Dictionary definition courtesy of Merriam Webster Online
sauna
One entry found for sauna.
Main Entry: sau·na
Pronunciation: 'so-n&, 'sau-n&
Function: noun
Etymology: Finnish
1 : a Finnish steam bath in which the steam is provided by water thrown on hot stones; also : a bathhouse or room used for such a bath
2 : a dry heat bath; also : a room or cabinet used for such a bath
P.S. The following Q&A session answers your question in the most wholesome manner.
Dear Alice,
I see women using the sauna after a workout right before a shower. What good does a sauna do?
—More sweaty?
Dear More sweaty?,
Sauna enthusiasts laud the health benefits of "sweat baths," attributing them with healing, preventative, and cleansing properties. The sauna of Finland is a tradition that some researchers date back over two thousand years. The Finns attribute their endurance and longevity to the tradition of sauna.
Basically, what happens to the body during a sauna is quite simple — your metabolism and pulse rates increase, your blood vessels become much more flexible, and your extremities benefit from increased circulation. Physical fitness fans will recognize that some of these changes can also be achieved through strenuous exercise. Not to say that a sauna would put you in excellent physical condition without moving a muscle (don't some of us wish!), but that it brings about the same metabolic results as physical exercise.
The effects of the sauna are numerous and varied. Proponents of dry heat bath mention a feeling of psychological peace and contentment as well as physical rejuvenation. Many people claim that the sauna relieves the symptoms of minor illnesses such as colds, revives the muscles after tough physical exertion, and clears the complexion. The sauna experience will often leave you feeling very much alive. Your senses will be sharpened, and your tactile sensitivity heightened.
Another aspect of the sauna that needs to be considered is your mental state prior to taking one. Many people attest to the healing powers of the sauna concerning mental depression and anxiety. They say that after leaving the sauna, the mind is in a relaxed, lucid state, free of the worries of the everyday world. Also, when the body feels soothed and energized, the mind and emotions often follow suit.
Some basic tips before entering the sauna:
Don't drink alcohol, as it works as a depressant, where the blood is moving slowly and the nerve endings are literally shutting down, and counteracts the benefits of the sauna.
Older people need to avoid or limit their time in the sauna.
People with heart ailments or respiratory diseases need to avoid the sauna, and anyone with chronic ailments needs to check first with his or her doctor.
Don't eat prior to the sauna.
Avoid drug use and the sauna — tranquilizers, stimulants, and other prescribed drugs alter the body's metabolism and could produce dour effects in the heat.
If you experience dizziness, problems with breathing, or a general feeling of ill health, leave the sauna immediately.
If you do decide to use the sauna, start gradually. Stay in only as long as you are comfortable, increasing the time with each visit. The Finns respect the sauna to such a degree that their ministers of government often conduct business in and around the sauna. They also believe that a person, upon leaving a fulfilling sauna, will be clear of mind and untroubled. Who knows? This may be Columbia's best and cheapest stress reduction technique yet!
Alice
2006-07-23 03:18:45
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answer #6
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answered by Anonymous
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sau·na (sô'nə, sou'-)
n.
A Finnish steam bath in which the steam is produced by pouring water over heated rocks.
A bathhouse or room for taking such a steam bath.
A dry heat bath.
A room or enclosure for taking a dry heat bath.
sauna
from Finnish
This word originated in Finland
When Finnish immigrants settled on homesteads in the United States during the nineteenth century, the first structure they built was not a house but a sauna. For many centuries that had been the custom in Finland, too, because the sauna was a place to get warm, relaxed, and clean. Even in the midst of an arctic winter, you could take off your clothes and open your pores in a sauna. It was a haven even for cooking, childbirth, and care of the sick.
The old-fashioned sauna was something of a rugged place compared with the electric-heated saunas of today. Until this century, a sauna would be dug into a hill or built of logs, with a stone stove whose smoke was made to circulate throughout the room before finally escaping through a ceiling vent or the open door. The fire would be doused and water poured on the hot rocks to raise the humidity. Soot was everywhere, sweet-smelling and supposedly hygienic. Sweat and the vihta or vasta, a birch whisk, did the cleansing, along with jumping in the lake or rolling in the snow after sitting in temperatures approaching two hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Soap was not introduced until the nineteenth century.
