Japanese sento is closer to Turkish Hamam than banya or sauna.

Japanese bath ‘sento’ reminds of the Roman bath presented by the Turkish Hamam in the modern World(look through Living on the last floor you can build your own Turkish Hamam). They both were created for relaxation and contemplation. Soaking, submerged to the chin, you have a sensual pleasure and a feeling of well-being and harmony with the natural surroundings, perhaps the garden or landscape beyond. So here they don’t cultivate the hard style groovy procedures which we have to undergo in Russian banya or Finnish sauna. Here you can take pleasure without enduring extra high temperature and hot steam. Japanese bath reflects the traditions and culture of Japan, a unique and interesting country.
Japanese bath ‘sento’ has existed for over 400 years in Japan, but a post-war construction boom in residential housing without bathing facilities or running water cemented its prominence in the community. The bath numbers are going down today as Japanese can now afford baths or showers in their own homes. They say that sento are disappearing at the rate of one a day. Numbers peaked in 1964 at 23,016, but are currently at 8,422. For a class-conscious society, the sento has become an embarrassing reminder of an impoverished past. Japanese bath ‘sento’ remains a veritable oasis in many communities, especially in the suffocating summers. As an example, in the northern suburbs of Osaka, a mega-sento was built in the 1960s for families. On a Friday night, this groovy water world, featuring an outdoor hot spring and noodle bar, is the Al’s Aquatic Diner of family entertainment. Operating 24/7, this sento is a more modest and family-oriented version of some of the wilder forms of Japanese bath entertainment that exists today.
In the past, Japanese people enjoyed the daily ritual with their relatives and friends in a public bath (the ‘sento’) or in a hot spring bath (the ‘onsen’). It was not until the middle of this century that the water supply made it possible for most people to have a private ‘ofuro’, although the ‘onsen’ and the ‘sento’ remain popular for many Japanese people. The popularity of the Hot Springs ‘onsen’ is connected with the geological age of the places and centuries-old work on accomplishing by great Japanese masters of landscape design.
Wonderful Japanese landscape is the main thing in the ‘sento’ too. The tub location close to nature is the appealing feature of the Japanese bath. Meditating under a blooming ‘sakura’ is as important for Japanese as sweating in hot steam chamber for Russians. For more look through:
- What's most important in Finnish sauna or Russian banya?,
- Master Boris and his “venik” – its better then Viagra! and
- I can have more health & beauty only in Russian bath than in Finnish sauna!.
Japan was quite an isolated country for a long time barring foreigners from entering these least private of public places. Incidences of drunken Russian sailors’ water-fighting in the bathhouses and ‘onsen’ of the northern island of Hokkaido have fuelled a tabloid debate about whether or not the hairy barbarian with little understanding of the subtle nuances of Japanese culture should be tolerated. I guess that the incident caused the argument which bath system is better; Russian ‘banya’ or Japanese ‘sento’. If a few simple rules are followed, a ‘sento’ visit by the alien poses no problem and is an excellent opportunity to pay homage to Japanese ingenuity and high standards of cleanliness, as well as to get a glimpse of what is a vanishing monument of Japanese culture. So I have posted the list of the rules in my previous article Japanese bath ‘sento’ -- Sauna in the blooming garden.

