Another sauna ritual experience story...
Ancient bath ritual
It is not for nothing that our ancestors went to the sauna every week to enjoy the sauna ritual. The weekend marked the end of one work cycle and the beginning of a new one. The sauna ritual is a personal hygiene procedure for the body, but especially a procedure for cleansing and healing the spirit, restoring well-being, and relieving stress. The sauna is a new reference point in the daily rush.
The Laima and Mara church – the bathhouse was used quite widely. A person’s life began in the bathhouse, at birth, and ended by preparing the deceased for their departure. Healing rituals were performed in the bathhouse – massages (riding), incantations, and treatment with various herbs. The bathhouse has always served as a place for fortune telling, magic, and predicting the future. It was visited by gods and spirits, as well as devils and witches. Various beliefs and customs arose from it.
Meat and fish were also smoked in the bathhouse, malt was sprouted, rolls were made, and grain, flax, and hemp were dried.
Servants and seasonal workers also moved in with their belongings and lived in the bathhouse during the week. When the weekend came and the family was getting ready for the bathhouse, the servant had to pack up and go outside with his entire belongings, and after the big bathhouse day – back inside.
So, another weekend is here for us, we're putting on our seven-mile boots to enjoy the "Ezermaļi" bathhouse ritual, widely praised in Kurzeme, right on the shores of Lake Sonata.
Relaxing sauna ritual
The sauna ritual is scheduled for Saturday, so we arrive the evening before to get in the mood and recover from the hustle and bustle of the city and be able to fully enjoy every soulful string of the sauna and every touch of the sauna broom.
After a great Midsummer's Day in Alsunga, we return to the cozy "Ezermaļi" guesthouse, where smiling and radiant bathhouse attendants - Aina and Inga - are already waiting for us. There is an active bustle around preparing the brooms, scrubs and herbal teas that we brought with us. Aina has already brewed herbal teas and peeled apples, while Inga enthusiastically tells us about what will await us in the approximately 4-hour relaxing bathhouse ritual. It may sound long, but when you are in the process, time passes without you noticing.
A couple of hours before the sauna, we have had a light meal. The sauna owner Aina emphasizes that it is not recommended to go to the sauna either on an empty stomach or on a full stomach. To activate digestion, we first sip bitter and aromatic wormwood tea from small glasses of vodka.
Smiling bathhouse attendant Inga emphasizes the “gentleness” and gentleness of the Latvian bath ritual, choosing the most suitable mode for each person. The most important thing in this process is to achieve complete relaxation in order to disconnect the mind from the everyday rhythm. This gives the mind a break, a message that everything is fine, so that we can listen more to the signals of the body and emotions. Completely non-violently, only through well-being and closeness to nature, the bath ritual allows us to come into harmony with ourselves. In everyday work, this is forgotten, which is why the bathhouse is so great.
Sauna procedures stimulate blood circulation, remove toxins from the body, cleanse the surface of the skin, improve metabolism and mental activity. During the ritual, bathhouse attendants follow the sequence of procedures and the intervals between bathing.
Several types of brooms are prepared for the sauna ritual, starting from the most traditional birch brooms, ending with verbena, heather and other medicinal herbs. The brooms are different according to their use – cleansing, smoothing, masculine, feminine, protective, warming, etc.
Scrubs are also prepared with natural herbs based on ground sea salt. For women, there is a scrub with crushed fresh English rose petals, for men - with sage leaves and burdock. For the head - rosemary crushed in a mortar. Of course, there are variations in the preparation of scrubs, but the main principle is observed, so that they are different and everyone can choose the one they like best.
A sauna ritual is always like a relationship between a bather and the person who wants to enjoy the sauna. The “chemistry” of both parties determines what the process and the result will be, which is why each ritual is completely unique. The external frame is supposedly the same, but the feelings are completely different. The sauna itself, plants, weather conditions, the rhythm of the moon… the cooperation of so many factors every time also plays its role.
Preparing and setting up for the sauna ritual
The sauna ritual, although its purpose is to relax, during the process the human body experiences increased stress, especially the cardiovascular system. In order to enjoy the sauna as fully as possible, you should go to the sauna moderately fed. Ideally, if the meal was about 2 hours before going to the lava. It is definitely not recommended to overeat or drink alcohol before going to the sauna, and you should also not do it on an empty stomach.
Your general mood is of great importance. In order to tolerate the heat and the physical strain of the sauna ritual well, it is recommended to get in the right mood, postpone all mental work for a couple of hours before the sauna and spend this time walking or otherwise doing something outdoors. This will increase the oxygenation of your blood, improve your mood and digestion, and make the sauna ritual more enjoyable than if you came to the sauna straight from your office chair.
