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Socialising and meditation differs per person, not really by region in Finland. Mostly the sauna is a family thing (yes, the whole kernel family of parents an
by ptaipale 10y ago
Socialising and meditation differs per person, not really by region in Finland.
Mostly the sauna is a family thing (yes, the whole kernel family of parents and small children may go together to their own sauna, everyone's naked, until the children are close to puberty and men and women of family go separately; public saunas such as those in swimming halls or the traditional public washing facilities are strictly gender-segregated.)
Sauna is perhaps a bit more of a social happening than meditation, although there are some clear aspects of meditation as well. As of old, sauna is a "holy" place; you're not supposed to yell, as the house-elves would not like it. In traditional farms, sauna was were babies were born, and where the dead were washed, so it's a bit of a place of reverence. And it used to be the cleanest and often warmest part of the household.
- pimeys 10y agoThen again all of my friends go to Sauna together, men and women, naked. There are some famous public saunas where you can do this, especially the now famous Sompasauna in Helsinki. Source: I used to live in Finland.
- ptaipale 10y agoYes, it happens, though it's definitely not the norm. Most often this occurs with young university students.
- mcv 10y agoIn Netherland all saunas tend to have men and women together, with rare exceptions. But saunas are much less common and less part of normal every day life than in Finland.
- dao- 10y agoMixed-gender saunas are pretty common if not the norm in Germany. At least all saunas I've been to were mixed-gender. Often they'll have one dedicated women-only day per week.