Our ancestors used to say “Enjoy an ice-cold steam bath, water brooms, get tanned but not burned and don’t fall off the bench. After all, a steam bath is like a mother – even when she beats, she will always love you!”
My father once recounted to me that in his childhood when he lived in a communal apartment in the center of Kyiv, where there was no private bath, so hh and his family had to go to a public steam bath. My late grandfather took my father to the central steam bath every Sunday morning, where strangers and other naked people participated in a “collective wash-down”.
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Would children enjoy a steam bath where the tiles are falling from the walls, the plaster on the ceiling crumbles due to the constant humidity and the harsh odor of steam is mixed with the pungent smell of chlorine? Not so much.
Nowadays, people can’t wait to the end of the work week to go to a steam bath, sauna or hammam spa (meaning “spreader of warmth”). Before sitting down on the wooden bench in a predbannik (pre-bath room) made of freshly planed fir wood you slowly take off your robe and savor the happiness for another work week until the next Friday evening.
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Steam bath
For centuries a steam bath has been considered healthy and refreshing. It removes toxins from the body, relieves stress and is truly a medication for the body and soul. A steam bath is not only caring for one’s health or a pleasant way of spending one’s leisure time, but a lifestyle. In Kyiv, one can visit a steam bath with the family and kids or with a group of close friends.
The amenities in steam baths have not undergone any fundamental changes and remain as they were to this very day. A contemporary steam bath consists of a spacious recreation room, a small cozy steam bath cabin with two- or three-level wooden benches and a furnace that takes up a third of the space. Rocks on the furnace heat the cabin. When the rocks become white-hot, the flames are doused with water to let off the steam. In order to create a fragrant aroma the rocks should be sprinkled with herbal tinctures, rye bread kvas or beer.
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One should be well prepared before going into a steam bath house. While most steam bath places provide a towel, bed sheet and slippers, you are better off bringing your own.
In order to not get scalded by hot steam it is well advised to leave all jewelry made of metal at home and take a special cap to protect the head from the heat. Also, you should not sit in a steam bath wearing glasses or contact lenses. Eating or drinking alcohol is out of the question. By the way, Ukrainians are known to have a strong consttution and often violate this rule drinking vodka and chasing it down with traditional snacks like pickles, salo (pig fat) and herring.
The first time one goes into a steam bath cabinet requires responsibility as it sets the regime for the next visits. It is best to enter when it is still being heated and the temperature is still relatively low. First you should sit or lie down on the lower bench. Once your body is acclimatized to the heat you can climb up onto the second tier and - if you wish - to the third tier bench. The main thing is to not go overboard. Keep in mind those are just preparatory measures. In temperatures of 50-60 degrees you should not stay in the cabin for longer than 10 minutes after which you should rest in the pre-bath recreation room for 10 minutes wrapped in your towel and sip on an herbal tea.
Vinyk, a leafy and fragrant bundle of tree twigs, is an essential element of a steam bath. Fanatics of steam baths say a vinyk helps drive out any disease from the body. A birch vinyk is considered classic as it not only steams the skin, but also eases the muscles and joints. If you are a strong man and do not fear anything, take an oak bundles. A gentle lime vinyk is perfect for girls and helps cure headaches. Brooms made of eucalyptus help cure the common cold. Whatever the case, the main thing is to first thoroughly steam the broom in a pail of hot water.
You should use a vinyk during your second time in the steam room. Application includes beating, fanning, stroking, shaking and even whipping. However, a professional bathhouse attendant should be invited for such procedure. The thing is that one should work with bunches of twigs quite intensively, and at the temperature of 100C0 and high humidity an unprepared person can even faint.
After you perspired and your skin burns from bunches of twigs you should cool down rapidly – acute temperature difference is one of the most distinctive peculiarities of wholesome effect of Russian bath. You can dip in a cold water pool or pour out a bucket of cold water on yourself. However, if your bath stands next to a river or a lake you can take a risk and dive in a water opening. You will never forget the feeling!
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Sauna
Many people prefer saunas to Russian steam baths, where temperature in moist steam rooms is 120, 140 or even 160C0. Saunas have lower humidity – only 15%, and temperature in steam rooms is only 100C0. It seems like the difference is not that big but children and adults tolerate saunas much better: due to minimum humidity it is much easier to breathe in saunas, and temperature influence on the human body is not as strong as in Russian steam baths. For this reason, saunas are used for prevention and treatment of many diseases. Splashing water on hot stones do not forget adding a few drops of your favorite essential oil.
Ladies will appreciate sauna’s wholesome effect on skin. Temperature differences relax and soften skin, stimulate the so-called skin breathing detoxifying our bodies. If you go to sauna on regular basis your skin becomes smooth and elastic. Sauna treatment helps fighting cellulite and improve metabolism. It is believed, that all skin cleaning products should be applied before your go to a steam room and all nutrients, moisturizing masks and creams after you come out of the steam room.
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Hammam
Temperature in Turkish bath is only 35 – 50C0 but humidity is almost 100%. Steam generator is the source of steam in hamam. Abundance of moist warm steam is combined with mild temperature, which means it is suitable even for elderly people suffering from blood pressure difference. If it is hard for you to stay in sauna or Russian Bath, hamam will be perfect for you.
Turkish bath has no wooden shelves, all benches are made of stone. Marble is always warm due to the heating system which maintains constant temperature of stones at the level of 40C0. A typical hammam consists of three basic, interconnected rooms: the sicaklik (or hararet -caldarium), which is the hot room; the warm room (tepidarium), which is the intermediate room; and the sogukluk, which is the cool room (frigidarium).
The sogukluk usually has a large dome decorated with small glass windows that create a half-light; it also contains a large marble stone called tummy stone at the center that the customers lie on, and niches with fountains in the corners. This room is for soaking up steam and getting scrub massages. The warm room is used for washing up with soap and water and the frigidarium is to relax, dress up, have a refreshing drink, sometimes tea, and, where available, a nap in a private cubicle after the massage.
At first you should warm up, then go to all niches and lie down on stone bench only after your body is properly warmed up. It is better to wash marble with hot water before you lie on it, so it will be even warmer. After you perspired on stone table, it is time for massage. The procedure is the main part of all steaming ceremony in hamam. Massage is quite intensive for acceleration of blood circulation, but at the same time it is pretty relaxing.
Slow warming and slow cooling are the main distinctive features of Turkish bath, for this reasons washing as well as steaming has a few stages. After you leave steam room you go to shower room. Wash your body with slightly soapy wiry sponge and wash the foam with very warm water. Then you can soap yourself again and wash with lukewarm water, then wipe yourself thoroughly and go to relaxing room to enjoy a cup of tea and light music.
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