Japanese bath ‘sento’ -- Sauna in the blooming garden

Being keen on the world traditions of bath culture I have changed my favorite Thailand into super-modern Japan. I have enjoyed and learned Finnish Saunas in Finland, Russian banya in Russia and Turkish Hamam in Turkey. For more look through
- 7 things to learn about sauna not to waste money building a bath house and be careful visiting banya or sauna or
- Sauna accessories rightly using; don't fit into the steam room if you are booted and drunk! and
- You can easily build Russian banya. My pursuit was to get terms of intimacy with well-known Japanese bath ‘sento’. My previous attempts to learn more about Japanese bath without visiting their Motherland failed. Moreover most bath accessories: tubs, baskets, buckets etc. in Japanese-like rooms were labeled ‘made in China’. You can imagine my excitement when I first saw the Nikko Hot Springs.
First of all I was impressed by Japanese responsibility for keeping the rules in ‘sento’. The list of these rules which I heard from my Japanese guide was the same as the following I found in the Net:
- Take off your clothes in the changing room
- Put clothes in the basket or shelf
- Enter the bathroom with a small towel and your amenities
- There will be a bucket beside the tub, scoop out some water and pour it over yourself to rinse your body before getting in the bathtub
- Soak in the bathtub. Remember not to bring anything into the tub, not even a towel
- Get out of the tub and wash your body or hair in front of the faucet; It should be done outside of the tub
- Rinse off soap and shampoo well
- Get in the bathtub again if you want
- Rinse your body with clean warm water in front of faucet
- Dry your body with your small towel before you go to the changing room
- Dry your body with your bath towel and dress in the changing room.
Some tips:
- Do not use soap in the tub
- The water in the tub tends to be hot in Japan. You can adjust it by running cold water, but don't overdo it
- Usually, the tub water is used by others. Please remember not to drain the water when you are finished.
Secondly I was affected by strict face (and ass) control concerning tattoos on parts of the body. One girl in our group was not allowed into the ‘sento’ rooms only for wearing a tiny butterfly tattoo on her fanny.
Then I was impressed by the fact that you have to leave your shoes at the front door and walk a long way to the changing room, which could confuse Paul Wolfowitz as well.
Finally worldwide known Japanese wonderful nature penetrates through ‘sento’ bath procedures as the wooden and stone tubs are outside among trees and bushes. Taking a bath you are surrounded by blooming gardens. For more about Japan look through my The Thai Tramp blog.

Sauna accessories rightly using; don't fit into the steam room if you are booted and drunk!

We have already talked about extremely high temperature in Finnish sauna or Russian banya steam rooms. It is abt. 180° F and 20-25% average humidity in sauna or abt. 120-140° F and 70-80% average humidity in banya. It is reasonable that in hot atmosphere all of sauna's component parts are very important. Heater, rock and wood are as important as head-backrest, essence oil, bucket and thermometer.
Stones which should be placed all around the heater elements are not to store heat and produce steam when water is poured over them. It's good for a softer, more comfortable bathing experience and it provides better steam.
Using the softwood in sauna or banya steam chambers must absorb humidity into the wood for keeping the bathing atmosphere very soft and pleasant. Since buckets, pails, dippers, thermometers and hygrometers etc. are essential Sauna accessories claim attention too. Sauna accessories from stainless steel, wood and glass also help to transform the hot dry air into a comfortable moist atmosphere. Any plastic parts can mar the pleasure while you are inhaling excellent bath aromas. But aroma is the only and the most important in all of these bath procedures.
There are different means for preparing sauna and Russian banya fresh aromas. We can 'cook' them from natural product by ourselves. I have told about some experience in my previous posts. They are: Calendula aroma, fresh and energetic bath steam with Silver Fir and peppermint. Mustard is the old Oriental secret for sauna or banya; and there are some secrets with beer and absinth to lose weight and get a good mood, some great recipes to cure colds and flu: Australian method with eucalyptus; chamomile herbal extract and the best secret is about how to make a horse radish bath steam.
Moreover we can have sauna fresh aromas with pure essence oil such as: Eucalyptus aroma, Cherry aroma, Dandelion aroma, Citrus Orange aroma, Birch aroma, Lavender aroma, Apple aroma, Citrus aroma, Pine aroma etc. It is usually concentrated and you only need 5 to 10 drops to add to a bucket of water, or just one or two drops to a dipper of water. Pour this scented water slowly over the hot stones and enjoy yourselves.
But all of these secrets and aromas can wane if you do something wrongly.
All of handmade herbal extracts must be filtered out because even small parts of chamomile or horse radish are left they can cause a trouble if they get onto the rock. If accidentally you put some pure oil to the stones you get cinders instead of aroma.
Therefore I attract your attention to sauna's accessories because its incorrect using can make damage instead of restoring one's health. At the same time any trifle such as sauna's felt-cap can bring some pleasure.

Comparing Infrared to Traditional Sauna as exact as Hamburger to Lobster grills!

