h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Saunas - A289181
Author: E G Mel - U49849

I'm really dragging up my old articles now aren't I!

I lost interest in this one when it got rejected by the original editing system, I recently took another look at it, saw why and have made some changes to include comments that were made.

Here is my latest draft which I would welcome any input on!

Mel

I like it!

...but as a Finn I wasn't aware that the jacuzzi was part of the sauna ritual? Darn these foreign ideas...

You're not supposed to stay long enough in the plunge pool to get cold - and you won't if you're warm enough before you plunge into it... and it should really be a lake or sea...

For loads of interesting info, see the official site of The Finnish Sauna Society:
http://www.sauna.fi/pages/index.htm

Maybe add a little bit of history?

OK, I liked this article. There are a few points that can bear with some more description for the novice, but the information within is very good and nicely written.

One suggestion might be a name change. We have "saunas" here in the states, but they are just bastardized from finnish saunas.

Perhaps: Real Finnish Saunas, or Traditional Finnish Saunas. . .something to distinguish it from the dingy one in my local gym.

A little history would make a nice introductary paragraph for this piece, but it sets up fin ethe way it is too.

I'll look back later and let you know about the very few spots I thought needed more detail later this weekend.

Friar

It might be a good idea to add some information on why people use a sauna, and what its beneficial effects are. Sweating is an important way of excreting waste products, toxins, etc from the body, which is perhaps why you feel so good and clean afterwards.

I find it's the best way to get rid of a heavy cold - it gets all the gunge out. I also have a heat/cold method you can use at home even if you don't have a sauna, which I'll happily tell you about if you are interested.

You mentioned the cold plunge, but didn't mention rolling around in the snow. I thought that's where the birch twigs came in, rather than in the sauna itself. Do they have to be birch? Is there some special quality that birch possesses, or is it just that there is a lot of birch growing in Finland so it's easy to get some?

I'd love to hear about the heat/cold method, Bels!

Saunas were of tradition (and still are, when possible) built close to a lake or the sea, and it's the most popular way to cool off - evening in the winter, but then you'll have to cut a hole in the ice, of course... still, there are enthusiasts who do!

I guess rolling in the snow is the alternative if you don't have access to lake or sea

The beating with birch whisks is not to warm up after the cold plunge - it's done inside the sauna to stimulate blood circulation, usually during the second round when your skin is thoroughly softened...

...the chemicals in the birch leaves would act as a soap would have, if there had been soaps in the old times - and yes, birch is very common in Finland

Birch is much preferred, but you can use other sorts of trees too - but birch whisks have that special scent... The whisks are usually made during the summer, and then dried or frozen to last during the winter

Let me again recommend the The Finnish Sauna Society's page - so full of fascinating facts!
http://www.sauna.fi/pages/index.htm

Titania, this is for you. It may or may not sound pleasant but I can assure you it is very pleasurable and leaves you feeling great.

You get some ice cubes (I usually use about a dozen, but 6 or more would probably be fine) and wrap them in a small wet towel. You then have a bath or shower as hot as you can stand. The thing is to get really hot and stay that way. So you then wrap yourself in towels, blankets, whatever, to stay really snug, and get into bed. When in bed, apply the prepared ice-pack to your solar plexus, with the cold wet towel next to the skin, and wrap up really warmly with all the towels and blankets etc. and lots of layers to keep warm.

Relax, read, snooze, whatever, for a couple of hours or more. The cold compress on your belly naturally draws blood to the region. If you look afterwards you'll see how red it gets. The extra blood supply to the solar plexus seems to have a very cleansing effect. Apart from when you first apply the ice pack it will not feel cold - trust me. It's great.

Bels

OK, I was about to talk about my home-style sauna, but I realized it was just me sitting in the bathroom with all the water running to really hot. . .not much fun there. . . carry on.

Friar

I once read about heating a frying pan up (empty, the old solid iron type of pan, not teflon or anything) and pouring water on it - I tried it in my bathroom once, but the pan cooled of too fast - I didn't get much steam...

Thanks Bels - I might try the solar plexus thing one day - but it does sound cold!

As for warming up, I find a hot bath is the best thing to get warm through and through - I love my bath tub! So many modern flats of today (in Sweden, at least) only have a shower cabin

Friar - I've tried the running hot water thing, but gave up because there's not much in the way of ventilation in my bath room (nor any window)...

This is all great info, I'm making notes and digesting the info, I'll let you all know when I've done the re-write though it might take some time as I think it's going to be fairly major!

Keep on adding stuff if you have any more, I think I'll stick with the heading saunas and work in some info about the boxes called saunas which are often found in gyms etc!

Mel

You could also link to the following entry - Turkish Steam Baths, Ironmonger Row, London (A666858). It's not bad; can't remember who wrote it, though...

No the name escapes me too for the moment, it'll come to me later though

Mel

On a BBC-we-must-be-perfectly-correct note, we'll need to call it a hot spa bath. Jacuzzi is the name of a specific brand.
Boring, I know, and their site states that "Jacuzzi is how the world says hot tub" but we like our Guide to be tip top 'other brands are available'.

Very good entry, I was nervous of saunas as I have asthma, but when I went in one in Holland I didn't have any problems.

Asthma is usually not a problem in a 'real' sauna, unless the air is very dry (which can happen sometimes in saunas with electric heating and too little steam)

I once read about a Canadian who visited Finland and tried sauna for the first time - checking the thermometer, he was terrified - "+100 C? Doesn't water start boiling at that temperature?" Poor thing, he was probably worried that his blood would start boiling...

Well if the water doesn't boil it wont steam! Unless of course the pressure is higher than normal or the water is impure! But that's just the physicist side of me coming through!

Mel

Oh - but it wasn't the temperature of the hot stones - it was the temperature of the air in the sauna...

yes but to stop the steam from condensing to quickly......

Mel *desperatly ing around for answers!*

Just for general interest about saunas, just made entry about Sauna Whisks, currently in PR, A888348

And EG if you're ever going to continue this entry I'll be happy to help with part about Finnish saunas.

I'm afraid I'm a little busy at the moment though if you want to add to it feel free to email me a revised version (h2g2 at leysters.com) or you can take what I've got and make it a new entry if that would be easier for you, either way we can both go on as authors.

Mel

Hey Mel, just checking in on your progress.

I still like the article, just needs some fine tuning and some fleshing out in a few more spots.

When you have the time to dedicate to the work, you can correct a few items then send it over to peer review. Your style and content both seem near-ready!

Friar