The First Time: A Real Finnish Sauna
- rebeccaelisabethla
- Jul 25
- 5 min read
This is my little story about my first time: the sauna! It’s about what it’s like to go to the sauna in Germany and Finland, and what the sauna has to do with overcoming fears and shame. And you can read here about how the sauna is connected to feelings of beauty, freedom, and bliss.
Sauna 1.0: The first time
I tried to put my fears aside, because after all, we wanted to find beauty and relaxation in the sauna, just like real grown women.
Sitting naked in a room with strangers used to fill me with fear and shame. Undressing in front of others was unthinkable for me. As a teenager, I always had something to complain about when it came to my body—nothing fit right, everything was misshapen and unsatisfactory. So when a friend suggested we have a nice “spa night” at the sauna, I was very curious. I tried to cast my fears aside—after all, we wanted to find beauty and relaxation in the sauna like real grown women. After studying the German sauna rules, we hopped in the shower and then headed into the sauna. Wrapped in a towel, I sat stiff as a board in a small, dark room and tried to move as little as possible. “Just don’t draw attention to yourself,” I thought, feeling the others’ uncomfortable stares again and again. After fifteen minutes, we left the sauna and took a shower. According to the sauna rules, you’re supposed to rest for 30 minutes afterward, then go back into the sauna for another ten to fifteen minutes, shower, rest, and so on. Three to four rounds in the sauna are required. Sometimes a sauna master or mistress comes in, performs an “Aufguss,” and waves a towel. But the experienced sauna-goers told me that’s more for advanced sauna-goers, not for beginners. When we were done after four rounds and left, I felt neither relaxed nor beautiful.
My first sauna experience in Germany was a bust. It wasn't any fun at all. There were all these rules you had to follow, and sitting naked for fifteen minutes in a dry room with strangers who wouldn't say a word wasn't particularly pleasant. So I didn't go to the sauna again for many, many years.
And then I met Sami, who is now my husband. When he told me on our second date that he was Finnish, I got a bit of a shock. Oh no, what if he asks me to go to the sauna with him? After all, Finns are known for their love of saunas. And that’s exactly what happened. The first few times, I was able to come up with an excuse as to why I couldn’t go to the sauna right then. After all, my memories of my first visit to a sauna were anything but pleasant.
Update Sauna 1.1: The second first time
Three months and nine days later, I found myself in a small sauna by a lake in Finland, near Ähtäri. We were vacationing with Sami’s relatives at the mökki, a Finnish vacation cottage in the woods, and now there was no turning back. Sami heated up the sauna.
My first real Finnish sauna experience: Before my first session in the Finnish sauna, Sami taught me how to tie a vihta. It’s a bundle of Finnish birch twigs that you heat on the stones of the sauna stove so that the saponins and essential oils contained in the birch leaves can be released. You then whip yourself with it in short, vigorous strokes, which cleanses the skin and deeply relaxes the muscles. For our first sauna session, we brought a cold Finnish beer into the sauna, chatted, drank, and did “löyly”—a steam infusion. I’ll never forget that steam infusion. Truly hot steam filled the sauna, enveloping my skin and muscles and penetrating deep into my body. I could barely breathe from the heat. My blood was pulsing, and sweat covered every inch of my body. After a second “löyly,” I ran out of the sauna and jumped, still steaming, into the cold lake. Adrenaline and endorphins coursed through my body in an unfamiliar way. I lay on the water and let myself drift, filled with bliss. Completely exhilarated, I went back into the sauna. Sami heated the vihta on the sauna stones, and we whipped each other—what a joy! Like little children, we giggled and laughed, enjoying the lashes on our skin. We did whatever we wanted. Without rules, without restrictions, without fears, we were free and happy. We wrapped a saunamakkara (sauna sausage) in aluminum foil and placed it on the hot sauna stones. Later, we ate it with rye bread and mustard as a midnight snack. Our sauna sessions seemed endless. Even in the middle of the night, it was still as bright as day.
“Women are at their most beautiful after the sauna,” says a Finnish proverb.
Go for it!
For me, both of my first times in the sauna meant mustering the courage to do something that initially felt strange and uncomfortable. Doing so was ultimately incredibly liberating. After my first time in a Finnish sauna, I felt incredibly happy and strong. I pushed past my limits and dared to try it again. It was an experience that has stayed with me to this day: overcoming fears, pushing past the limits you set for yourself, trying things again, and seeing what happens. And once you’ve crossed that line, you can tackle entirely different challenges. So for me, there were two “first times” in the sauna. I was able to have two very different experiences, and I’m glad I overcame my fears the second time—otherwise, I really would have missed out on something! Today, you’ll find me in the sauna several times a week, and I’ve not only turned my newly discovered passion into my career—no, the sauna has also become a way of life that I’ve carried deep within me ever since.
Tips
Sauna Health
A sauna soothes and relaxes tired muscles; it relieves stress and physical and mental exhaustion, stimulates blood circulation, lowers blood pressure, promotes restful and deep sleep, naturally strengthens the immune system—in part through the production of interferon—and ensures clear, healthy skin. Isn’t that great!
Other Pages
On the Visit Finland website, you'll find 10 essentials for the most Finnish of all Finnish experiences—the sauna. 10 Sauna Tips for Beginners from Visit Finland
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