Healing qualities of the sauna

Nature has wisely provided that, both in the olden days and nowadays, human life is connected with active behavior. In childhood we play moving games, in adolescence we realize our age aspirations in some sport or active hobby, and in adulthood we relentlessly run somewhere in order to have time to solve again and again emerging concerns and tasks. In order to be in the rut of life you need to constantly twist and turn. All these active actions are naturally associated with the process that we sometimes want to avoid or hide – the process of sweating. Sweat smells unpleasant, stains clothes, and we would gladly give it up completely, if we had such an opportunity. However, there is nothing in this manifested reality without reason – there are reasons for everything, and sweat, as we find out, is very necessary for us.

The fact is that with the help of sweat glands, our body gets rid of waste products generated in the course of life. With sweat glands are able to excrete 184 different elements, including so-called metabolites (metabolic products). It is noteworthy that with feces and urine we can excrete much less – only 84 elements, which is a whole hundred below. So it turns out that by leading an active lifestyle and, consequently, sweating intensively, a person is able to clean himself or herself naturally, without any additional measures.

However, what happens with age? As a person ages, he often becomes sedentary, meaning he literally slows down. He wants more and more to be in a static position, be it a sofa in front of the TV, or a chair in a bar/restaurant. All unnecessary movements are eliminated, and this in turn leads to a decrease in sweating. If a person has a sedentary job, and he also uses all kinds of chemical antiperspirants, which tightly close the sweat glands, then sweat in general ceases to come out. What does this mean in terms of internal cleanliness? It means that the very hundred elements, which we cannot excrete in any other way than with sweat, remain in the body and go into our joints, tissues and internal organs, poisoning them and disrupting their smooth work.

Yogis are wise people and they could not avoid this process. Therefore, in this culture there are whole directions where intensive sweating is an integral part of the practice. For example, this is Vikram yoga (practice in a sauna) or Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga (active practice with asanas). In these types of yoga, the body has the opportunity to effectively cleanse itself directly through this wise mechanism that nature itself has provided. However, what to do, if a person for some reasons can not intensively practice yoga (whether it is physiological, social or mental limitations)? For this case Slavs and northern peoples have a great tool called sauna. In the sauna a person is able to clear himself of unnecessary elements in the same way as if he were actively moving. Although, active movement, of course, is associated with a lot of other additional bonuses, so do not rely only on the sauna – it is just a good tool that complements the overall set of health-improving actions.

But as we know, any medicine, if taken incorrectly, can do us more harm than good. The situation is exactly the same with the sauna ritual. If it is done incorrectly, at best the effect will be minimal, and at worst you can cause your body a lot of trouble. In this article, I present the methodology that Vasily Lyakhov uses in his courses to teach future professional steamers.

So, when conducting a sauna ritual, first of all we pay attention to the microclimate that is supposed to be created in the steam room. I did not use the word temperature on purpose, because our sensations are formed not only from the air temperature, but also from its humidity. Have you never noticed that modern weather forecasts indicate not only the actual air temperature, but also there is an indicator “feels like” and often this figure is significantly different from the original? That is the correction to account for humidity (and wind). The lower the humidity, the higher the temperature in the sauna we can tolerate and we will be comfortable enough to stay. Among experienced steamers there is a golden guide, expressed in the number 120. One hundred and twenty is the sum of temperature and humidity, beyond which you should not go. For example, if you have a steam room absolutely dry (0% humidity), you can easily withstand and 120 degrees, if the humidity is 40%, then the temperature should not be higher than 80ti (40+80=120). The ideal is 40/40 or 50/50.

If you want to maximize the effectiveness of freeing your body from accumulated slags, it is better not to go above 60 degrees. The fact is that sweat glands actively release so-called “dirty sweat” only when the air temperature does not exceed this mark. As soon as the steam room becomes hotter, instead of sweat begins to release intercellular fluid. This is most likely due to the fact that a person usually lives in climatic conditions where the safe temperature range varies from -60ti to +60ti degrees. Anything beyond that is life-threatening. Accordingly, as soon as we increase the temperature in the steam room above 60 degrees, our central processor (i.e. brain) detects the danger of heat stroke and begins to take safety measures. As part of this action, the maximum amount of liquid is released on the surface of the skin, the evaporation of which is cooling. As a result, the person in the steam room sits kind of wet, but there is no internal cleansing effect.

By creating comfortable conditions in the sauna, when the air temperature and humidity do not exceed 60, we create so-called “soft” or “radiant” heat. Such heat passes through objects, but is absorbed by water, i.e. our body, enveloping and warming it from inside. Hard heat, when the temperature is too high and the sauna is very humid, burns the skin, traumatizes the mucous membrane of the eyes and nasopharynx, but does not penetrate inside. You go into the steam room, get burned, secrete intercellular fluid, and come out – that’s the whole sauna ritual.