As the Finns still take pains to explain, a sauna should be a sacred and relaxing place, not an exciting one. No sex, please. (Men and women generally go to separate saunas.) No television or newspapers. Don't even raise your voice. In a sauna, according a Finnish saying, you must behave as in church.
Nowadays there are slightly over five million Finns in Finland, and slightly over one and a half million saunas. In the United States there are many thousands of saunas, and even sauna clubs. More than 25,000 residential saunas were sold in 1985. And if you can't get to a sauna, you can enjoy a virtual Finnish sauna on the Internet, complete with lessons in sauna etiquette.
The Finnish language is different from the Scandinavian and Slavic languages of its neighbors. It does not belong to the Indo-European language family but to the Uralic, and is related only to Hungarian among the European languages. Aside from sauna, very few Finnish words have become part of English. One is kantele (1903), a kind of zither; another is a genus of tropical plants, tillandsia (1759), named after the Finnish botanist Elias Tillands.
The noun sauna has one meaning:
Meaning #1: a Finnish steam bath; steam is produced by pouring water over heated rocks
Synonym: sweat room
sauna
A sauna on Lake Vättern, in Karlsborg Municipality, Sweden.A sauna (also sweathouse, sudatory) is a small room or house designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these and auxiliary facilities. These facilities derive from the Finnish sauna. Sauna may also be used as a verb describing the act of using a sauna or metaphorically to describe an unusually hot or humid environment, e.g., "It feels like a sauna in here."
Taking a sauna is usually a social affair in which the participants disrobe and sit or recline in temperatures of over 80 °C (176 °F). This induces relaxation and promotes sweating.
The modern sauna
Most North American college/university physical education complexes and many public sports centers include sauna facilities. They may also be present in a public swimming pool. This may be a separate area where swimming wear may be taken off or a smaller facility in the swimming pool area where one should keep the swimming wear on.
Inside a saunaUnder many circumstances, temperatures approaching and exceeding 100 °C (212 °F) would be completely intolerable. Saunas overcome this problem by controlling the humidity. The hottest Finnish saunas have very low humidity levels, which allows air temperatures that could boil water to be tolerated and even enjoyed for long periods of time. Other types of sauna, such as the hammam, where the humidity approaches 100%, will be set to a much lower temperature of around 40 °C to compensate. The "wet heat" would cause scalding if the temperature were set much higher. Finer control over the temperature experienced can be achieved by choosing a higher level bench for those wishing a hotter experience or a lower level bench for a more moderate temperature. Good manners requires that the door to a sauna not be kept open so long that it cools the sauna for those that are already in it. A draft, even if at 100 °C, may still be unwelcome.
Infrared saunas are growing in popularity, using far infrared rays emitted by infrared heaters to create warmth.
The sauna can be so soothing that heat prostration or the even more serious hyperthermia (heat stroke) can result. The cool shower or plunge afterwards always results in a great increase in blood pressure, so careful moderation is advised for those with a history of stroke or hypertension (high blood pressure). In Finland, saunas are thought of as a healing refreshment and have been used to cure people from many diseases through the ages.[citation needed] There is even a saying: "Jos ei viina, terva tai sauna auta, tauti on kuolemaksi." (If a disease can't be cured by tar, booze, or the sauna, it is for death.)
In the Finnish sauna culture, a beer afterwards is thought to be refreshing and relaxing. Pouring a few centiliters of beer into the water that is poured on the hot stones releases the odor of the grain used to brew the beer, and can bring a wonderful smell of freshly baked bread into the air.
Social and mixed gender nudity with adults and children is quite common in the conventional sauna. Sometimes the sauna is considered not only a sex-free, but also almost a gender-free zone. It may also be noted that engaging in sexual activity in an environment where the temperature approaches 100 °C would be impractical at the least.[citation needed] In the dry sauna and on chairs one sometimes sits on a towel for hygiene and comfort; in the steam bath the towel is left outside. Sometimes draping the towel around the waist is required in the restaurant area.
As an additional facility a sauna may have one or more jacuzzis.
Similar sweat bathing facilities
The Finnish-style sauna (generally 70-80 degrees Celsius (158-176 °F), but can vary from 60 to 100 degrees (140-212) °F)) and the wet steam bath are the most widely known forms of sweat bathing. Many cultures have close equivalents, such as the North American First Nations sweat lodge, the Turkish hammam, Roman thermae, Nahuatl (Aztec) temescalli, Maya temazcal and Russian banya. Public bathhouses that often contained a steam room were common in the 1700s, 1800s and early 1900s and were inexpensive places to go to wash when private facilities were not generally available.
