How smoke saunas work

2:33

building smoke saunas. So before

2:34

chimneys were invented, just a room or a

2:37

little hut with a pile of rocks and you

2:39

would burn wood inside the pile of

2:41

rocks.

2:42

And before you start using the sauna,

2:44

you'd open a little hatch and you open

2:46

the door and you blow out all the smoke

2:49

and all the walls would of course be

2:50

covered in black soot, but there's no

2:52

more toxins. We Finns value the smoke

2:55

saunas, the most traditional saunas,

2:58

uh at the highest level.

3:01

Every traditional sauna needs to have

3:03

water thrown onto the sauna heater's

3:05

rocks

3:06

because that steam raises the humidity

3:08

level for a little while. For about a

3:10

half a minute to a minute, the sauna

3:12

feels a lot hotter, but the temperature

3:14

doesn't actually change. The name of

3:16

that steam is löyly. It's kind of like

3:19

the spirit of the sauna, and each and

3:22

every sauna has its own distinct löyly.

3:25

Okay, I think we've done enough for this

3:27

first sauna session. Let's go out and

3:30

take a little dip in the Baltic Sea.

3:35

How long you choose to stay in the sauna

3:36

is up to you, but be sure to take enough

3:38

breaks. The Finnish sauna method is

3:40

heat, cool down, repeat. People

3:42

typically sit in the sauna anywhere from

3:44

5 to 30 minutes and then cool down

3:46

outside in the shower, or if you want an

3:49

extra rush of