In our previous discussions on the use and ways of Sauna and steam we have given thoughts and consideration to their history in the recent past and also considered some of the benefits the body is capable of deriving from the heat component of these baths.
However it is becoming increasingly important that we look at the why, this is so because our reasons for the having a sauna or steam built in our environment seem to differ. The first society people may have seen the sauna and or steam as a connection medium to the ancestral world. The modern man depending on his geographical location has different reasons and perception to the steam or sauna.
These perceptions do inform our approach to its use. One must bear in mind that wellness centres were not the real reason for sauna or steam but it became an architectural part of a spa and complimentary service. Sauna or steam initially form part of homes and in the Roman Empire part of military formations such as the Timgad with many bath houses... however there are also baths centre administering communal steam baths associated with beautification at later dates.
As the use and appreciation of the sauna and steam continue to grow their use also moved from the mere garden house of the finish to warm and relax the body after a good day work to what could in acute cases be life sustenance. Because of the type need it has become, it has to be designed in different sizes and forms.
How best will you attend a sauna? Some prefer it nude while many others think it ok to have your towel by your waist or robe on. Well, the heat therapy as administered by the sauna and steam is effective only when the body is able to receive a quantity of it that would be enough to excrete via the skin surface unwanted stored up fats, oil and bacteria /virus. The medium of reaction, if you like interface, is the skin, so the larger the amount of it exposed to heat the better and faster the body get warmed at a given temperature. Therefore if the desire of the bather is to get health benefit a total exposure of the body we be more profitable. This is the measure of the German bathers as they go nude in the sauna or steam.
The casual bather do not regard his reason for the bath, it is just enough to go into the bath sweat a bit and dash out, that is the limit of his interest. These are the spa baths that are sometimes timed, for this category being nude in the sauna or steam is nothing. It is routine, it is procedure.
The steam has added value in a skin care centre/spa. It is an exfoliating media. Then a nude bath is it, with scrubbing and shower. So let us choice according to our need and reason, then the effectiveness of the therapy we come about.
Adedoyin Olanrewaju
Lannikbeauty
29112013