Some days ago I visited a great sauna cabin mfrs. get-together. It’s not a problem that a lot of sauna cabin are made in China. They are all built of Siberian wood. The Chinese can make a chip and good saunas for the whole world. Where are exactly Russians and Finns in that market? But it’s a problem that a lot of these specialists seriously talked about the replacement of traditional Finnish sauna with Infrared. It is a trouble for me as I am a hard style bath procedure (sauna or Russian banya) admirer. And what is more, it’s a trouble for credulous people who can gaily use Infrared cabin more and more.
And what do Infrared sauna addicts think about? Far-infrared radiant (FIR) heat is a completely safe form of naturally occurring energy that heats objects by a process called direct light conversion. Radiant heat is also called infrared heat or infrared energy. Direct light conversion warms only the object and does not raise the temperature of the surrounding free air.
This type of energy travels 2-3" deep into the body and is thought by some to increase circulation and nourish damaged tissue. The sun is the primary source of radiant energy, but not all of this energy is beneficial.
Although life needs energy from the sun, too much sunlight damages the skin. FIR heat provides many of the health benefits of natural sunlight without any of the dangerous effects of solar radiation. Holy shit! Everything is always great for these guys. You can ask what wrong? It’s a great PR for good money. Yes, great PR but at the expense of our health and our money!
I wrote about the long millennial history of bath procedures as Finn sauna, Turkish Hamam and Russian Banya. Their healing power was examined by generations of million bath fans. Everything was OK except excessive drinking ‘vodka’ during bath procedures in some North places!
By the way infrared ‘sauna’ health power does not have a long history. Except microwave heater, but I don’t want to be a broiled chicken!
There was not any science research about the lasting effect of FIR heat. There are only advertisements such as: It's a partly cloudy day and you are outside and it feels cool. All of a sudden the clouds move out of the way of the sun and a rush of warmth comes over you. This warm feeling is the far infrared band of sunlight warming your body. What a Paradise place is this Infrared cabin!
New Far Infrared saunas are gaining popularity. It will probably cost a little more to run a Far Infrared sauna versus a rock sauna. In terms of which does a better job of getting those nasty toxins out of your body through sweat, it's a toss up. Any Infrared sauna will reach temps around 110-130 degrees F while a rock sauna can get up to 140-190 degrees F. The heater in a rock sauna will take about 1/2 hour to heat up while the heaters in a Far Infrared warm-up in 20-30 minutes time. Research both types online and sees which features or benefits most interest you.
And it’s a trouble as bath procedure with Infrared sauna becomes easy. It’s more accessible to have sauna after only 20 minutes of heating. It’s more comfortable to have easy breath and to change a strong procedure with easy pleasure. Traditional steam saunas raise the temperature of the air to a very high level within the chamber to warm the body. Some people have difficulties with breathing in this extremely warm air. FIR saunas work differently. Instead of heating the air within the enclosure, FIR saunas heat the body directly. The result is a lower power bill and deeper tissue penetration. In the FIR sauna, the body perspires and receives all of the healthy benefits but avoids the harmful and extremely hot air of a traditional steam sauna. But has anybody heard about somebody who takes Finn sauna every day? It’s good to visit sauna one or two times a week.
What about Russian banya, it’s so hard to have it more even for Valuev. But infrared simplicity can provoke to take it frequently. Yet it’s a trouble!
I’m not furiously against the Infrared ‘sauna’. I don’t like the idea of replacing traditional bath procedures by the ‘bubble gum’ sauna. There is Finnish Sauna, there is Russian banya, and there is Turkish Hamam. Tastes differ! Let them all exist freely and equally. And now we have this infrared device.
Infrared ‘sauna’ has some abilities to penetrate, refract, radiate and reflect. The thermal effect within the deep layers of the tissues causes blood vessels and capillaries to dilate, promoting a better blood circulation, and the heat produced in this way helps get rid of body toxins and metabolic wastes through sweating. It’s not bad. It’s not good. It’s different from the traditional ways. The number of Infrared lovers increases, however bath lover are royal.
Here is my remark concerning the advertisements and infrared sauna addicts. Let them go to Istanbul and try to convince the Turkish to change their Hamam into Infrared!

