Perhaps it is in the cold – thanks to him our ancestors came up with a way to warm themselves to the bones, which, as is known, do not hurt the heat. Russian bath (soap, shower, power, wandering) as an invention is attributed to the Slavic tribes inhabiting the European part of Ancient Rus, but its real roots are associated with the Ugric tribes that came from the Volga and the Urals.
Hills, sleds, skates, snowballs, mulled wine and salmon soup, cooked in a boiler under the open sky – there are a lot of winter fun, you can find a pleasant one even without much effort. And if the lazy prefer walks, teetotal – tea, and heat-loving – plaid, there is one word from which the hearts of all without exception (which, if they occur, only confirm the rule), the inhabitants of Siberia begin to flame – bath.
During the great migration of peoples, the nomads acquainted themselves with their creation of Rusich, Finns and Scandinavians. The Slavs perfected the bath in black (when the smoke and soot go not into the pipe, but into the room) into a Russian bath with brooms and steam.
Bathhouse played in the life of Russia not only hygienic role, but ritual and public. Commercial and political meetings were held in the bathhouse, they went to the bathhouse on the eve of important events – weddings, wars.
Foreign guests were courted with brooms, trying to share their joy and instill a passion for their favorite entertainment, but most often they caused in the overseas guests only bewilderment with their predilection:
“Having incinerated a stove in wooden baths, they entered there naked and there they poured water. Then they took rods (a broom) and started to beat themselves, and before that they could not live. But then, having turned out to be cold water, they revived.
So they did every day. None of them being tortured, tortured themselves and performed not ablution, but torment, “says Olearius, a German scientist who traveled to Muscovy and Persia in 1633-1639 in his notes. He, by the way, came to the conclusion that the Russians suspected of being a stranger in False Dimitry precisely because he did not like the bathhouse.
In addition to physical pleasure, the Russians attributed miraculous healing properties to the bath procedure, it was prescribed literally from all ills. And even now hot sauna steam is considered a healing product. The fact is that when floating, the blood vessels expand, and a qualitative improvement in the blood supply of all internal and external organs occurs. Intensive metabolic processes occur in the body, which leads to an increase in oxygen consumption and increased release of carbon dioxide.
Due to profuse sweating, due to which the sweat and sebaceous glands of the skin are cleared, slags are eliminated from the body. In addition, bath procedures affect our lungs and respiratory system in general, as well as the cardiovascular system, training them. However, the joy of soaring is not available to everyone. It is necessary to pay attention to contraindications to visiting.
These are acute respiratory diseases, fever associated with inflammation in the body, tuberculosis, hypertension, atherosclerosis of the heart vessels or cerebral vessels, heart disease, some gynecological diseases, pregnancy, critical days. You can not soar small children, the elderly are also not encouraged to zealous for giving in steam. But healthy people also need to follow the sauna rules, which will help to get real benefits and pleasure.
What should I bring with me to the steam room? The bath set includes two towels or sheets, a washcloth, slippers, a cap, washing and skin care products, aromatic oils (we’ll talk about them below) and a broom.
Towels must certainly be cotton, without synthetics, as well as dressing gowns or other clothes that you plan to wear after the bath, so that the flushed and clean body can “breathe” and not “irritate.” Aromatic agents are used not only for aesthetic pleasure and comfort, but also as a therapeutic component of the procedure. If you take dry leaves, flowers and sprigs of mint, chamomile, rosemary, thyme, eucalyptus, pine needles, spruce, larch, juniper, they must be brewed in boiling water for 15-20 minutes in advance, and then this broth should be thrown on the stove, getting a fragrant steam. If you use aromatic oils, then add a few drops to the scoop with boiling water.
Entering the steam room for the first time, do not immediately climb the top shelf, sit down, get used, wait for the first sweat. Then it is necessary to go out, rinse with cool water and then begin to steam. The maximum time that a healthy and strong person can spend in a therma, where properly boiled water is poured onto the stones, is five minutes, but they recommend not to stay there more than three minutes.
During this time, you need to be in time, lying on a shelf, broom to walk away all over your body, remembering that the meaning is not in the force of impact, but in the amount of a hot aromatic steam supplied by the broom to the body. You need to start from the back, walk on the legs, arms and neck and finish with light pats on the neck and face to strengthen the skin. After, if someone helps you, it is good to rub the whole body with the same broom, which replaces massage, scrub and cleansing mask.
Almost every woman has secret recipes for mashing, which she takes with her to the bath. And few people use ready-made perfumery – in the bath they prefer vegetable, independently prepared compositions. There are a lot of bathhouse variations, we will give one, effective and affordable.
After you steam, wash, you need to rub large salt, wash it off, put on kefir, stand in the steam room at the very bottom of two minutes, wash the kefir and then, spreading honey, climb higher on the shelves.
The face skin will like the steamed seed of flax, it nourishes the skin well and tightens the pores. Hair, too, should pay attention – use instead of air conditioning broth nettles, burdock and chamomile, steamed in the basin for 15-20 minutes.
Together with washing, rest, the guy and leaving bath procedure will take not less than an hour. After it you need a good rest. Do not fill in cold water – it is fraught with a cold, drink a cup of tea with herbs, mors or kvass at room temperature. Alcohol is taken neither during, nor immediately after the bath is not recommended. But the traditions are such that after everyone returned from the bath, they lay down and moaned, a beetroot blossom fell from his face, his hair dried up and shone, the feast begins. This is another good old winter joy. Enjoy Your Bath!