UPDATE: Helsinki Sauna Day has been cancelled. The organisers will provide more information about the event at a later date.
Helsinki Sauna Day 2020 is nearly here! In the past few years, an event to celebrate the joy of the sauna started in Helsinki and nowadays is celebrated even in other countries around the world. This year the event is being held on Saturday, 14th March.
What is Sauna Day About?
In Finland there are around two million saunas – an astonishingly large number when you consider that the total population is just over five million.
The idea behind Helsinki Sauna Day was to open the doors of the many private and not frequently used saunas throughout the city to people who may otherwise not get to experience the joy of the sauna. This is why every participating sauna is open for free on this day.
Participating Saunas
Sauna Day has expanded well beyond Helsinki – this year, if you happen to be in the Dominican Republic, you can visit Centro Verde, a Finnish clay sauna located in the atmospheric mountains of the Caribbean island.
Germany, New Zealand, Lithuania and the Netherlands are among the other countries in which there are participating saunas.
(Image: Eetu Ahanen)
Is Sauna For Everybody?
Unless you have heart problems, open wounds or have been advised by a doctor against using the sauna, then there is no reason why you cannot go.
In Finland, children are typically introduced to the sauna at a young age. It is generally accepted that children over the age of eight can sauna bathe safely. However, parents should be observant to ensure that their child does not suffer heat exhaustion from too much exposure.
On the other hand, some of the documented benefits of sauna bathing includes improved cardiovascular response, stress relief, flushing out of toxins from the body, better sleep and faster recovery after intense physical acitivity.
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