Sauna box as inexpensive alternative for sauna cabin or sauna house

After dashing through Turkish hamam, sauna and Russian banya utilities I want to pay attention to personal cabins. And what is more important, I’d like to talk about small wooden sauna-boxes or bath-boxes. Of course, if you are ready to pay more than $100,000 for personal Turkish hamam it’s better for you to visit my previous post. Unless you are a lucky landowner and can build Russian banya palace on your own site of promise, I’m cooking a special many-course dinner. Still it is for those who have any trouble with free space in their apartments or for those who are not ready to say ‘good buy’ to several hundred thousand dollars.
First of all I want to ask all “chemical brothers” as plastic and others to get out of my pages! There is wood, stones, metal and sometimes glass details in the heater and in the bath-box construction. They are only organic components in my sauna boxes. Their size is small to inhale the aroma of hot inorganic chemical parts!
Look at that cedar sauna-box. There are all of healing remedies of this Wood King box! Do you know that King Solomon built a temple out of old cedar wood to keep his own positive energy? Old fellows talked about the number of rings of a cedar trunk as storing up some kind of energy. Today it is well-known cedar walls emit positive energy. In Cedar houses the air is always clean. It has special spirit and influence. It eliminates tension, develops immunity, and facilitates rapid health recovery after a difficult disease or operation. Yet do you think it is nice to your body to have a sauna procedure in a place made of the King Solomon’s wood?
And what a wonderful result of mini-sauna can come from linden forest! Linden flowers, leaves, wood, and charcoal (obtained from the wood) are the parts used for curative purposes. Active ingredients in the linden flowers include falconoid, which act as antioxidants, volatile oil, and mucilage components, which soothe and reduce inflammation. The plant also contains tannins that can act as an astringent. The aroma of linden sauna cabin can make even a melancholic person happy. That sauna-box actually needs just a few linden boards. It saves money. Generally the small size and simplicity of sauna-box design allow mfrs. to make it out of any piece of wood and any kind of wood:
• Do you want to be under the protection of magic aspen behavior? It’s not a problem. Don’t be afraid of vampire now!
• Do you want to feel as old brandy in an oaken barrel? Enjoy yourself!
Moreover you can build it with small heater and reasonable power consumption. Naturally this sauna-box needs so small place to be based that you can put it anywhere. Why don’t you place it in your office? Frankly speaking it’s not my type! I don’t like such condition when I keep my ass in a warm place while my head is jut out and is envious of the fun! But it is such a democratic device!

Living on the last floor you can build your own Turkish Hamam

Now I want to talk about Turkish Hamam. I remember what I wrote about Hamam in my previous post:What's most important in the sauna or banya? I tried to compare different cultures: Russian banya, Finnish sauna etc. in other post: 7 things to learn about banya And there was only my opinion. Everyone is different. I like a “hard style” in the bath procedure. What I love is Russian banya.
But all we want in making is to have pleasure: we make love, we make money and we make a bath steam. Do you really think we make it for president?! I am not sure. May it be for peace in the whole world? No, we do it only for our enjoyment! I feel sorry for those who like to smoke the pipe of peace. And the first thing you think about in any bath is your feeling of satisfaction. Then you can meditate on your health.
Let’s look around. Russian banya was born as an invention made by strong and bearded mouzhiki (they were Old Russians) who liked winter frost and vodka. Finnish sauna was born with “hot Finnish guys” and it can illustrate the Finnish character much better than the famous Nokia phones. And only Turkish Hamam, which traces its roots back to the Roman Empire, was born to experience pleasure in the bath procedure. O tempora, o mores!
Turkish Hamam affects the body through heating with relatively low temperature (45° C) steam and high air humidity (95 %) which has numerous healing effects and is highly appropriate for the individuals who do not like high temperatures. It is definitely used in body beauty treatments such as peeling, baths, wrappings and other therapeutic processes of heating and cooling that have developed during the millennial tradition of Oriental body cleansing culture.
Hamam is an advanced version of steam sauna which originates from the Greek-Roman body cult and bathing culture and was also used later in the Byzantine Empire. Later it was adopted by the Arabs. The first Hamam in the Islamic culture were built in the medieval times in the Jordanian Area. Nowadays Hammams are associated mostly with Turkish bathing culture although it can be found in all across other Islamic countries.
Most people think that Turkish Hamam looks like a huge palace in the Romaine style. That is half-right because we get into the way to the big Hamam. But it can be smaller then Galatasaray Hamam! Yesterday I met some Turkish construction experts who built Hamam cabins even in the apartment (if its size is sufficiently large). Anyhow, on the one hand you get an excellent place for relaxation. On the other hand you get a big problem with your householder. There is so much moisture in a Hamam. But if you live on the top floor you can make small clouds, until you become accused in in doing harm to environment. (if its size is sufficiently large).
Leaving joking, it’s practical to have a hamam cabin exactly as it is on my picture, especially if you have a Jacuzzi. To enjoy a traditional Turkish Hamam you need good ventilation with water filter system and much money. It’s an expensive pleasure to have a real Turkish Hamam in you apartment. Although it does not cost so much as to get a Russian (wood) heater in the apartment house on Manhattan!
In return it is not a problem to build Hamam in you own house. You need an empty 10 on 10 feet (3 on 3 meters) room though 12 on 12 feet (abt. 4 on 4 meters) is better for complete thrill. Of course the style required is oriental with the hookah and eastern sweeties as a blonde on the picture. It’s important to have comfortable sofas with many mild cushions there and to hear Turkish or any Oriental music. Make it and have fun!