A Finnish wood-heated saunaThe Finnish Savu
Historical evidence and records indicate that the Finns built the first wooden saunas over 2000 years ago. The early Finnish sauna was dug into a hill or embankment. As tools and techniques advanced, they were later built above ground using wooden logs. Rocks were heated in a stone fireplace with a wood fire. The smoke from the fire filled the room as the air warmed.
Once the temperature reached desired levels, the smoke was allowed to clear and the bathers entered. The wood smoke aroma still lingered and was part of the cleansing ritual. This type of traditional smoke sauna was called a savu, which means smoke in Finnish.
The evolution of the sauna
Eventually the sauna evolved to use a metal woodstove, or kiuas [ˈkiu.ɑs], with a chimney. Air temperatures averaged around 160-180 degrees Fahrenheit (70-80 °C) but sometimes exceeded 200 °F (90 °C) in a traditional Finnish sauna. Steam vapor, also called löyly [ˈløyly), was created by splashing water on the heated rocks.
The steam and high heat caused bathers to perspire, thus flushing away impurities and toxins from the body. The Finns also used vihtas [ˈvihtɑs] or bundles of birch twigs to gently slap the skin and create further stimulation of the pores and cells.
The Finns also used the sauna as a place to cleanse the mind, rejuvenate and refresh the spirit, and prepare the dead for burial. The sauna was an important part of daily life, and families bathed together in the home sauna, but those of differing sexes didn’t mix in public saunas. Because the sauna was often the cleanest structure and had water readily available, Finnish women also gave birth in the sauna.
When the Finns migrated to other areas of the globe, they brought their sauna designs and traditions with them, introducing other cultures to the enjoyment and health benefits of saunas. This led to further evolution of the sauna, including the electric sauna stove, which was invented and implemented in the 1950s and far infrared saunas, which have become popular in the last several decades.
Wood-heated Sauna on Iowa Farm PondInfrared Saunas, Wet, Dry, Smoke and Steam Saunas
Infrared saunas use a special heater that generates infrared radiation rays similar to that produced by the sun. Unlike the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, infrared is said to be beneficial to overall health. In an infrared sauna, the electric heaters warm the air and also penetrate the skin to encourage perspiration, producing many of the same health benefits of traditional steam saunas.
Today there are a wide variety of sauna options. Heat sources include wood, electricity, gas and other more unconventional methods such as solar power. There are wet saunas, dry saunas, smoke saunas, steam saunas, and those that work with infrared waves as described above.
You can have a sauna in your home or apartment, in your backyard, on your rooftop, or even in a vehicle or on a pontoon boat. The possibilities are endless and creating innovative and sometimes quirky designs has become part of the appeal of sauna bathing. But for most people, it is still the health benefits that are the main attraction.
Modern sauna culture around the world
As the home of the sauna, Finnish sauna culture is well established. Although cultures in all corners of the world have imported and adapted the sauna, many of the traditional customs have not survived the journey. Today, public perception of saunas, sauna "etiquette" and sauna customs vary hugely from country to country. In many countries sauna going is a recent fashion and attitudes towards saunas are changing, while in others traditions have survived over generations.
In Finland and Russia sauna-going plays a central social role. These countries boast the hottest saunas and the tradition of beating fellow sauna-goers with birch branches. In Russia public saunas are strictly single sex while in Finland both types occur.
Benelux and Scandinavian countries, where public saunas have been around for a long time too, generally have a moderate, "live and let live" attitude towards sauna-going with few traditions to speak of. Levels of nudity vary, single sex saunas are as common as mixed sex saunas and people tend to socialise.
