First time in a sauna

Re: the apparent last entry, I did not see a chiropractor a week ago, but because I amended that and a number of other posts they have suddenly jumped to the date on which I made the changes.

Jumping however to the last real post on 17th April I write about saunas and that is quite poetic as I was in one last month. In fact I was in a thermal spa complex in northern Spain where there were a myriad of different hydrotherapy treatments that ranged from Jacuzzis and water jets to steam rooms, cold rooms and a sauna. Needless to say in the four and a half hours that I was there I tried them all out and the experience was certainly worth it.

Moving back to the sauna I have to say that it is a real shock to enter a heated sauna room for the first time. The air really is so hot that it feels like it is burning the inside of your nose and the dryness of the room (it is dry not humid heat) is an experience that hits you immediately. The first mini session that I had literally lasted 2 or 3 minutes as, coming straight out of thermal water, the heat was so intense that it was almost unbearable. Second time a round I was more prepared and I stayed in for 10 minutes or so, as I did with subsequent visits.

The sauna sensation really is a strange one and I can understand how the Finnish leave the sauna and get into an ice bath or very cold shower. I went straight to a normal cold shower which amazingly felt quite warm. The sauna tricks your body with its immense heat. There was a temperature gauge on the wall and, as I recall, it was set at around 60 degree C. What the dry heat does it take away any humidity, however the overbearing hot air really does impact on you, first as you enter and later, with relief, as you leave. Having only done this the once I think that multiple sessions, extended duration times and regularity are something that you would need to build up to over time, but I can see the appeal.