Calendula is the first among the flowers and not last among the bath essence especially for women

Calendula, also known as marigold, bride of the sun, bull flower, butterwort, drunkard gold etc. has been widely used on many remedies. In Latin Calends means the origin of the world. The Romans called the first day of each month Calends. The root of the word appears in the name of the plant Calendula officinalis, which becomes the first one on the Earth. It makes us happy by its bright yellow and orange flowers and rich fresh greens. It is undemanding and grows up on any ground.
Calendula has a magic ability to heal the skin. So Calendula extract is commonly used in ointments and healing creams and treating washes. Calendula ointments cure burns, bruises, and cuts, as well as the minor infections they cause, eye inflammation, irritant contact dermatitis. Moreover Calendula’s remedy is blood purification and circulation problems solving. It makes your skin elastic. Tinctures, liquid extracts, infusions are good drugs for insomnia, dizziness, terrible headache and nervous system disorders.
And now imagine how this effect of the extract benefits with the bath steam! Especially it can be interesting for ladies who want to keep the skin young and fresh longer. It’s better to unite bath procedure and healing masks with Calendula pedal extract to intensify the healthy power. The preparation is as simple as of a Chamomile extract. You need 3,5 oz (100 g) of dried pedals. The essence is light and not as strong as Eucalyptus or Mint aromas. For great smell especially for sauna it’s preferable to use an alcohol tincture.

Silver Fir as a bath essence for inhalation of freshness, strength and power.

Talking about premium bath essences and blends you should attract your attention to Silver Firs (Abies), which are a genus of between 45-55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. Firs are found through much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most of the range. You might have heard about Breathe in mountain air Fir, which is a powerful Essential Oil. There are some other Fir extracts used for toning, strengthening, purifying or centering while taking a bath at home. To inhale and feel the wonderful mild essence in banya or sauna is fantastic. It’s worth knowing that Silver Fir has as strong life-giving power as eucalyptus. It has antiseptic, toning, deodorizing and breath stimulating effects. It is also a decongestant for body and mind, centering, purifying. This Silver Fir essence smoothes the irritation in the respiratory tract. They say it stops inflammation as in the upper part of the tract as even in the bronchus lungs. It is said in some fir oil prescriptions the essence helps with cold, cough, arthritis, rheumatism, respiratory problems. Considering stress, anxiety, nervousness, entire weakness as illnesses you would be recommended a bath with fir oil. This will make you relaxed, reduce the muscular tone and quiet you. It can smooth you eyes after long work in front of the computer screen.
Now image how vital the Silver Fir essence can be in banya or sauna while inhaling the smell and also absorbing the steam and aroma with you wet warmed up skin. This essence makes the steam fresh and energetic. Taking a sauna it is enough to drop some fir oil onto the walls or shelves of the cabin. For Russian banya we need a lot of water extract which is rather simply cooked. It is better to use fresh Silver Fir twigs. It is important to douse them in hot water for a long time otherwise the soft needles can burn and it spoils the air so that you won’t enjoy you bath. You may hang about the soggy fir twigs as you may have coped with the absinth ones (see the previous posts). The fresh twigs can be used several times. You should not leave them for long in the steam chamber to prevent them from getting dry so that they do not lose the vital power.

