Sauna and Health

Social Sweating

The idea is not to have the best sauna on the block, but to get the entire block in the sauna.
-Professor Harold Tier
President, Finnish Sauna Society


The medicinal and spiritual values of the sweat bath are furthered by its communal character. The sweat bath is a social event--like the coffee shop, neighborhood bar or picnic--and is probably the healthiest ever offered a group of people.

Early in its history, sweat bath ceremonies and rituals were strong expressions of the community. Elders of' the Cherokee tribe used the sweat bath as a hallowed schoolhouse where teachinings of' their forefathers were passed on to their young. Groups of Finns, dodging elves, would gather inside the sauna to talk, to escape the Nordic cold and to soothe aching muscles. Turkish women would congregate for hours in their hamman, the only place their men allowed them to socialize. The gregarious Romans would throng by the thousands to their lavish thermaes.

The Russians say, "If there are few banias, we live in unity; but if there are too many, we are lonely because one does not visit the other."