In Finland, women's and men's saunas are combined. Finnish sauna is a national treasure

sergeydolya What not to do in the Finnish sauna

During 4 days in Finland we saw as many saunas as we have probably never seen in our lives. Even hotel rooms had small saunas along with a bath and shower, let alone hotel cottages.

A Finnish sauna is a dry heat bath, when the air in the room has low humidity (10-25%) and a high temperature in the range of 90-110 ° C. Finns visit the sauna every other day and this is in the order of things. The popularity of Finnish saunas has reached us, however, we only copied the form, forgetting about the content. Today I want to explain the main rules and explain why Natasha in the title photo is steaming incorrectly...

First, a few examples of saunas. Here is a roomy hotel option for general use:

Compact option for a family:

Today, black saunas are wildly popular among Finns. This is something similar to a Russian bathhouse:

Shared sauna in the hotel. Usually, either all-male or all-female groups go to the sauna. Although, according to hotel employees, often friendly groups steam together:

Private sauna in the cottage:

Private saunas usually have outdoor Jacuzzis. Unlike the Russian tradition of throwing yourself into an ice hole, the Finns prefer a lukewarm bath:

So, an important rule of the Finnish sauna: under no circumstances should you enter the sauna in dressing gowns, a swimsuit or a towel. Under no circumstances. For Finns, this is bad manners, rudeness and violation of traditional values:

The only thing that is allowed is to take a special piece of paper to put under your butt:

10.

This is what a person should look like in a Finnish sauna!

It is also important to sit with your feet on a bench (ideally lying down) so that the body heats up evenly. Before visiting the steam room, you can wash yourself lightly in the shower, but be sure to wipe yourself dry. You cannot splash water on the heater. If it is very dry, you can carefully water the wooden walls of the steam room:

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How do you feel about the sauna? Do you like to steam?

P.S. I would like to announce a new section in my author’s application “Traveldoll - Traveling in the footsteps of Sergei Dolya”. Now the program includes a guide to Crimea, compiled on the basis of my numerous travels around the peninsula.

Many nations have their own bathing traditions, which may seem strange and sometimes indecent to others. Not in every country, when a Russian goes to a local bathhouse, he will feel at home.

Three in a Japanese barrel

Traditional Japanese baths may seem the most “shameless” to a Russian person. A furaco sauna bath is a large wooden barrel filled with water. Often this water was taken from hot thermal springs. In order not to change the water every time after washing one person, washing with soap and a washcloth is done in advance.
The whole family or just a few people can sit in the furaco, if the barrel is located in a public bathhouse, for this purpose there are benches on the sides of the barrel.
In public Japanese baths in the old days there were servant girls who also provided intimate services to visitors. Some entertainment establishments in Japan continue this tradition today. Are they called "soapland"? and in them clients are washed, and then “entertained”.
However, not all bathhouse attendants are girls of easy virtue. Sometimes they prefer to hire girls because women would be uncomfortable using the services of male bathhouse attendants. At the same time, there may not be an intimate component - the attendants will show how to use the bathhouse, make sure that visitors do not get sick in a barrel of hot water, add aromatic oils to the water, and give a massage.
Nowadays, most public baths in Japan (sento) are divided into male and female halves, although this was not always the case: over the centuries, relevant laws have been approved and then repealed. Sento may have large pools of heated water.
Many sento baths prohibit people with tattoos from entering, as they may be suspected of belonging to the mafia. There are also some establishments where foreigners are not welcome.

Bath equality

In many European baths there is no separation between men's and women's areas - everyone sits in the same room or splashes in the same pool.
In Germany, many baths are located in areas with thermal waters. They are usually divided into two halves: one contains swimming pools and water attractions, the other contains saunas and steam rooms. Swimsuits and swimming trunks are allowed only in the pool area. And coming to the bathhouse in a swimsuit is nonsense. On the doors of the room where it is customary to sit naked, the letters FFK - Freikörperkultur - “Free Body Culture” are usually written.
The shyest ones can wrap themselves in a cotton towel - the Germans do not approve of synthetics, believing that they negate the healing effect of the bath. But usually no one looks at anyone - in the bathhouse everyone is equal. Rather, they will look at the guest wrapped in a towel.
The whole family goes to German baths, so in one steam room there can be teenagers, their parents, and very young children. Sometimes, however, they organize “women’s days” when men are not allowed into the bathhouse complex.
You cannot make noise in German baths - this interferes with the relaxation of other guests.
It is worth saying that in the XV-XVII centuries. In Rus', in bathhouses, joint washing of men and women was also practiced, and the imperial decree prohibiting everyone from washing together was issued only under Catherine II in 1782. Before this, the decree of the Governing Senate of 1741 was not successful. This custom finally came to an end only in the era of Alexander I.