7 things to learn about sauna not to waste money building a bath house and be careful visiting banya or sauna

First learn these 7 things about bath houses and procedure.
I suppose you have learnt something about Russian banya and sauna from my older posts. You won’t be able to find such recipes even in Russia. I always rely on my own experience, which is rather large and gained from numerous visits to different bath houses in all parts of the world. I am sure that before buying a sauna cabin or choosing a bath house in your town you should know what needs a very careful consideration. Otherwise you get a wonderful trifle for your interior design. You can’t improve your health and cheer up with it. Without knowing some fine points a visit to Russian banya or sauna may become a torture. You should not forget that bath procedure is quite extreme for your health. Remember that the temperature of 100 degrees may be good or dangerous. Here are the main aspects of the bath business.
1. Free breath
Apparently we think that correct breathing is extremely important for cosmonauts. Great universities in the whole world study life support systems and supply the spaceships with essential facilities and necessary equipment so that the spacemen feel safe. Why don’t we make at least some research for ordinary people who keep fit and healthy in Russian banya or sauna? Why do only Chinese engineers produce sauna cabins in the whole world? An average Russian banya - goer stays in a bath longer than a cosmonaut in the outer space. I remember a professor who is still a frequent visitor to the Russian banya. He is specialized in space life support systems. Once he asked his students to estimate the work of one steam chamber in "Seleznevskie bany". The conclusion was impressive: 15 people in 15 minutes make the amount of oxygen lower than allowable level. Can you breathe with carbon dioxide? I can’t. So I put the importance of the ventilation system in a sauna cabin or in a steam chamber on the first place. The same rules are applied to the wholeRussian banya or sauna house.
2. Bath heater
High power for sauna heater is more important than a high-powered engine for a truck. A weak heater will not make it possible to air the rooms thoroughly. It simply will not be able to support necessary temperature with the frequent ventilation. It will not be able to heat a large quantity of stones which serve for heat accumulating. But you will have to forget about the comfort in the steam chamber without a huge number of stones. Indeed it was not in vain to use 15 tons of cast iron pigs in the Russian bath! It is not worth forgetting also about the fact that heating of spiral expends oxygen in your lungs. Then you will be more attentive to the ventilation in Russian banya.
3. Specific volume
It’s not less important for a steam chamber or a sauna cabin to work out the specific volume for easy breathing. It is significant to store up great amount of oxygen in the room. The next question concerns the number of people who can sweat together in the heater chamber. If you try to save the heat or the wood and too many bath-fans crowd in the room with a low ceiling, you do not take a real pleasure but a headache. In order to avoid simple problems do not economize on the dimensions of sauna cabin and Russian banya rooms. Buying a sauna cabin or building your own bath you can find something less important to save money.
4. Type of the wood
Aspen is the best wood material for the interior trimming. Since the old ages aspen have been considered as magic wood. Aspen stake were used to kill vampires. The legend says that it could draw out the negative energy from Dracula’s follows. Today we visit bath with aspen trimming to reduce stress and tiredness and feel better. Aspen shelves heat up less than those of any other type of wood. The light pleasant smell of the wood penetrates into the hot air and treats you softly. Bass-wood can also wonderful for trimming the chamber. It does not have the magic qualities of aspen; however, the linden aroma can compete with other herbal smells.
5. Sense of proportion is not less important.
You should not take a bath treatment too many times even if you feel better each time you go out. Four times a day is quite enough to get rid of a couple of kilos and the first symptoms of cold. Otherwise one visit is insufficient. The body should be warmed up well. Only then this can do a lot of good for your health.
6. Extracts and aroma
The healing power of many herbs and blends is very useful in the bath. You’d better start with soft, mild, favorable aroma recipes. I wrote about it in my previos posts:
It’s better to test with absinth and beer. It’s really that drinking beer in bath is not good but using it for making bath steam is a grate secret! Then you can continue with chamomile, which is great. Antiviral properties of chamomile extract are better to be tested in sauna or banya! At last you can try horse-radish or mustard. But if you want to be healthy you must know something about magic properties of the horse radish.
7. Frequency
We have told you how extremely harmful bath procedure can be for your body and health. We consider visiting a bath once a week the most suitable for a healthy man. If you want to go to the bath more often than have a three-day break between the visits. Take care of your health. If the next days you feel flabby, sleepy and superfluously relaxed dismiss a visit – take a short break.

