Relax in sauna – sauna tips!

Finns are sauna folk and most include at least one sauna day a week in their weekly program. Many Finns warm their sauna daily and enjoy relaxing heat on their own sauna benches. You can also rent a sauna or go to public saunas, spas and swimming halls. Many rental cottages have their own sauna and most of the hotels have a sauna section. In Häme you can enjoy many different saunas! We have various special saunas in addition to traditional saunas, for example Viking sauna, Gnome sauna, year 1952 olympic sauna and tractor sauna. You can also rent a floating sauna boat or a sauna bus!

Finns have many different habits related to sauna. Here are some sauna tips:

• Pour some beer on the stove to create an aroma of malt and barley. This divides opinion, so maybe better ask first what others think.
• Try sauna fragrances made from ethereal oil for example eucalyptus scented. Put a few drops in the “ löyly” water before throwing it to the stones.
• Try sauna treatments. Heat makes your pores expand, so it is a good idea to peel your skin and try for example a peat mask. It is good to put cream to your skin after sauna.
• Try footbath, put salt or ethereal oil in the bath water to soften your skin before using foot rasp.
• Try sauna honey, it is a natural product having several effects: it peels the skin, moisturizes and brightens it, enhances blood stream and so on.
• In wintertime you can try ice swimming. It has both calming, as well as refreshing effects. Watch out, you can get hooked on this hobby!
• It is also worthwhile to refresh by rolling in the snow between sauna sessions.
• Taste the sauna sausages: Make a few cuts in the sausages, you can fill them for example with cheese and tomato. Then roll them in tin foil and place on the stove for about 20 minutes. Remove the package carefully, it is burning hot. Enjoy with ketchup and mustard.
• Preparing grilled food with boiled potatoes and salad is strongly related activity with sauna bathing.

Based on the sauna instruction made by Häme University of Applied Sciences student Marika Koskinen in her thesis.