How It Feels To Visit A Traditional Nordic Sauna

[gentle upbeat music]

Today we're at Loyly in Helsinki

to walk you through a very special cultural tradition

here in Finland: the sauna experience.

Find out why the sauna has become the bedrock of my country,

and a few tips on how to sauna like a true Finn.

[keys clink]

I'm Jasper Paakkonen.

I'm an actor and owner here at Loyly.

Though many may think of a sauna as a luxury,

to Finnish people, they're an essential part of daily life

and a fundamental part of our culture.

In this country of just 5 1/2 million people,

there are over 3 million saunas and counting.

[gentle upbeat music]

This is A Finnish Sauna Experience.

Almost every Finnish home, vacation cottage,

apartment building, and hotel have a sauna.

And here in Helsinki, we have several public saunas,

like Loyly. [bright music]

Public saunas offer a social environment,

sense of community, and a way to pause

in the midst of everyday life.

Before you head to sweat it out in the sauna,

make sure you're hydrated.

The sauna is meant to be a cleansing experience,

some people might even say spiritual.

Washing before entering is essential,

so jump in the shower before you get in.

It's customary to be naked in the sauna,

although in public mixed saunas, bathing suits are required.

Once you're ready, come meet me in the sauna.

[bright gentle music]

Hello.

Welcome to an authentic Finnish wood-burning sauna.

I don't think there's anything

as distinctly Finnish as saunas.

Having a sauna is just as essential

as having a bathroom, or a kitchen, or a bedroom.

We start going to the sauna

when we're only a few months old.

Many people in Finland go to the sauna every day,

but saunas are also a very important way

to celebrate birthdays, or parties, or you name it.

We always come up with a reason to go to the sauna.

One of the most important saunas,

on an annual scale, is a Christmas sauna.

Sauna is actually an average Finn's version

of going to the church.

There's about 3.3 million saunas in Finland,

and it's safe to say that every single one

of those 3.3 million saunas is unique and different.

And people in Finland build saunas in the weirdest places.

There are saunas on wheels and inside ice hockey arenas,

but traditionally, people have saunas at their home,

either electric-heated saunas or wood-burning saunas,

which is the traditional way of building a sauna.

The most authentic way, historically,

was building smoke saunas.

So before chimneys were invented,

just a room or a little hut with a pile rocks,

and you would burn wood inside the pile of rocks.

And before you start using the sauna,

you'd open a little hatch,

and you open the door, and you'd blow out all the smoke.

And all the walls would, of course,

be covered in black soot, but there's no more toxins.

We Finns value the smoke saunas,

the most traditional saunas, at the highest level.

[steam hisses]

Every traditional sauna needs to have water thrown

onto the sauna heater's rocks,

because that steam raises the humidity level

for a little while.

For about a half a minute to a minute,

the sauna feels a lot hotter,

but the temperature doesn't actually change.

The name of that steam is loyly.

It's kind of like the spirit of the sauna,

and each and every sauna has its own distinct loyly.

Okay, I think we've done enough

for this first sauna session.

Let's go out and take a little dip in the Baltic Sea.

[gentle upbeat music]

How long you choose to stay in the sauna is up to you,

but be sure to take enough breaks.

The Finnish sauna method is heat, cool down, repeat.

People typically sit in the sauna anywhere

from five to 30 minutes,

and then cool down outside in the shower,

or if you want an extra rush of endorphins,

by taking an icy plunge. [light upbeat music]

You ready?

Remember to hydrate with plenty of water during your breaks.

You can go in the sauna once

or as many times as you feel comfortable,

but always listen to your body,

and don't stay past your limit.

The history of the Finnish sauna is difficult to pin down,

but some say its primitive form dates back 10,000 years.

Over the ages, saunas served a multitude of functions,

having been the most practical place to wash

during cold months, a sterile environment to give birth,

my grandmother was born in a sauna,

and in a full-circle moment,

a space to prepare the dead for their final rites.

Though these days, it's less common

that you'll meet a Finn who was born in a sauna,

it's still dubbed the poor man's pharmacy,

proven to prevent and cure a variety of illnesses.

Also in the wartime, in the second World War,

traditionally, building a sauna in the field

was a very essential part of the way Finns survived.

And nowadays, when Finnish peacekeeping troops, for example,

travel to a new location,

the first structure that they build is the sauna.

And in 2020, the Finnish sauna was placed

on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

You may be asking yourself why you'd want to go

into an 80-Celsius room and sweat it out.

You'll just have to try for yourself.

[water trickles]

[water rushes] [bright music]

In the sauna, you may be handed a vihta or vasta,

a bunch of birch branches that you dip in water

and then use to whisk yourself.

This is not as weird as it sounds.

It can help cleanse your skin, stimulate circulation,

and it gives off a nice aroma.

Beyond the cultural and social aspects,

the sauna can have important benefits

for physical and mental health,

including improved circulation and immune function,

muscle relaxation, stress reduction, and better sleep.

We don't really have a strong sense of hierarchy in Finland.

It's a very flat social structure in terms of equality.

But nowhere else than inside a sauna is that more true.

When you strip away from your clothes,

you leave your clothes and your wallet,

everybody's basically bare, and quite literally bare,

stripped away from titles, from their wealth.

The way Loyly was built was for both people in Helsinki

to have that traditional sort of communal sauna experience

and a place to meet up and gather

and have spontaneous conversations in the sauna

with strangers, but also for foreigners

to experience a very traditional wood-heated sauna.

You know, you can't really visit Finland

without visiting a sauna,

because you haven't experienced what true Finland

and true Finnish culture is all about.

[gentle upbeat music]

We Finns don't sweat and run.

When you're finished in the sauna, shower off with soap.

Taking a shower will calm your heart rate

and complete the experience

of physical and mental cleansing.

Then continue this experience with a cold drink

and a snack to hydrate

and restore the sodium that you sweat out.

Conveniently, here at Loyly,

we have a restaurant with plenty of refreshing options.

I recommend the traditional fish soup.

The most important thing now is to take some time

to enjoy the blissful post-sauna feeling.

[bright music] [guests chatter indistinctly]

[gentle upbeat music]

Some Finns might love the sauna for the social aspect,

others might love this experience

for the physical and mental benefits.

What's universally agreed upon in Finland

is that the sauna is the perfect way

to let stress melt away.

It just might be the key

to why Finns are the happiest people on Earth.

[bright piano music] [footsteps shuffling]