To the bathhouse - for important contracts

In Finland, it is not customary to refuse an invitation to the sauna. There, as in Germany, they sit “in what the mother gave birth to,” and the status of the neighbor is not taken into account. There is even a sauna in the parliament building. They say that until the 80s, parliament meetings were held there on Thursdays. All Finnish consulates and embassies abroad have their own saunas.
So if you want to sign an important agreement with a Finn or discuss any problem, you will have to go to the sauna with him. It is there that Finns, who are usually closed and not very fond of making contact, loosen up and willingly conduct complex negotiations. Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari liked to discuss the most serious issues with foreign politicians in the sauna. All ministers and presidents sat naked, as expected. And Nikita Khrushchev in 1960 had to steam in the sauna of the Finnish embassy for five hours until he and President Urho Kekkonen came to an agreement on important issues.
Families go to the sauna together, but in public saunas men and women steam separately. Many Finns are offended when they talk about intimate relationships in saunas, believing that this opinion came from Germany in the 70s.
There are even floating saunas in Finland, which are not recommended for people sensitive to motion.

Gay saunas

In Sweden, for a long time there were special sauna clubs for people with non-traditional orientation. The government banned them in 1987, citing the spread of HIV, but the ban was lifted in 2001. The authorities considered that during the ban there was neither a sharp increase in morbidity rates nor a sharp decrease in them. Another argument in favor of the permit was that promiscuity in random places carries a much greater risk.
In the USA, similar baths also existed and were banned in the mid-80s in New York (1985) and San Francisco (1984). In the UK, gay saunas still operate: the largest chain is located in London and is called Chariots. They have swimming pools, steam rooms, massage rooms. The saunas of this chain are open 24 hours a day.
There are similar establishments in many countries around the world. A few years ago, the BBC reported that a famous gay sauna and a Vatican department coexisted in a historic palazzo in Rome.

Crowded swimming pools, unisex baths, ice-hole ablutions and skilled massage therapists... Maria TARANENKO joined the natural and cheerful spa culture of Finland.

I pictured a typical Finnish spa as ascetic, uncrowded, with short, laconic procedures and slow staff. Everything turned out differently.

YOUR OWN SPA

A spa holiday for our northern neighbors is, first and foremost, a bathhouse. In the broadest sense of the word: from a classic sauna to a rustic black sauna. Hammam, thermal baths, Russian steam room - any room with hot air evokes respect and awe among the Finns. It’s no wonder that when I entered the spa area of the Holiday Club hotel, I was taken aback. Instead of quiet offices and sneaking craftsmen, a noisy crowd of all ages descended on me. Out of fear, I dived into the first door I came across. Behind it was a sauna, where naked ladies sat in a row, generously splashing water on the hot stones. One of them addressed me with a reproachful speech. I quickly retreated. And again she found herself among the Finnish masses. Deciding to follow everyone, I got to the pool.

TOTAL IMMERSION

Palm trees! These are the ones I least expected to see. The tropical riot on the sides looked completely un-Finnish. True, the people splashing around in the “tropical paradise” were also alien to Scandinavian restraint. A huge swimming pool with many niches, cascades and fountains was conducive to unbridled fun. After swimming, I decided to go into the sauna again. And, carefully approaching the familiar door, I understood the reason for the Finnish auntie’s dissatisfaction. On the wall hung a picture of a crossed out swimsuit and an inscription in several languages (including Russian): “At high temperatures, swimsuits evaporate dangerous toxins. Enter the bathhouse naked." I felt ashamed both for my inattention and for the unintentional attempt on the lives of my neighbors.

BATH IN BLACK STYLE

Having gotten rid of my swimsuit, I decided to try out another Finnish spa find. Namely, a black bath. The small house on the shore of a small lake contrasted with the modern appearance of the hotel and resembled Baba Yaga's hut. Inside there is absolute darkness and clouds of smoke. It was smoke, not steam: a third of the room was occupied by an open fireplace with smoldering wood. Representatives of both sexes sat on benches along the wall. Absolutely naked men and women, without hesitation, exchanged words, threw water and helped each other find a free place. I tried to cover myself with a towel, but I realized that in this child, few people were interested in my beauty. Unforgettable minutes in the “black sauna” made me so close to the Finnish people that I dived with everyone into the cold lake water. Delight!

