Sauna Culture in Finland
How should a visitor to Finland react to the following proposition?
You are invited to take off all your clothes and go to a little room
heated to almost 100 degrees Celsius, where you will sit, naked, with
others for a while and sweat. Then you will go outside and jump (still
naked) through a small hole in the ice on a lake, the sea or whatever
and refresh yourselves in the freezing water - or roll in the snow
instead. In short, “What about a sauna?” The answer should be simple. Be
courageous and say “yes” - because if you don't you will miss a
deliciously relaxing experience which will provide a vital insight into
the culture and mentality of your Finnish hosts.
Saunas have existed in other cultures, but it is in Finland that they
have become entwined in the national culture. In days gone by, they were
the most practical place to wash during the long winters when there was
no running hot water. You can still find people in Finland who were born
in the sauna. Not when it was heated, of course, but it was a sterile
place where hot water was available. It is estimated that there are two
million saunas in Finland, for a population of 5.3 million.
Big companies and state institutions have their own saunas. The
president has an official sauna, as does the prime minister. They are to
be found in city apartments and in country cottages.
Traditional saunas are heated by wood, burned either in a stove with a
chimney, or by a stove with no chimney. The latter - a smoke-sauna - is
the original sauna and believed by most Finns to be the best. The door
is closed after the wood has burned down (and most of the smoke has
escaped), leaving the embers to heat the sauna to the proper
temperature, but giving a soft heat and the aroma of woodsmoke. All
saunas have a basket of rocks heated by the stove on which to throw
water to increase the humidity. Called löyly in Finnish (for
pronunciation, contact your host), the steam increases the feeling of
heat and makes you sweat.
Basic etiquette in the sauna is quite simple. You first take all your
clothes off something you have to try not to be shy about. It is
considered polite to shower before going in. Otherwise, there are few
rules. Stay in as long as you feel comfortable, and return to the sauna
several times if you wish. When you come out of the sauna, jump into a
lake, or roll in the snow. Or - and this will be the case for most
foreign visitors - simply take a shower. But if you do roll in the snow,
make sure it is fresh and powdery: old, icy snow can have an effect on
your skin like sandpaper. In summertime, you may also be handed a vihta
- a bunch of birch branches which you dip in water and with which you
then gently flagellate yourself. This is not as kinky as it sounds - it
stimulates the circulation and gives fresh aroma.
In some hotel saunas the tradition of the washing-lady survives. She
takes care of washing you; don't be shy. An invitation to sauna from
business contacts you have never met before is perfectly normal. If you
want to take the initiative yourself, almost all hotels have good
saunas, though mostly heated by electricity.
I once took three American journalists to a sauna in a big hotel. The
men were a little bit shy so we decided they could keep their swimming
trunks on. In the middle of a good löyly, the door swung open and a
large old Finnish woman entered the room. She simply pointed at the
first, horrified American and said bluntly: “You first, underpants
off.” I had forgotten to tell them about the washing-lady.
This article was first published in the Financial Times.