Yay, yay and thrice yay! The village sauna has reopened. It’s on a limited basis, with an extra charge, but that’s all fine.
Indeed, I’d suggested something of the same myself.
I was surprised to see the steam room reopened too, having said that, after doing research on the subject.
Word on the street, or at least on government and university websites, was that the virus thrived in moisture.
Sauna vs steam in the time of Covid
Nowhere more moisture-laden than a stream room so, last time I looked, their reopening was not recommended.
Nowhere less moist than a sauna, so their reopening was cautiously advocated.
It’s odd having the two units a few feet from each other, yet with such opposite effects.
Before Covid closed them, I’d come to prefer the steam room, and had read that it massages your muscles better.
My life with hot spaces
My life with hot spaces had indeed begun with a steam room in, as it happened, another island village with a fabby leisure centre.
I don’t even like heat normally, but enjoy sitting and meditating in the sauna and feeling the sweat on my skin. You know too that I’ve a thing for wood.
I’m guessing that, in Scandinavia and suchlike, these spaces were developed as fantastic havens from the freezing cold outside.
But, then again, native Americans had their sweat lodges too, and these had a spiritual significance. They’re all a kind of challenge too, I guess.
Health benefits – or not
Health-wise, the jury is out. That is to say, there are no bad effects, but the benefits are debated.
One thing I like, or at least thole, is a cold shower afterwards. I last precisely eight seconds, just time for the sauna heat to wear off.
There’s growing enthusiasm for the benefits of cold, with northern Scandinavians cutting holes in frozen lakes and bathing in them.
This is related to the Wim Hof method of cold immersion. It’s supposed to help your immune system and send happy chemicals into your brain.
Frozen lakes a step too far
All I know is that I’m as bad with cold as I am with heat.
Plunging into a frozen lake could put stress on the heart, I think.
On the other hand, while exercising similar precautions if you’ve a medical condition, wild swimming is another increasingly popular practice, for health benefits and feeling good.
Needless to say, I had the sauna room (new maximum: two persons) to myself, as in the gym beforehand.
Next day, I had the beach and the hill walk by the forest to myself too. Beginning to see a pattern here.
What to do in the sauna?
It’s a conundrum what to do in the sauna. I used to enjoy a natter with fellow heat-seekers, and met lots of interesting people, including a fantastic Finn.
On my own, I try, as I say, to meditate a bit but, like everyone else, my mind returns to mundanities – food, telly, fitba’ –within 11.2 seconds.
I don’t know if it would be wise to take a book in, and probably not one’s phone or laptop.
In the sauna, you’re reliant on your own mental resources, and I like that part of the challenge. Why must we distract ourselves all the time?
In the meantime, I’m hot to trot for my next trip to the sauna.
