The sauna is a place for relieving tension and stress – don’t be hurry, allot a reasonable amount of time to this effect.
Take a shower-bath prior to enter the hot room.
Lay a towel on the bench to sit on, since the bench possibly will become rather hot and for sanitary reasons.
The temperature in the hot room is a matter of taste. None the less it is recommended from 80 to 100 degrees Celsius by the Finnish Sauna Society. Some people, though, are quite contented with 70 degree heat. What is generally agreed by real conscientious sauna bathers is that challenging to see who can tolerate the most heat is both stupid and harmful for one’s health.
Feed the humidity by splashing water on the hot stones. After a few minutes of perspiring pour clean water over yourself or freshen up in the shower. It is not recommended to swim or plunge into cold water outside the hot room for people with high blood pressure or heart complaints.
As soon as you would heavily perspire in the hot room, attempt to whip yourself with "vihta", the bundle of leafy birch twigs. Every time using the sauna whisk your pores open, and the purifying effect of the sauna gets better, still you may not be able to obtain vihta as it is not essential for all saunas.
Heating and cooling process can be repeated as many times as you wish: most people in Finland would have no less than two sessions in the hot room. Something common for sauna is washing with soap or shampoo, normally towards the end of the whole procedure.
Wait until the temperature of your body will have normalized and you’ll be no more sweating and only then - get dressed.
A couple of notices expressed by the Finnish Sauna Society are worth to be remembered. For instance: "big meals and alcohol should be avoided before the sauna." Yet, "the sauna leaves you not only content but also thirsty and hungry." Naturally, refreshing drinks should be taken then to slake the thirst and revive the body's liquid balance. The kind of beverage to drink often rides on local custom. The Finns mainly get pleasure from cold not strong beer.
For the first-time visitor a genuine Finnish sauna bath can be an overwhelming experience to a certain extent, keep a sharp look-out.
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