LAWS OF NUDISM

It turned out that almost all bath establishments in Finland live by the law of “naked unisex”. No one is embarrassed here. By the end of my stay, I no longer flinched when one of the men entered the women's locker room or changed clothes in front of everyone. Finnish spa nudism turned out to be very touching and conceptual. Walking around naked in the name of preventing toxic suffocation is a great mission!

SLEEPING PLACE

The hotel's professional spa area deserves special mention. True, there are no special design solutions, meditation cabins, fitness bars or other newfangled elements. The emphasis is not on the surroundings, but on the procedures. More precisely, on their results. The craftsmen working at the Holiday Club Katinkulta are meticulous and diligent in an un-European way. Even an ordinary massage is performed honestly, without careless strokes and unnecessary movements. In combination with regular spa holidays in the baths, the effect of beauty treatments is unreal.

NORTHERN GUEST

In the coming months, the first Holiday Club hotel in Russia will open in St. Petersburg. The huge building promises to accommodate numerous rooms, shops, business centers, restaurants... And most importantly, a spa area in keeping with Finnish traditions. I wonder if there are unisex saunas there?

During 4 days in Finland we saw as many saunas as we have probably never seen in our lives. Even hotel rooms had small saunas along with a bath and shower, let alone hotel cottages.

First, a few examples of saunas. Here is a roomy hotel option for general use:

Compact option for a family:

Today, black saunas are wildly popular among Finns. This is something similar to a Russian bathhouse:

Shared sauna in the hotel. Usually, either all-male or all-female groups go to the sauna. Although, according to hotel employees, often friendly groups steam together:

Private sauna in the cottage:

Private saunas usually have outdoor Jacuzzis. Unlike the Russian tradition of throwing yourself into an ice hole, the Finns prefer a lukewarm bath:

The only thing that is allowed is to take a special piece of paper to put under your butt:

10.

This is what a person should look like in a Finnish sauna!

11.

How do you feel about the sauna? Do you like to steam?

P.S. I want to announce a new section in my author's application"

A well-known entrepreneur organizes “charitable” bathing days for migrants.

In the city of Helsinki, refugees can find refuge in the sauna of the famous Finnish entrepreneur and musician Kimmi Helistö. A businessman organizes free bath days for the men living next door to him at the immigration center. This was reported by the Helsingin Sanomat publication. The proposal from Kimmy, who is a member of the city council, turned out to be unique, since he not only offered refugees from Middle Eastern countries a free bath, but also invited them to visit a shared sauna with Finnish women for free. In his conscription speech, he used words such as “brotherhood” and “friendship,” which, in his opinion, exist in the sauna “during all these troubles.” The musician-entrepreneur’s statement immediately drew attention in the Netherlands, where, for the first time in the EU, a community for sex education for refugees was created in the hope of instilling in them European moral principles. Until recently, immigrants from Iraq went to the Finnish sauna in a purely male group, but photographer Ilvi Njokiken decided to introduce migrants to sexual tolerance by visiting the Helistö sauna with them. “Suddenly, I saw people carrying towels on their shoulders. I asked them where they were going. They pointed me to a nearby sauna. As a joke, they asked me to join them, and were very surprised when I agreed,” said Nyokikien. The refugees were delighted with the half-naked woman who first went with them to the shower and then to the steam room. The refugees admitted that they had never felt so hot in a bathhouse in their lives. And the Dutch woman said that she had heard a lot about the cultural traditions of Finland, when men and women steam together in a sauna. According to the woman, the refugees in the steam room behaved very friendly, laughed a lot and did not even refuse to be photographed. “I was surprised that they took me with them because I am a woman. However, I did not dare to completely remove my outer clothing because I believed that Muslims might consider such behavior offensive,” Nyokikien explained. She noted that all the men were in the sauna in swimming trunks. “They sang and laughed all the time,” the lady added. The lady herself, who visits the sauna once a week, noted that it was the first time she felt so “hot” and “heavy” at the same time, but she was pleased with such an “interesting” joint visit to the steam room. The owner of the sauna noted that he allowed refugees to visit his establishment under the auspices of the Red Cross in Finland, reports. He said that refugees always visit his sauna in swimming trunks and while in the steam room they sing songs in Arabic. Kimmy noted that Finnish saunas “begin to steam at 20-30 degrees,” but “Iraqi men wash each other in Turkish hammam style, despite the fact that Turkish spa culture is very different from Finnish.” According to him, the refugees “never had any problems with several women coming to their shared sauna.”