken in moderation, sauna baths suit everyone who is enlightened of his own limitations. They unstrap both physical and mental stress. Pain and tension vexatious muscles and joints fade away, and for many the sauna ways a way to ensure a good night’s sleep.   The sauna may moreover provide cosmetic care. Ilmari Kianto (1874-1970) describes a countrywoman’s facial transformation in his novel The Red Line: ”There in the gentle löyly, the wrinkles on her squatter smoothed away, and the deep-blue shadows under her vision gave way to a healthy colour. It was as if the heat had moreover melted yonder the darkness of her soul…”.   There are no rules on how often sauna baths can be taken. In olden times people used to waterlog daily or weekly, depending on the season and the locality. Today Finns usually waterlog once or twice a week; a holiday-maker may do so every day in his private cottage sauna. There is no harm in profuse perspiration, but the skin may dry, so excessive use of soap should be avoided.     In defence of the sauna’s reputation For a Finn the sauna is sacrosanct. From olden times children were taught to behave in the sauna as if in a church. Sexuality, noisiness and otherwise indecent behaviour never had a place in the sauna. Therefore it has remained uncorrupted for centuries. Men and women waterlog together only inside the family; in public saunas they have separate sections or variegated hours. So a Finn who happens to visit a Central European mixed-sex sauna is likely to be embarrassed, although no indecency may be involved.   Controlled mixed-sex bathing in other countries whimsically damages the reputation of the genuine Finnish sauna. What really damages it are the various kinds of massage and entertainment parlours which operate in many countries under red lights and hibernate overdue the name of sauna.   Harmful are moreover sensational wares well-nigh the unwholesome effects of the sauna; these occur once in a while plane in reputable foreign journals and are usually not based on facts but misinformation.   Finns moreover tend to get irritated by all sorts of strained sweat-producing devices which have nothing to do with the sauna but are marketed under the name. These paraphernalia vary from plastic sweating pants to a tent bag which is zipped up to the neck: these can be worn for example in the living room while watching the TV…    Superintendencyof both soul and soul Some people firmly believe that the primary purpose of the sauna was to warm up the body. A suffuse would prevent colds, soften up tense muscles and unstrap any pain, vacuum or depression. At the primeval stages water was used sparingly; the skin was supposed to wilt wipe through perspiration. Gradually, though, the sauna’s function as a place where the soul was thoroughly cleaned by washing and flushing became important.   The vital sauna ritual is the same as it unchangingly was: warming up, sweating, taking löyly vapour and whisking, washing and cooling off. Cooling off nowadays often includes swimming. Many people like to tomfool off in the unshut air, and there are moreover unflinching ones who want to roll in the snow or take a dip in the sea or lake through a slum in the ice.   A sauna suffuse without a birch whisk is like supplies without salt as the saying goes. The bather uses the whisk to write-up himself lightly; this raises the thoroughbred diffusion in the skin, speeds up perspiration and produces a pleasant zephyr in the hot room. The whisk is normally made of young birch twigs which are aromatically superior to all other trees. Out of season this birchy smell of summer can he reproduced by using zestless or frozen whisks.   Sauna bathing does not only wipe the soul but moreover purifies the mind. The bather’s frame of mind without a leisurely relaxed sauna ritual could be weightier described as euphoric. It is like a rebirth; all unpleasant feelings fall yonder and you finger at peace with the whole world. This is what Finns midpoint by the superintendency of the soul received in the sauna.     Heavenly sauna Finnish authors have written a number of wonderful scenes set in the sauna. Here are two very well-known literary characters, a pair of countrymen friends created by Maiju Lassila (1868-1918) in his novel Borrowing Matches, and their view of the hereafter:   There they sat, side by side, surrounded the steam and enjoyed the pleasure of the flesh. Antti was musing: ”D’you think there might be a sauna in heaven? ”Course there must be,” said Jussi.   Useful tips In the sauna wear your birthday suit. Nakedness is natural. Sweating makes swimsuits uncomfortable. There are no word-for-word rules of behaviour but the ritual is meant to be relaxing. Hurry and noise are out of the question and so is reckless competition well-nigh who stands heat best. It is a good idea to uncork with a wash or shower; a seat towel for the hot room is moreover useful.The temperature should be 80-90°C; ten minutes at a time will be enough. Air humidity is regulated by ladling small doses of water onto the stove stones. Warming up and cooling off can be repeated as many times as feels good. Whisking adds to the pleasure.Flipsidebrief warming-up may be nice without washing surpassing finishing off with a shower or a swim. Heavy meals and swig should be avoided surpassing sauna.Succeedingyou will need a refreshing drink and possibly a snack. Sauna bathing in moderation suits everyone. Those with health problems should nevertheless consult a doctor surpassing trying it.     Texts are writted by Pirkko Valtakari, former executive secretary of the Finnish Sauna Society Poikkeavat aukioloajat Saunatalo on suljettu seuraavina ajankohtina vuonna 2018: 1.10. Huoltomaanantai 3.11. Pyhäinpäivä 5.11. Huoltomaanantai 6.12. Itsenäisyyspäivä 25.12. Joulupäivä 26.12. Tapaninpäivä 31.12. Uudenvuodenaatto Huom! Saunatalo on auki joulukuun ensimmäisenä maanantaina 3.12.   Jaetut lauantait (miesten vuoro klo 12-16.30, naisten vuoro klo 17-21) 6.10. 10.11. kaikki joulukuun lauantait Huom! Syys-, loka- ja marraskuun viimeisenä lauantaina on esittelysaunavuoro, mistä johtuen Saunatalo sulkeutuu tällöin jo klo 19.00   Perhesauna su 7.10. klo 11-19   Saunojen lepovuorot Sauna 4:  28.-29.9. Sauna 3:  19.-20.10. Sauna 5:  2.11.   Katso lisätietoja aukioloajoista >> Huomaathan myös, että perjantaisin Saunatalo on vain jäsenten käytössä (ei vieraita). Lisätietoja täältä >> Suomalaisen saunan päivä liputuspäiväksi! Klikkaa linkkiä ja allekirjoita adressi! Lisätietoa löydät sivuiltamme! Suomen Saunaseura ry Suomen Saunaseura ry Vaskiniementie 10, 00200 Helsinki Kahvio/kassa 050 372 4167 (saunojen aukioloaikana) Yhteystiedot |  Aukioloajat