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	Return to main Sweat page MEDITERRANEAN BATHS Visiting the modern Hammam in Ankara and lstanbul Early Greek and Roman Batths Mass Bathing in the Balnea and Thermae The Islamic Hammam is Born The "'Turkish Bath" Visits Europe and America Private Sweat Bathing Cubicles FINNISH SAUNA A Visit in the Dead of Winter History of the Nordic Bath Sauna in Europe Sauna in Japan Sauna in America NATIVE AMERICAN SWEAT LODGE Joining Running Foot in a Navajo Sweat Lodge A Guest at an Oglala Sun Dance Ceremony History of Sweat Lodges Hot Rock Sweat Lodge Direct Fire Sweat Lodge Sweating Without a Sweat Lodge Origin of the Temescal The Temescal Today The Sweat Lodge Joins the Modern World RUSSIAN BANIA A Boisterous Bath in Leningrad History of the Great Russian Bath Bannik, the Spirit of the Bania The Birth Bania The Wedding Bania The Death Bania Health & the Bania The Bania after the Russian Revolution The Spreading Influence of the Russian Steam Bath SAUNA & HEALTH Sauna & Health Sweating Skin Heating & Cooling the Inner Body Positive Effects of Negative Ions Spirits of the Sweat Social Sweating USING THE SAUNA/ SWEAT BATH SAUNA/SWEAT SPICES PRECAUTIONS SPECIAL SAUNA CONCERNS FOR WOMEN BUILD YOUR OWN
			Sauna/Sweat Spices Ways to enhance your sweat bath ©1998 by Mikkel Aaland All Rights Reserved Gaathering birch leaves in preparation for building a sauna vihta. Photo copyright by Mikkel Aaland. All rights reserved. •Make a vihta, from birch branches, cedar boughs, eucalyptus, oak or other broad leaf species. Birch vihtas are best prepared during the late spring and early summer when leaves are soft, supple and firmly attached to the stem. (Eucalyptus and some other vihtas are available year round.) Birch vihtas can be placed in plastic bags, frozen or hung upside down and dried and saved for winter. Before using them, soak for a few minutes in hot water until the leaves are soft. Unhappy stories come from people who have unwittingly added a sprig or two of poison oak or ivy to a vihta–be careful! •Use loofas, scrub brushes and other coarse material to scrape and wash the skin. Loofas are found in any bath store and some department stores. They are inexpensive but you can grow your own. Loofas come from the tropical loofa gourd which grows and looks much like a mature zucchini. It needs only to be hung and dried. High priced "bath scrub brushes" can be substituted with a dime store stiff brush, even those designed for scrubbing walls. Avoid brushes with plastic bristles. They won't soften as well as the natural ones. Vihtas dunked in soapy, warm water can also be used as scrub brushes. •Add herbs, oils or certain alcohols to the lo.yly water. Loyly tea can be brewed from sage, basil, laurel bay (not too much, it's potent), rosemary, and other delectable herbs. For warding off colds, a loyly "tea" can be made of spearmint, wintergreen or eucalyptus oil. Beer, used in small quantities, generates a wonderful musky smell. Add a few drops of honey and the smell is slightly sweeter (too much and your eyes will sting from the burned glucose.) Experiment with different brews but be conservative, the smell can be overwhelming. •Drink juices, mead or beer after the sweat. Fluids are depleted and must be replaced. Everyone develops favorites, but a drink that provides carbohydrates helps the body recover faster. Tests have shown that light beer offers the most, but should be drunk sparingly. Hard alcohol is usually not recommended because it detracts from the natural "high." (In the Nordic spirit, a shot of ice cold aquavit or Finlandia vodka is fine–but practice restraint, only one shot.) •Mineral water, although it only replaces lost fluid, not carbos, is a common aftersweat drink. Salty foods like pizza, sardines, sausages, help replace lost sodium as well as satisfy the hunger that sometimes follows sauna. RETURN TO TOP... NEXT CHAPTER... RETURN TO MAIN SWEAT PAGE