A wooden cabin designed to fight low temperatures is today the key to leading the world order well. Traditional, infrared, wood… Each one has its own benefits for health.
“Behold a mind as white as snow.” Elina Jylhän grins from ear to ear, narrows her huge blue eyes, and her cheeks cannot hide the intense blush. Redeemed with a puffy woolen hat and a pompom, he wears a brown bathing suit and bare feet. Great care closes the wooden door of the cottage that seems to come out of a Grimm Brothers’ tale.
He grabs a towel, wipes off the sweat, and prepares to jump into the icy lake. “The temperature is about four degrees below zero,” he said as he dived without blinking to change the temperature, while the audience was covered in layers up to their eyebrows. He sings a popular song and swims in only one square meter. You need to hold it long enough for the post-sauna massage therapy to work. The snowy landscape that forms an idyllic postcard picture outside of your living space is pure ice.
It could be a single episode in Finland, yet this ritual is part of the daily life of 5.5 million inhabitants (according to data from the latest 2021 census). “There is no Finn without his own sauna. If we don’t have it in our house, we share it with our neighbors a few meters away,” confirms Jussi Kiiskilä, CEO of the hotel Ukkohalla, next to the highest arctic peaks. Lakeland, which divides the northern region in the middle
Ski and spa complex where they boast their own nine types of sauna, each with its own individual comfort and health benefits. “It’s the secret of happiness, part of our culture,” Kiiskilä asserts.
Serenity Sauna
In fact, the country of Europe carries the ranking of the World’s Happiness for the sixth consecutive year. “We are the first since 2018 and this is undoubtedly due to our way of life, in contact with nature, and a daily space to meditate with oneself and without mobile devices or screens like our sauna.”
He compares it to bars in Spain. A place of meeting and conversation where you can drown your sorrows and live in the present. “After work, we reserve this moment for ourselves. We sweat, look at the white dyed green and breathe one of the purest air in the world,” he describes looking at Lake Syväjärv and pictures, a picture to paint. different Finnish saunas, both interior and exterior.
“In ancient times, people were born in the sauna and it was also used as a place to take care of the sick,” he adds. The leader of the meeting, Finnicus, standing next to her, agrees: “It is a sacred place for us, where we purify our body and mind. We go with colleagues and family, but we also make new friends.”
The core of the experience is based on löyly, hot stones emit steam when sprinkled with water. “Usually one person touches it, not only someone touches it. When he goes out löyly, he humbles you and presses his chin to your chest. What a purifying experience, it is spiritual”, the guide continues to show how it is. done
9 saunas
Most of the Finnish residents have a wood sauna from the typical Finnish sauna, where the black logs are exposed, as there is no stove. That is why their hair smells like smoke when they go out. Some go naked, but it is customary to wear a bathing suit and a towel. “It has been a place of relaxation and purification for centuries. They beat each other with branches and took cold showers, just like the ancient physiothean. That’s why we tried peace and quiet in our 70°C sauna,” he explains.
Number two, Karelian Sauna, shares its name with its own sweet, Karelian cake. Raise the temperature five degrees, to sweat more. “It’s a relaxing, dark-lighting feature that has benefits for mental health.” The third, infrared and 50 degrees, “increases blood flow and accelerates metabolism.” It is excellent for pain relief and healing, hence it is prescribed by doctors. “It is very medicinal by increasing the blood flow to the tissues.”
Cave saunas, the fourth type, were seen as spectacular as the building itself. The fifth is connected to a barrel heated to 60 degrees. Wood, and greater, rises to 80°C and provides soft warmth with skin exfoliating benefits. Smells of smoke and pitch float in the smoke, visible fronts of escape.
Together with the stones (Single), at 65 °C, there is a barrel full of small stones that are crushed. And the steam gently soothes the body and mind at 50 °F. “In general, everything provides vitality and improves the immune system. Despite the cold, we don’t even catch a cold!”
According to the criteria of
The trust ProjectLearn more
