Postcard from Finland
Finns feel at home
with saunas
When it comes to healthy living, Finland has always been ahead of the game. Long before the Finns came up with Benecol®, they developed and refined the art of the sauna - a refreshing, relaxing and cleansing tradition that’s now a national pastime.
It's believed the first saunas were constructed in Finland at some point between the fifth and eighth centuries. Ever since then, the principle has remained roughly the same - bathers go into a wooden building and sit down on benches, splashing water on to hot stones in a stove to create steam. It’s this steam that is key to the whole sauna experience. The Finns call it "löyly", or "the spirit of the sauna."
In the days when Finland was a largely agricultural society, the sauna was essential to life on the farm. In fact, since it was likely to be the most hygienic place - due to the anti-bacterial qualities of the tannic acid contained in the steam - it was a custom for Finnish women to give birth in the sauna up until around the time of the Second World War.
Until the 1950s, public saunas were popular throughout the country as a way for friends to meet and relax together. Of course, there was a certain etiquette - there’s an old Finnish proverb which suggests that "when in the sauna, you should act as if you’re in church." Controversial subjects were out of bounds in the sauna, preventing arguments from interfering with the process of relaxation. Flatulence was also considered very bad manners.
These days, thanks to the advent of the electric stove, many Finns have been able to bring their saunas literally "in house", by installing their own home saunas. It’s seen as an essential part of Finnish life - even the President and Prime Minister have their own official saunas. In fact, one recent estimate from the Finnish Tourist Board suggested Finland had a population of 5.3 million people - and 1.8 million saunas.
