If there is one country that loves to take a relaxing sauna, it is probably the country of Finland. Finnish claims that in their country is the home of the original sauna experience. Finnish saunas are not only used by the locals of Finland to relax and unwind or trim down their bodies. Sauna for them is a prime part of their culture. They think that sauna is a necessity not a luxury. That is why in every household in Finland you can see at least one or two saunas installed inside their home or built in their outdoor area.
For you to be able to experience an authentic sauna experience, you must try any of the Finnish saunas in Finland. Since it is a part of their culture, they even have several customs that people do not usually do in other places offering sauna. They first start it off by setting the sauna heater to eighty to one hundred degree Celsius. Afterwards, water is splashed on the hot stones located at the top of the sauna stove known as kiuas. This produces a nice warm steam which they call loyly, making the room even hotter.
Some Finnish saunas use boughs of Finnish vasta, which is made up of silver birch. It is a set of leaves having a nice fragrant that are being used in saunas in Finland to beat their selves gently. The Finnish vasta or vihta are said to have calming effects on the muscles. Moreover, if you have a lot of mosquito bites or other insect bites, this will surely calm the effects in your skin. After having a relaxing time inside the warm sauna room, it is a custom in Finland that you jump right into the nearest swimming pool, lake or sea to cool down your body. But during the winter, people they go rolling in the snow or even taking a dip in the avanto (a hole cut within the ice) instead. They end the whole sauna session by eating a local Finnish sausage or by drinking beer at the dressing room.
There are also some Finnish saunas that are using a small house not just a room. This is called savusauna, otherwise known as smoke sauna. The small house used does not have a chimney. Huge amount of woods are burned in a large stove and allowing the smoke fill the whole room. Once the temperature is already hot enough, they splash water to the wood in order to kill the fire and ventilate the smoke produced. The remaining heat in the stove will now be enough for the whole sauna session. However, there are now lesser people Finland using this type of sauna since it requires so much time, effort, as well as skills just only for heating the whole area.
And because of its gained popularity all over the world, Finnish saunas are now becoming one of the major tourist attractions in Finland, especially during their winter season.