SCANDINAVIAN HEALTH INVENTION Home Sauna Baths Popular In New Zealand

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31002, 7 March 1966, Page 13

SCANDINAVIAN HEALTH INVENTION Home Sauna Baths Popular In New Zealand

age-old Scandinavian invention for relaxation and health improvement—the home sauna bath—is taking New Zealand by storm.

People from all walks of life have now sampled the beneficial effects of the home sauna, and have given it a unanimous stamp of approval.

Sportsmen, businessmen, housewives, models, and teenagers have discovered that the home sauna, which can be bought in New Zealand for a mere £4O represents a revolution in home health techniques. The sauna bath provides relief from a wide range of ailments. These include arthritis, rheumatism, neuralgia, neuritis, sciatica, lumbago and gout. In addition, the regular use of sauna baths can also build up a state of health which is resistant to certain diseases, notably the common cold and influenza. Asthma relief But one of the most significant aspects of this wonderful Scandinavian development is the evidence that it can provide considerable relief for asthma sufferers. There are many thousands of New Zealanders who suffer from asthma or a similar chest ailment For these people, the home sauna offers an opportunity for relief never before so readily available at little expense. But relief from pain and discomfort are not the only attributes the home sauna has to offer. Women use them both as a means of weight control and to improve and maintain a good complexion. Business men, too, have discovered a regular sauna keeps them relaxed, alert; and in good physical shape’ to cope with the rigours of the everyday business field. As an antidote to the ten-| •ions of modern living, and]

| as a means of ensuring regular use of the sweat glands ;to cleanse the body, sauna baths perform a most valuable function. History The ravages of time and history have proved the lasting popularity both of the health properties of sauna bathing and its ability to impart wholesome relaxation, mentally and physically. For thousands of years men of all races have been ; aware of the principles and [uses of sauna bath systems. The history of the sauna ;bath goes back to more than 2000 years ago when I the people of the great ’Roman empire first began to use a bath based on the assimilation of infra-red heat waves. Sauna bathing was refined and used widely in Finland and the Scandinavian countries centuries ago. Today it is part of everyday Scandinavian life. And signifl-

cantly, the Scandinavians are among the healthiest people in the modern world. But only in recent years has the sauna bath become popular throughout the rest of the world. Strangely enough, the soldiers of Hitler’s Nazi Germany must take most of the credit for giving the sauna to the outside world. During the German occupation of Finland in the troubled times of the Second World War they were introduced to the sauna bath. Convinced of the health benefits to be derived from regular use, the soldiers took it back home at the war’s end and continued to use it in Germany. The idea was then taken up by the occupation forces of Britain, France, and the United States of America. From there it was only a few years before the sauna bath, and more particularly, the home sauna bath, became accepted throughout the world.