08 Apr 2009, Posted by Scott Goodstein in Guests from Washington D.C., 0 Comments

Sauna

I went to the Finnish Sauna Society on Saturday.  While I have been to a few small saunas before, I have never been to a facility that had this many saunas in one setting.  The Society Sauna Facility was built for the 1952 Olympics and has since been converted into an amazing study of Finnish Society.

It was a balmy 40 degree kind of day and you could still see ice around the Baltic Sea.  I was given two different towels - a little square to sit on and a regular size towel showering and told to go change.  The rest is history!

We first started in the warm sauna and discussed the sauna culture and many Finish traditions in this small wooden room that had very easy heat.   The rooms we went to after were all progressively hotter and were heated up to over 300 degree Fahrenheit (150 Celsius). Most of the rooms are heated by wooden stoves and than each room gets to add their own ladles of water to whatever the desired amount of steam is.  (I could only handle one or two ladles of steam at a time)  After you cook your self to the point that your skin is bright red, your sinuses are cleared, and you are only breathing steam… its time to jump into the frozen Baltic Sea.

I will never forget walking out this narrow wooden foot path from the sauna to the sea.  It was awakening and revitalizing.  After going from the sauna to the sea.  We sat around a giant fireplace and drank a few beverages and talked with some others for a half hour or so while sweating some more!

With a country of over 5 million people it is rumored that Finland has over 3 million saunas.  A great way of heating up a room, cleaning and exfoliating your skin, talking with your neighbors, and relaxing during the cold months of a long winter.  Most Finnish people were literally born in the sauna and have grown up with this tradition ever since.  I learned that just about every modern apartment and condo complex comes with a sauna! This tradition is for both Finish men and women and does not matter your income level – In Finland, you are using the sauna!

Thanks to the guys who took me to the sauna. It was an honor to experience this part of Finnish culture first hand with some great friends that understood my Western fears of hypothermia as well as my “rookie” threshold to the five or six ladles of steam in the hottest room.  I was glad I got to experience each room, but know I have a few more years before I am really ready to handle the hottest room in Helsinki.

For more info on the Finish Sauna Society and the sauna culture visit their website here.