Sauna Ritual

Here are some easy steps for the sauna ritual in Sweden.

Shower

Take a shower or a swim in the sea or lake before you get into the sauna. When you shower beforehand, you rinse away fibres from the clothes and dirt that has settled in the skin pores. Otherwise, it takes longer for the sweat to penetrate and therefore it is important to shower first so that the pores are not clogged. If you want to sweat rapidly, do dry yourself before entering the sauna.

Time in the sauna

It is important that it should be comfortable to be in the sauna. Feel free to start using the sauna with a lower temperature (around 65–70 degrees) and work your way up in temperature to 70–90 degrees. If it’s too hot when you enter, just open the door a while and let cold air in. If you want “dry air”, just be in the sauna as it is. If you like “steamy air”, pour some sweat water over the stones on the heater – the temperature will feel warmer in the hot steam, and you'll sweat more. If it becomes too hot rapidly when you pouring water, move down a seat. Move up a seat if you want higher temperature. Do not pour water from the sea (brackish water) on the stones, it makes the sauna heater rusty which will break it fast. You’ll sit in the sauna until you feel you must cool down. It’ll take about 10–20 minutes.

Cooling down

Cooling down is important because the body's own systems to cool off do not work as well when your body has been heated and it then tries to cool down by sweating. It is therefore important to cool down the body from something with a lower temperature such as colder water in a shower, a bath, the sea, or why not roll around in the snow if it's winter (this is great!). When the body temperature is allowed to alternate between cold and hot, the blood vessel walls are strengthened. The cooling down break can be done fast – especially when you cool down in an ice weak or snow.

Back into the sauna

To feel at your best after a sauna, do go into the sauna and cool down several times, preferably 2–3 times.

After sauna – recovery

When you think you're done with the sauna, do let your body get back to its normal body temperature by having a relaxing moment. Take the opportunity to drink lots of water to stay hydrated in your body after sweating a lot. When your body has regained its normal temperature, you can put your clothes back on so that you don't get sweaty.

Additional

Some people choose to use a chilled wet sauna cap to be able to sit longer in the sauna. Or during the winter, use a dry sauna cap to keep your head warm when you go into cold water or snow. Most people choose to enter the sauna naked, but they use a towel or seat pad to sit on. Though, if you come into public saunas, you might put the towel around your body if you feel more comfortable with this. When you leave the sauna, make sure it's in the same condition as when you started off. If the sauna is heated by wood, make sure to fill up new wood (each sauna has its own rules).

Don't use the sauna

Even though the body benefits from frequent sauna use, you should't use it if:

you have a fever or an ongoing infection
you have recently had a heart attack
you have MSA (when you don't have as easy to regulate your own body temperature).

Sauna and beer?

To drink a cold beer in the sauna is very nice but do consider the following. When you're in the sauna and it's very hot, you often get very thirsty. You can easily drink too much beer. This can affect your consciousness and you may fall in the sauna and burn yourself, you may fall asleep inside the sauna, or slip when you going out to cool down. So, bring enough cold soda, non-alcoholic drinks, or plain water. If you drink beer, do count them (one beer and then two water in the same size).