Sauna: sweating for the health
Finland has always been a hotspot. For more than 1000 years, the sauna has played a major role in people's lives. Once or twice a week, the northerners are drawn into one of the 1.4 million wooden houses. Even in the one-room apartments in the city of Helsinki can you still find room? especially for this there are mini-saunas from 1.5 square meters.
A really healthy exchange
If the temperature on the top bank has reached 85 to 90 degrees, half an hour later, after showering and careful drying, the first course follows. Of course, naked. In Finland, men and women usually go to the sauna separately? and like to lash out. This means that you "buff" your back with birch twigs to promote blood circulation, loosen up the muscles and stimulate the sweat flow. After the exchange of blows, the tufts land in the infusion bucket, releasing their essential oil to the water, which is poured over the stones in the second course as an infusion and gives off a fresh scent. In the foliage-free period, birch branches are frozen in the cooling zones of the supermarkets. Because other flavors do not come to the Finn traditionally in the hut. The so-popular infusions of mountain pine, eucalyptus, blood orange or lime have no chance of advancement.
Ice cold refreshment
If the thing gets too hot, the best way to go down. The second level is between 70 and 80 degrees, at the bottom 60 to 70. To prepare the body for the end of the heat, change from supine to an upright position about two minutes before and let your feet dangle. The first gear may take eight to twelve minutes, the next two a maximum of 15. Finnish rule of thumb: rather short and hot than long and warm.
After sweating, the pros of cold prefer to jump into the lake, even at temperatures below freezing. Then a hole is hacked into the ice. The milder option: first go up and down in the fresh air to get the circulation going, then either put it under the waterfall shower or cool the body with the hose, always in the direction of the heart. Completely hardened go then for a short time in the plunge pool. With a subsequent approximately 40 degrees warm foot bath, the blood vessels open again. The heat is transported from the inside to the skin surface, stopped the schlappmachende Nachschwitzeffekt. In the 15- to 30-minute rest period, the body can then, snuggled into a fluffy bathrobe, recover.
Mobile defense
During the three saunas remain between half a and a half liters of liquid on the track. Still, drinking between courses is not a good idea? the body would sweat out the supply immediately, instead of mobilizing the excess tissue water from the depths.
In the dry heat of the sauna, the temperature of the skin rises by about ten, that of the body by about one degree. The internal organs report a slight fever, antibodies swarm out, kill viruses and bacteria. Through the hot air, the mucous membranes are better supplied with blood, the bronchial tubes breathe. The subsequent cooling stimulates circulation and metabolism? this strengthens the defense. Those who regularly sweat extensively once a week are less sensitive to the weather and less likely to catch cold. If the nose is already dripping, the sauna is taboo. The hot-cold change would only worsen the infection.
High blood pressure, weak veins and pregnancy are usually no obstacles if the temperature differences are not too extreme. If in doubt, ask the doctor.
What else is there?
Here is an overview of the alternatives to the classic Finnish sauna.
samarium: In this combination of sauna and steam room, the temperature is 60 degrees, the humidity between 40 and 45 percent. The gentle sweating is good even with high blood pressure and should influence it in the long run positively. Sometimes birdsong, water gurgling or changes in color light intensify the wellness effect: Red is supposed to have a stimulating effect on the skin and glands, yellow on metabolism and nerves. Green, on the other hand, should be harmonious, soothe blue.
laconium: The "cool" variation of the Finnish sauna does not get hotter than 55 degrees and has low humidity. The Laconium gently stimulates blood circulation and mobilizes the body's defenses.
caldarium: With friendly 45 degrees plus moist herbal vapors relaxation and regeneration are in the foreground. The skin and respiratory tract are cleansed, muscle tension is released.
tepidarium: At a room temperature of 30 to 40 degrees, time does not matter. For hours can it stand on the warm tiles? in front of the sauna or afterwards. The immune system is strengthened without it burdening the circulation.
Russian sauna In the Banjas, the kiln stones are only heated to 60 degrees, the frequent water infusions provide a humid tropical climate.Gentle flogging with birch bundles of rice dipped in water perfumes the skin.
Steam bath: Even the ancient Greeks sweat in the ideal combination of heat (45 degrees) and humidity (100 percent). The warm and humid climate relaxes, nourishes, makes a rosy skin and, above all, optimally cleanses the respiratory tract.
Hamam The pleasantly damp heat of the hammam is good for people with circulatory problems or dilated veins. At mild 45 degrees, the body is heated slowly in 20 to 30 minutes. A pre-warmed marble block is followed by a soapy massage and a gentle exfoliation with a goatskin glove. In between, the lifeguard "shocks" the skin with cold water? until the end everything is deep in the pores.
Rasul The ceremonial of the Arab world is a well-tended mud fight. In the sauna, the body is rubbed in with various clay pastes. Herbal steam from the mosque-like oven heats the room to 50 degrees, the humidity increases to 80 percent. By triturating the sludge, dead skin cells are loosened. A warm shower then rinses the skin until it is cleanly rubbed before rubbing it with nourishing oils.
