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by Pertti Olavi Jalasjaa
The Finnish sauna has existed for at least 2,000 years. In its early days, the sauna was thought of as primarily a place to bathe. For a time, though, it became more of a multi-purpose area, as people also used the sauna as a birthing room and a place to care for the sick.
While the people of Finland are perhaps most closely associated with hot saunas, interesting variations of the sweat bath can be found in the histories of other cultures. Close equivalents include the Native American inipi or sweat lodge, the Roman thermae or public bath, the Russian banya, and the Turkish hammam or steam bath.
Experts maintain that the earliest Finnish saunas were dug into hills or embankments. These evolved into above-ground saunas fashioned from wooden logs. The hot air came courtesy of a collection of rocks heated by a wood fire set in a stone fireplace. Once the resulting smoke increased the air temperature to the desired level, the smoke was released from the sauna and the actual sauna bath could commence. From this method, the smoke sauna, or savu sauna, was born.
Further evolution saw metal wood stoves and chimneys replace or, as some sauna scholars might contend, supersede the original heating system. Additional elements that were introduced included steam vapor, produced by tossing or splashing water on the heated rocks, and bundles of leafy birch twigs, with which bathers struck their skin to augment the cleansing process. The Finns named the steam vapor and birch bundles loyly and vihta, respectively.
As the world turned, the sauna changed in even more remarkable ways. Electric sauna stoves debuted in the mid-20th century, followed some years later by far infrared saunas. Also known as infrared heat therapy rooms, radiant heat saunas and soft heat saunas, far infrared saunas utilize far infrared energy to warm the sauna bather more directly than traditional Finnish saunas allow. While sauna fans remain somewhat divided on which type of sauna is superior, very few deny that the far infrared sauna has significantly impacted the worldwide sauna industry.
Today, businesses and facilities catering to devotees of both traditional and far infrared saunas can be found in abundance. Because many health benefits are associated with regular sauna use, saunas are standard amenities in countless health clubs, spas, clinics and five-star resort hotels around the globe. As well, thanks to affordably-priced home saunas and do-it-yourself sauna kits, saunas have also found their place in the basements, bathrooms and backyards of an incalculable number of private residences throughout the world.
In other words, folks far and near continue to warm to the age-old pleasures and benefits of the seemingly everlasting hot sauna.
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