On saunas

The sauna is the most exciting, yet relaxing, experience you can have in the modern world. The soothing environment that lets you escape the buzzing-busy world. The exciting change between the hot and cold. Good friends to share the experience with. Not to mention the health benefits and the obvious cleansing qualities.

At the core of a sauna is a warm room, heated to around 90 degrees Celsius (195 F). After having enjoyed that - for minutes or to tens of minutes - cool down. Stand outside, take a dip in a nearby lake. Wasn't it nice?  

The sauna, with temperatures that could boil water, is a scary prospect to some. In reality, the sauna experience is nice in a suprising way. The key is the low humidity, thanks to which it is perfectly safe when used within reason. 

There are different types of saunas in the world. Undoubtably the most common one was popularized in the wider world by the Finns and therefore named Finnish sauna. It's appeal and charm goes further than the areas where wintertime temperatures reach a chilling of -25 Celsius (-13 F). 

The other steambaths known to men, are the smoke saunas from 10 thousand years ago through to the Turskish hamman, Roman and Greek steambaths, sweat lodges of the Native Americans, the russian banyas to the ultramodern infrared saunas. 

This is my effort to put down information to share the sauna bug. If you feel that there is anything missing, have a question, a sauna photo or story to share (how you got started, interesting saunas, memorable sauna visits, ...), please do write me!

Go read about first time sauna experiences, about sauna history or check out the 7 funniest sauna videos. Or check out the often taboo subject of nudity and sauna.