In Germany and Austria on the other hand, nudity is strictly enforced in public saunas, as is the covering of benches with towels. Separate single-sex saunas for both genders are rare, most places offer woman-only and mixed-gender saunas, or organise women-only days for the sauna once a week. Loud conversation is not usual as the sauna is seen as a place of healing rather than socialising. Contrary to Scandinavian countries, pouring water on hot stones to increase humidity (Aufguss) is not normally done by the sauna visitors themselves, but rather by a person in charge (the Saunameister), either an employee of the sauna complex or a volunteer. Aufguss sessions can take up to 10 minutes, and take place according to a schedule. During an Aufguss session the Saunameister uses a large towel to percolate the hot air through the sauna, intesifying sweating and the perception of heat. Once the Aufguss session has started it is not considered good manners to enter the sauna, as opening the door would cause loss of heat (Sauna guests are expected to enter the sauna just in time before the Aufguss. Leaving the session is always, but grudgingly tolerated). Aufguss sessions are usually announced by a schedule on the sauna door. An Aufguss session in progress might be indicated by a light or sign hung above the sauna entrance. Cold showers or baths shortly after a sauna, as well as exposure to fresh air in a special balcony, garden or open-air room (Frischluftraum) are considered a must.
In (at least the German-speaking part of) Switzerland it is generally the same as in Germany and Austria, although you tend to see more families (parents with their children) and young people. Also in respect to socialising in the sauna the Swiss tend more to be like the Swedes or Finns.
In much of southern Europe, France and the UK single gender saunas are more common than mixed gender saunas. Nudity is strictly forbidden, a cause of confusion and argument when nationals of these nations cross the border to Germany and Austria or vice versa. Sauna sessions tend to be shorter and cold showers are shunned by most. In the UK, where public saunas are becoming increasingly fashionable, the practice of alternating between the sauna and the jacuzzi in short seatings (considered a faux pas in Northern Europe) has emerged.
Saunas in Slovenia and Croatia have setups similar to those in Germany and Austria, and are perhaps a bit more relaxed about enforcing rules.
Hungarians see the sauna a part of a wider spa culture. Here too attitudes are less liberal, mixed-gender people are together and they wear swimsuits. Single-sex saunas are rare, as well as those which tolerate nudity.
In South America saunas are an exclusively upper class affair. As in Africa, on the whole saunas are kept at a much lower temperature than in Europe, and nudity is forbidden.
In Japan, many saunas exist at sports centers and public bathhouses (sentos). The saunas are almost always gender separated, often required by law, and nudity is a required part of proper sauna etiquette. While right after World War II, public bathhouses were commonplace in Japan, the number of customers have dwindled as more people were able to afford houses and apartments equipped with their own private baths as the nation became wealthier. As a result many sentos have added more features such as saunas in order to survive.
Unfortunately for sauna enthusiasts in the United States, sauna culture is not widespread. While sauna facilities are often provided at health clubs and at hotels, they frequently remain unheated because of disuse. To avoid liability, many saunas operate at only moderate temperatures and do not allow pouring water on the rocks. Sauna users enter and exit the sauna as they please, alternately nude, fully dressed in workout clothes, or dripping wet in swimsuits. In some health clubs, the sauna gets more use from patrons drying wet clothing than for taking a sauna. Proper saunas in the United States are either private or are businesses serving a particular ethnic group with a more developed sauna culture.
Sauna traditions and old beliefs
In Finland, the sauna is an ancient thing. It used to be a holy place, a place where women gave birth, and where the bodies of the dead were washed. There were also many beliefs and charms that were connected to sauna. It was, among other things, a place for worshipping the dead – it was thought of as such a wonderful place that even the dead would surely like to return to it. Curing diseases and casting love spells could also happen in the sauna. As in many other cultures, fire was seen as a gift from heaven in Finland, and the hearth and the sauna oven were its altars.
One word in Finnish, strictly connected to sauna, is löyly. It is a bit difficult to translate, but basically it means the heat of the sauna room, especially the heat you get when you throw water on the hot stones of the sauna oven. Originally this word meant spirit or life. In many languages which are related to Finnish, there is a word corresponding to löyly. An example would be lil in Ostyak, which means soul. All this also hints to the sauna's old, spiritual essence.
There still exists an old saying, "saunassa ollaan kuin kirkossa," – you should be in the sauna as in a church.
Saunatonttu is a little gnome that was believed to live in the sauna. He was always treated with respect, otherwise he might cause much trouble for people. It was customary to warm up the sauna just for the gnome every now and then, or to leave some food outside for him. It is said that he warned the people if a fire was threatening the sauna, or punished people who behaved improperly in it – for example slept, or played games or behaved otherwise "immorally" there.
2006-07-23 03:11:07
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answer #8
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answered by Monica 3
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