sauna in the city - rooftop sauna london

Regular sauna usage has been incorporated into daily life for people around the world throughout history. In Finland, this is a long tradition stretching back to around 700BC and is celebrated for it's plethora of health benefits and stress relief for our body, mind and soul. But why should the traditional sauna be incorporated into your lifestyle now in a city like London?

Sauna culture in winter

In places like Finland where saunas are a long standing tradition, the health benefits of sauna use are well known. Most people have their own sauna room attached to their house and take at least one sauna each week. When it's cold out Finnish people will roll around in snow or jump into icy lakes as part of their sauna bathing routine to cool down.

While the benefits of sauna bathing are attainable throughout the year, the ways in which using the sauna benefits a person's body and soul differs from season to season. This is because the challenges we experience change throughout the year.

Health in cities like London

Meanwhile, our well being is really tested when we live in urbanised areas. To name just a few, pollution levels are high, green spaces and fresh air are both less accessible, rates of cardiovascular and respiratory disease are higher, and the chances of us having mental illnesses in adulthood grow the longer amount of our childhood and adolescence we spend in cities.

Of course, it's not all bad. Cities are spaces of opportunity, diversity, and exchange. There are countless reasons and even more features which entice us into choosing these urbanised spaces for our homes, our habitats, and this is why it's important we engage in regular, healthy lifestyle practices and treatments. Without maintaining our health, the characteristics of cities which we know and love become useless to us.

Extreme temperatures and health benefits

If you haven't ever had a sauna before, you will understand straight away in your very first session that this is all about heating up our body temperature and sweating. The sauna is heated up from the hot stones being lit, and in Finnish sauna-ing it is traditional for water to be poured onto the sauna rocks to create steam (or löyly) which further heats up the sauna and increases humidity to create an intense experience.

The high temperatures reach around 80-100 degrees Celsius which you can imagine raise the body temperature by quite a way, causing increased sweat and thus the body detoxifies. The idea is that sauna users will sit or lay in the sauna to gain all of the benefits from the heat, heading out regularly for a cold shower or ice plunge to really maximise the health benefits of the sauna by incorporating extreme cold temperatures.

This cold water plunge also provides people the opportunity to drink plenty throughout their sauna session which is of paramount importance since we must stay well hydrated. Not only is it dangerous to sauna dehydrated, but we simply won't garner all the health benefits of the sauna use if we aren't packed full of water and sweating it out.

Sweating and detoxification

In summer, the increased temperature means we are more likely to sweat throughout the day and we tend to remember to stay hydrated which aids in this process of detoxification. But come winter and a much cooler temperature, and this detoxification process slows down meaning that our immune system has more toxins to fight off from within.

The high temperatures experienced during regular sauna use counters this as it stimulates our sweat ducts and thus increases our body's ability to release toxins (which also has the bonus side effect of giving us glowing skin!). In cities like London, there is such a vast amount of pollution we absorb into our bodies daily that incorporating regular sauna use into our lifestyle is one of the best ways we can practice regularly eliminating toxins and pollutants from our systems.

Sauna use has been proven to significantly reduce incidences of the common cold which we are often plagued by winter which is no surprise since eliminating these toxins from our bodies is vital in warding off colds and flus. Sauna bathing also improves our recovery.

Blood circulation

Another challenge we face during winter is that the cooler weather makes our blood vessels constrict, meaning our blood flow decreases and our heart has to work harder to pump blood around our bodies. This can often be worsened by a reduction in regular exercise throughout winter since we aren't increasing our heart rate as regularly as we may do in summer.

The high temperatures experienced when using a sauna actually increase our heart rate and widen our blood vessels which increases our blood circulation. Throughout winter regular sauna use really helps to counter the effect the cold weather has on our blood flow and cardiovascular performance.

Winter aches and pains

The reduction in our cardiovascular performance and the increased dehydration we often experience throughout the cooler seasons also increase our chances of getting muscle tension and muscle soreness, achy joints and stiffness. This is because our body prioritises sending blood to our vital organs, such as our heart and our lungs, leaving our muscles and joints to fend for themselves.

Exposing our bodies to the heat of a sauna bath regularly in winter promotes increased blood flow to our muscles and extremities. This benefits our muscles by aiding in the healing process of any stress or tension they have been experiencing.

Stress relief

A long cold day can get our bodies uptight and tense. That along with less daylight can leave us feeling pretty blue throughout the colder seasons. Using a sauna is a really strong method for tackling this stress, and promoting better mental health for a number of reasons. This is triply important because extreme stress contributes to a weakened immune system and decreased mental wellbeing.

Firstly, taking a sauna bath encourages our bodies to release endorphins which are these feel good chemicals that give us a really good boost.

Using a sauna also enables us to wind down our mind and body promoting deep relaxation. Perhaps you've just finished a long day of work scrunched up at your laptop while working from home. Your muscles are tight, your brain may be stuck in the work groove, and you're trying to reset and refocus for the evening. What better way to turn off from the day than to have a sauna, sweat out the day, and really relax.

Improved sleep

Another proven benefit of taking a sauna is improved sleep. Fighting stress is important for a number of reasons, but importantly here, a stressed mind doesn't allow us to rest and restore as we would normally. When we are under extreme stress we are far more likely to be completely exhausted, so if you're feeling a bit glum and can't switch off for the night, this really could be the best course of action for you.

Social life and saunas

For a lot of us, getting out and about really slows down through the cooler months. This is especially the case throughout the last two years with the pandemic hindering our freedoms. By heading to the sauna with loved ones, we are able to share meaningful moments of deep relaxation together. Not only does this boost our well being, but it gives us the opportunity to really catch up with one another whilst all coming from the same place.

Bareness in winter

Much has been said for the impact de-robing has on our shared understanding and participation in equality, and it's true with saunas too. When we visit spaces like beaches, swimming pools, and of course saunas, we usually remove our layers of clothing and this mutual bareness has been recognised as helping us understand we are equal to one another. When we aren't wearing much our differences are unimportant, less obvious - while our similarities become clear. This helps to bring us together.

City spaces in winter are full of people trying to get past one another on the street, our interactions are reduced, and privacy becomes more of a priority than in summer. This is why jumping in a sauna together with others will really benefit your social wellbeing too.

Private saunas

There are of course many of us who aren't comfortable showing our body to others, but if we can choose a select few safe people to enjoy a private sauna with and sweat it out together bare (or partially bare) skinned, then the humble sauna can heal many of the social challenges we experience from covering up through the colder months in cities.

Benefits of using the sauna in cities like London throughout winter