Warm-up
We go to the sauna and lie on a herbal mat made of lava. For this, various trees, bushes, flowers, and herbs are used under each energy center, and each center has a corresponding plant.
The bathhouse attendants, gently fanning the brooms with more air, warm the body with gentle strokes to slowly tune and warm the body for the subsequent process. Inga barely perceptibly massages a salt scrub into the hair, while the soles of the feet are given “honey booties”. After warming up, we do not rinse, but go to the living room to sip herbal teas. In practice, bathhouse masters usually do not try to follow a strict program of the bathhouse ritual. They are guided by the person’s determination and feelings in order to imperceptibly guide the process, respecting each person’s individual rhythm.
Scrubbing
After a break for herbal tea, it's time for a scrub. The sauna ladies take a long bath and gradually warm up the body with light strokes of the sauna brooms. The temperature in the room gradually rises, it also becomes hotter inside. Then comes the turn of the well-prepared sea salt scrubs. The sauna room is filled with a light, pleasant aroma of the scrub. A thorough scrub is given to the back, legs, arms and neck.
Salt also perfectly softens the skin, opens the pores and allows them to breathe. The scrubbing process itself alternates with massage elements and the arms and legs are well moved. At the end, the bathhouse attendants gently sweep them again with brooms and tickle the nerves by dousing them several times with cold, hot, and cold water. The body is heated up, the effect of salt is felt, pulling moisture out of the cells. I want to rinse off in the shower. “Only with warm water,” Inga teases.
After scrubbing, the bathhouse attendants lay you down on a bench and provide excellent meditative sound and vibration therapy with singing bowls.
Four-armed great whip and pond
The big spanking comes imperceptibly. It is the final part of the sauna ritual before the climax – a contrast swim in the pond. The bathhouse attendants ventilate the sauna, throw another lap into the wood-burning stove to maintain an elegant temperature regime during the bath.
I lie on a mat of bath brooms and ferns spread out on the lava and close my eyes. Cool bath brooms are placed around my neck for easy breathing. The spirit is lifted and a “wave” comes as I sometimes laugh. This time the beating is very active and energetic. My eyes are still closed, my perception is focused on hearing and sensations. For a moment, the only thing I hear is the rustling of the bath brooms in the air. The beating has become four-handed.
Counter-current swimming
When the bath is over, the bath attendants make me turn over on my right side and sit up on the bench. I have to sit still for about half a minute – I can’t get up and walk right away, because the blood circulation in my body needs to even out. Then, wrapping myself in a towel, I head straight for the pond, into the wind, to end up in Inga’s arms, who holds me afloat until swarms of ants start to take over my body.
Relaxation after swimming
The body must not cool down internally, emphasize sauna masters Inga and Aina. So I lie down again on the lava and… yes – the flight can begin! I feel as if Love itself is taking over me and there is nothing else in the world. My head is so clear and calm. I can feel the pulsation of blood in my palms, which gradually subsides under the warm sauna brooms, with which I am gradually covered. Slightly warmed on the lava, I am wrapped in sheets and blankets, and go outside to the new Ezermaļi swing, where I am laid down. I swing in the autumn wind, watching the clouds play with the full moon.
It's getting dark, but I feel like I could sleep until morning. However, with each passing moment, my worldly consciousness is starting to return more and more. It might have been about 20 minutes when I crawled back into the guesthouse with all my blankets wrapped around me. Now I can dry off and get dressed. You definitely shouldn't wash yourself with soap or shampoo after the sauna. The sauna ritual is over with that. The sauna ladies are no less smiling and happy than we are.
Feelings after a sauna ritual
After a good sauna ritual, a person should feel alert, without any signs of fatigue. And that's exactly what happened this time. Even though the sauna is over and the clock shows ten in the evening, sleep doesn't quite come. The mind is alert and active for a while longer, and then sleep slowly begins to creep in. After the sauna, we don't eat anything serious, just snack on some fruit.
However, the feelings after a sauna ritual are very individual and can vary from person to person. The sauna procedure – warmth, semi-darkness, humid air, plants, proximity to nature, scents, sounds balance and relax, so everyone usually gets what they need most. Someone who has been under prolonged stress will relax and can fall asleep like a child immediately, while another who has been exhausted may feel a new zest for life.
A sauna ritual is an opportunity to do something good, pleasant, and pampering for yourself and your loved one or friend by cleansing yourself, improving your health, relieving muscle tension, and spending a nice time in a wonderful place - in Kurzeme, by Lake Zvirgzdu.
→ Book a sauna ritual and a guest house by phone +371 29 122 870 (hostess Aiga)
