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Lists of tips for protecting yourself against coronavirus and recovering from it are circulating online and in WhatsApp messages. Some of them suggest spending time in warm places such as the sauna. That would certainly be welcome news for Finnish sauna-goers and sauna sellers.
According to the experts, however, ”The sauna does not help against coronavirus”, as infectious disease chief physician Asko Järvinen told Yle and virus researcher, docent Varpu Marjomäki told Iltalehti. Instead, they warn of the dangers of taking a sauna when you have flu.
In this situation it is wise to trust the experts and stay out of the sauna when you are ill. The authorities' instructions on moving about and gathering should also be followed so that we do not fall ill.
But the sauna does help with quarantine!
About ten days after the coronavirus upheaval began, the mood is still strange and full of disbelief. Routines related to getting about, work, family and friends are finding new courses. According to the advice, it is important in this situation to find and keep routines.
A Saturday sauna in your own garden sauna is one routine worth keeping. Today, in the middle of the day's chores, heating the garden sauna crossed my mind several times. Finally, at the end of the afternoon, I got to whittle kindling from birch logs and take my therapeutic walk to the sauna carrying water.
Carrying the water, I suddenly noticed the landscape lit by the evening sun. Snowflakes were slowly settling on the ground. Smoke was rising from the chimney of the garden sauna. A magical moment. Below are a few pictures we managed to save on the memory card.
Once the sun had set and the sauna was warm, we went in. Me and the boys. The men. Oh, how the löyly soothed minds wearied by quarantine and softened men of few words.
In the middle of our chat, the youngest asked if we could sing. So we sang. And threw water on the stones. And then fell silent again.
After the sauna, the youngest was sleepy. In a moment, he was asleep.
Sometimes life is good. Even in quarantine.*
*in this blog post, quarantine refers to the restrictions on movement that apply to all of us
