The bathhouse has always been very important for human beings. It has a long history, going back at least a thousand years, probably more. First bathhouses in Latvia appeared already in 12th century. Eventually the sauna evolved to use a metal woodstove with a chimney. Air temperatures averaged around 70-80 °C but sometimes exceeded 90 °C in a traditional Finnish sauna. Steam vapor, was created by splashing water on the heated rocks.
The steam and high heat caused bathers to perspire, thus flushing away impurities and toxins from the body. The Finns, which is a bundle of birch twigs, to gently slap the skin and create further stimulation of the pores and cells.
The Finns also used the sauna as a place to cleanse the mind, rejuvenate and refresh the spirit, and prepare the dead for burial. The sauna was an important part of daily life, and families bathed together in the home sauna. Indeed Sauna was originally place of mystical nature where gender differences did not exist. Because the sauna was often the cleanest structure and had water readily available, Finnish women also gave birth in the sauna.…