Why is it so important to warm up from the inside? There is another useful effect of proper sauna ritual. The fact is that, well warming your body, we can at least in the periphery to raise the internal temperature by 1-2 degrees and this is enough to all sorts of pathogenic bacteria and viruses died. This is exactly what our body does when we get sick – it raises the temperature (which we are trying to bring down). In addition, when the body is well heated and relaxed, blood vessels expand and blood abundantly washes hard-to-reach places. According to some information, in the sauna up to 2 liters of blood can flow to the periphery, while in the normal state, no more than 150-250 milliliters. It means that our cells in these places receive fresh blood, rich in oxygen and nutrients, and, consequently, life-giving energy.

The use of a broom significantly increases the effect of all these processes, because with its help we massage all the muscles of the body, dispersing blood and lymph throughout the body. Moreover, if you know how to work with this tool, a person can literally enter a state of meditation. The touch of leaves with the surface of the skin, rhythmic vibrations from blows and massage movements, disconnect the analytical flow, because the brain is no longer able to control many of these factors at the same time. It simply flies off the iron rails of daily routine, and we finally dissolve into sensations. There is no thought flow, but there is presence – we feel ourselves without analyzing anything. After proper steaming with a broom a person leaves the sauna as if after a long and effective sleep. All psychosomatic tensions are relieved.

After several warming visits to the steam room, it is recommended to perform also the procedure of temperature contrast, simply put – dousing or diving into cold water. There are also certain recommendations here, contrary to existing stereotypes in society. For example, in no case should you jump into an ice-hole/cold pool or get under a cold shower all at once. This is too much stress for the body in general and the cardiovascular system in particular. Let’s remember how it happens in natural conditions. When we step into a lake, the first thing our feet come in contact with the water, signaling to the brain that it will be cold. Then we wet our hands, which still adds more information. Then, often, we rinse our face as well – the last signal of what’s to come. After these signals, our body is prepared for the contrasting temperature regime. This is exactly what we should do in the sauna. Go into the pool or under a cold shower gradually – starting with the feet, then the hands and only then the whole body. The same applies to pouring from the bowl – from bottom to top. In this case, this procedure will bring you only benefit, because it is a powerful charge for your blood vessels. With the change of temperature regime vessels are sharply expanding, then shrink, accelerating blood flow. Any existing plaques and growths on the walls of blood vessels naturally fall behind, freeing the passage. In general, the vessels become more flexible, and therefore younger. The effect of hardening should not be talked about, here everything is clear.

At the end of the sauna rituals, as well as in the intervals between visits, it is recommended to drink herbal tea. You should not drink cold drinks – they will not quench your thirst anyway, because cold water will not pass through the sphincter immediately into the intestines. Warm herbal tea will quench both thirst and hunger, as well as enrich the body with useful microelements that we lost with sweat. Use various collections rich in a variety of herbs – our body is wise, and it will choose what of this spectrum it needs most now, and what should be eliminated.

So, let’s now once again schematically go through the methodology of conducting a proper sauna ritual:

• The first phase consists in a qualitative sweating in the steam room, where the air temperature is not higher than 60 degrees (humidity, respectively, too) – make several such runs. At this stage it is not necessary to do any contrast procedures, and it is better to rinse the body with warm water – so the pores will not close and will not begin the process of absorption of all that you have just sweated;
• between approaches you can drink warm herbal tea with honey and lemon;
• further, if you wish, when the body is mostly free of toxins and toxins, you can successively increase the temperature, decreasing the humidity. That is, your logic of entering the steam room should be according to the rule: warm, hot, very hot. So you give your “on-board computer” to understand what he is preparing for. To refresh the steam room and reduce humidity, you need to open the door and the window (if available) and pour cold water on the benches – cold water will condense steam on itself and the air in the steam room dried up. After airing close the door and give a reasonable amount of water on the stones, so that the new steam displaced the old (that still remains). Then you can use a towel to disperse the primary heat pie formed on the top of the ceiling and then form a new one by giving water once again, with which you will work;
• Once you are well warmed up and prepared, you can continue to work on the body with brooms (and this is already a massage, aromatherapy, and disconnection of the thought stream). Here the main thing is to start correctly – do not get burned at once, but gradually work through the whole body. First of all the legs (serving as an indicator of the condition you can withstand), then the arms, then the front part and finally the back. The principle of evenness is very important here, because if you don’t work on something, the body will relax disproportionately – clamps and discomfort will remain. Work technically, moving along the blood flow, otherwise you will provoke any disorders in the blood channels (varicose veins, for example). All strokes should be from the periphery to the center.
• at the end of effective steaming, as a culmination of the sauna ritual, a contrasting temperature treatment may be performed. Enter the water sequentially, so that the movement of cold water was from bottom to top. Do not make sudden movements.

Thus, having organized your sauna ritual competently, you will spend time with incredible benefits for the whole body.

Sources used: video lectures by steam master Vasily Lyakhov