Sauna: The Histoy of Heat!

By Marcus Sheridan

When one looks at the history of saunas, they need look no further then Finland, the mother country of this 1000+ year old activity. Here in America, we typically use the word "sauna" as a noun, ie- "I am going to use the sauna after work." But in its proper text, "sauna" is actually a verb, therefore changing the sentence to "I am going to sauna after work." So important is the sauna to Finnish culture that one can find more then 2 million saunas in the country. Not bad for a population that boasts less then 6 million total people. So prominent are saunas in Finland that one can find a sauna in just about every home, every apartment, at all health centers, most places of employment, and every hotel. As if that's not enough, it is standard practice for all Boy Scouts and most other campers to carry "portable" saunas with them to camp sites. And for those that don't have these portable units, one can always find campers who have produced makeshift units from plastic, bark, canoes, and skiffs. Are you starting to see just how important sauna is to the Finnish culture?

Historians believe that the nomad people wandering around what later became Finland already had primitive saunas. They heated holes in the ground and covered them with a tarp to have a warm place for bathing. There was probably an open fire in the hole, and the bathers would wait until the fire had gone before entering the sauna. The Native American sweat lodge is actually very similar to this kind of sauna.

Such a hot room would later evolve into the smoke sauna, the most traditional form of modern saunas. A smoke sauna has a fireplace with no chimney; the fire heats the stones directly and the smoke exits the room through a small hole just below the roof. The fireplace is built by piling stones, ideally without using mortar, and takes several hours to warm up. These saunas were prevalent until the 1920's, after which they almost disappeared as new types of heaters were developed. Modern wood heaters have a metal casing and a chimney, but still have stones to retain the heat. The stones store heat energy, which can then be released by throwing water on them during bathing. Electric heaters have also become extremely prominent, especially in the U.S. market.

A true sauna experience consists of even heat above 180 degrees. In fact, most Finnish people sauna in temperatures above 200 degrees, which, from my own experience, is quite an exhilarating event, nothing at all like what many of us have felt in the 160-180 degree saunas at our local health club. Ask any avid sauna user why they enjoy this process and you will hear many benefits, namely: improved circulation, muscle tension relief, improved muscle soreness recovery, incredible relaxation, enjoyable society, mental clarity, and better sleeping patters. So for those of you who have not yet enjoyed the sauna experience, I would highly recommend it. Trust me, it's no sweat!