Peppermint – not only for mouthwashing, it’s the best thing for “health washing” if you use it in sauna and banya!

Don’t think that all well-known herbs can be used in sauna or banya. It’s a wrong idea. Who knows – may be if you take some marijuana bushes to the steam chamber you can make a great bath steam! But to have it you must build your sauna or banya house somewhere near Amsterdam. However most of all bath procedures had analogues in current Oriental medicine. As using well-known peppermint extract. This is our next secret. Peppermint is also known as brandy mint or lamb mint. The largest markets for peppermint are manufecturing chewing gum, toothpaste, and mouthwash. It has an extensive pharmaceuticals use for loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, respiratory infections, the common cold, cough, and fever. It is used in confectionery, tobacco, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes and a variety of other food products. Above all peppermint extract is used for bath steam making!
The way of preparing mint extract doesn’t differ from cooking others, e.g. camomile. You don’t have to fry camomile leaves as mustard. It’s as easy as brewing mint tea. Put 100 gram (3,5 oz) mint leaves in 3 - 4 gallons of boiling water and leave it to brew for at least two hours. Filter this “tea” thoroughly. If there are any small particles left in the extract there can be a smell of burning in the steam. Now it’s ready. Conformably for sauna you need ten times less extract for good and healthy steam. Additionally, put some wet mint twigs on the shelves in sauna cabine for aroma. Remember not to leave dry parts of mint because they can spoil the smell next time. Moreover peppermint is an exellent relaxant antidepressant, as strong as absinth.

Groovy news from Kazakhstan! Mustard – Borat’s (old Oriental) famous secret for sauna and banya

Visiting banya and sauna for many years I used special recipes of bath aromas. I never thought about therapeutic qualities of those herbs. Furthermore all of famous bath secrets have a long history in the oriental medicine. It’s fantastic how many remedies those natural “doctors” have! Only when I started writing about banya I took medical encyclopedias. And I learnt so many interesting things about herbs which we are used in sauna and banya. I’ve begun to respect my bath tutors. But now I have a problem: they don’t want to talk to me about their secrets. “Master Boris” wants to make his special bath steam. He likes to stick to hard and fast rules in banya. They say: not to talk while we have the steam! But after he takes his famous “29 grams” he wants to talk about fishing. I tried to ask him by phone. It’s so hard to understand “how to fry mustard” when you talk through the Atlantic Ocean! So hear the next secret from teacher Boris is coming: Mustard!
Mustard is well-known all over the world. Mustard seeds came to us from India and occupied a worthy place in our kitchen. They contain no poisonous parts, but the powdered seeds can be irritating if misused. All the same mustard has a long history of medicinal use. There are so many remedies: it has also been used to relieve arthritis, rheumatism, toothache etc. Such a well-known medicinal use is the mustard plaster. There are several active ingredients in the seeds which make mustard effective externally. A feeling of warmth when apply it onto the skin is a famous quality. All you know about a mustard footbath which also warm up the blood. But only in sauna or banya all of our body can feel its healing power. And it’s a big secret from “Master Boris”!
For preparing bath steam with mustard you need to buy or to make a mustard powder. Now it’s easy to buy mustard beans in the US. There are many little Indian stores in the whole world (because there are more than billion Indian people). But it’s important: mustard powder is good for kitchen. We need to “cook” it for banya!
Before going to banya you need to put half a pound of the powder on a red-hot pan and fry it for 5-7 minutes mixing constantly till it get dark golden. Watch it over carefully so that it doesn’t turn into chocolate- colored stuff. If it does it is bullshit! When it is ready you pour three – four gallons of water into the fried powder. Then you have to wait for at least two hours to infuse the mixture. After that you filter it. Now you can bring the extract to the bath but pour it out on the heater stones very slowly as if you are cooking your favorite dish. Don’t miss the right smell of horse-radish and enjoy the right steam. Its remedies are various including the most necessary of curing colds. A mustard bath is also useful for getting fit and losing weight. It easily relaxes your muscles and calms you down. To enrich the list of the curative and healing power of mustard and make sure or check the facts you’ve read just open an encyclopedia. The remedies of mustard are enormous and bath makes them much stronger.

Some secrets with beer and absinth to lose weight and get a good mood

As we learned before bath procedure helps us recover from diseases, such as cold and the flu, which we get after becoming too cold. Banya and sauna are also good for losing weight. Some drugs prevent us only from eating too much. They are called appetite suppressants. However if you are overweight Phentermine*, for example, will not help you. You need training or you can leave your extra pounds of weight sweating in banya. It is much quicker. In the gym you have to cycle on a training apparatus or suffer from pain on an abdominal crunch. While in banya you have fun sitting or lying and doing nothing. Try to add absinth. Firstly this medicinal herb is the main ingredient of emerald green alcoholic liqueur made with an herbal extract of wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), which gives it a bitter taste. Secondly it is an excellent natural anti depressant. The aroma of the herb cheers one up and helps endure the heat in the steam chamber. Using the curative power of absinth you can sweat in the chamber longer and try coarse and hotter baths. There is not any special recipe suing absinth. Just put some twigs of the dry plant on the walls in the steam chamber and enjoy yourself losing your weight and bad mood with the sweat. Of course it is harmful for people who have heart disease. And absolutely healthy people should be very careful. It is not good to take a bath when you are full especially after a really hearty meal with a lot of fat. You should be also extremely careful with the alcohol in the bath. It is not true that Russian vodka completes the enjoyment in Russian banya. I think beer is also not needed there. I am giving you some advice about visiting Russian banya Even if all of your new bath friends are drinking “for “banya”– don’t do it! If you drink alcohol before or during these hard therapeutic procedures – you can’t have a good health; you can have a good shear heart attack! Drink after – for good relaxation!
It’s interesting to know that drinking beer in bath is not good but using it for making bath steam is a grate secret! Add some light beer into hot water in proportion 1:20. Pour the mixture onto the heater stones. You get a mild aroma of barley and malt. This helps you take pleasure of hard bath steam longer.

Using a natural Australian recipe in sauna or banya can prevent a cold or influenza.

Why koalas don’t ever have a cold and the flu? They live in Australia. They take a hot sunbath and eat eucalyptus leaves every day. Everyone knows about the healing power of eucalyptus oil. But no one ever thought about living as koalas do. It’s easy! Let’s remember about banya and sauna! We need some heat for our body and some hot eucalyptus steam prevent us from coming down with a cold again. We won’t appeal you to chew eucalyptus leaves in a steam chamber! There are a few ideas how to prepare eucalyptus aroma and to test in practice the healing power of the herb. For Russian banya it’s good to use hand-made extract. We put twigs or leaves into boiling water, wait for half an hour pour the extract over the heater stones. To intensify the effect it’s better to hang about the twigs or leaves. Inhaling the aroma you feel as if in Australia. If we prefer sauna we spill very little extract over the heater stones or drop some eucalyptus oil on the walls and shelves. You can take extra vitamin C during the cold season or kill yourself by hard medicine drugs. Or fly to Australia. But I hope my advice is better and healthier.

What to Do for Colds and Flu? Using of herbal extract remedies and use them right - in sauna or Russian banya!

Drugs don’t prevent flu. It only can reduce the length and severity of its symptoms. In a cold winter day there is nothing but a hot bowl of chamomile tea to warm your body. But it’s not only for drinking. Antiviral properties of chamomile extract are better to be tested in sauna or banya! It is easy to prepare – just add to chamomile boiling water and let it brew for some time. After that you should filter the extract and as a result you've cooked one of the best anti-cold drugs. Anti-bacterial qualities of chamomile are well-known from Roman ages. And it's a really great aroma for best relaxing: mild and delicate. It could be used in the same way as the horse radish extract in Traditional or Infrared sauna and Russian banya (Look at Post: "Horse radish extract is banya’s and sauna best secret for depression and flu killing").