Useful and medicinal properties of the bath
Healing properties of the bath are known to mankind since ancient times. Bath is not just a procedure. This is a whole philosophy, and often the image and style of life. No wonder there are many national traditions of the baths, according to which one can get an idea about the peoples who created them, and about the climate in which these people lived.
The main quality of a good bath is light steam and the optimum combination of temperature and humidity. In different bathing traditions, this was achieved in various ways.
Russian bath. From the chronicles it is known that the Russian bath existed already in the 9th-10th centuries. Originally it was a log cabin with moss-cleft slits. In the steam room there was an oven made of stone without a chimney, so when the sauna was heated, all the smoke remained in the room and covered the walls with black soot. There was also a barrel of water, which was heated with stones heated in the oven. After bathing, the bath was ventilated, opening all the entrance doors.
More recently, scientists have found that such baths are very useful, since smoke and soot contain special antiseptic substances that destroy pathogenic bacteria and microbes.
This method of heating was called "in black", and the baths themselves were called "soaps", or "wiles."
Later, there appeared "white" baths with ovens having a chimney.
Visiting a bath for a Russian person has always been a real ritual, allowing not only to cleanse the body, to remove the accumulated fatigue, but also to receive a charge of energy. In a bath, a person does not just sit or lie - he pours steam, steams himself with a broom, bathes in cold water or snow( depending on the season) between rides in the steam room, resting.
In the Russian bath, humidity and temperature are optimally combined. And its main advantage was always the presence of light steam, which was obtained with the help of a special stove-heater. Its feature is that it does not give heat outside, but inside. As a result, the stones in the furnace are heated to a temperature of 700-800 ° C.When water is poured onto such stones( "lousy steam"), very small and light vapor is formed, which is very useful for humans.
Finnish sauna. The Finnish bath in terms of geographical location, climate peculiarities and "bath" tastes has always been the closest to Russia. Initially, the Finns also had "black" baths, however, they were drowned more strongly, and water was used much less than in Russian steam rooms. Gradually the Finnish bath became practically "dry", and the closed oven was replaced by an open one, in which the glowing stones are on the surface.
Unlike Russian baths, Finnish saunas are not ventilated. The air temperature in them is on average around 120 ° C, but it can reach up to 140 ° C. Due to the high dryness of air in it, it is practically impossible to use a Russian broom, but it is efficient to conduct peculiar inhalations by dripping some kind of herbal infusion on glowing stoneseucalyptus, for example).
Finnish baths are very useful for people with respiratory diseases.
In Russia, with its harsh climate, warmth has always been tantamount to life, therefore everything that carried it in itself was considered sacred. Therefore, the bath was assigned a special role in many ceremonies, many signs and beliefs are associated with it. Saturday in Russia was always a bath. On this day, no one worked - everything from small to large, from peasant to prince - everyone was soared.
Turkish bath "hamam".Asia is a region in which most of the country is dominated by a hot and stuffy climate. Therefore, the baths here were created cool and moist. The temperature in them was maintained at about 30-40 ° C with a relative humidity of up to 100%.It is impossible to create a light steam at such a low temperature directly in the steam room, therefore a system of steam generators and delivery of hot moist air was developed in Turkish baths. An important role in maintaining a light steam was played by well-heated marble walls and floors.
Turkish baths lead their history directly from the ancient, in particular, Roman baths. Hence the luxury in decoration, the system of pools with water of different temperatures.
Unlike Roman baths in the eastern bathhouse, there is no entertainment at all. But an obligatory component of the Turkish bath was always and remains massage.
Roman baths. Roman terms were not just baths in the modern sense of the word. In them there were halls for sports, a locker room, a hot bath, a warm bath, a cold bath, a pool. At a later time in lush imperial terms there were also libraries, halls for feasts, talks and meetings.
According to the Romans of that time, the bath was one of the most effective medical facilities. About her healing properties, poets composed verses:
. We can find the source of many in the baths:
. They can soften the sputum, take the body moisture,
. Excess bile is driven from the bowels. They,
Soften the itch, - pleasant and bothersome, -
And sharpens the view;if anybody
Became hard to hear, ears cleaned up.
Forgetfulness is carried away, the memory is stored,
For reasoning, the mind is cleared up in a moment,
To the conversation of the busy speech is directed,
And the body is all shiny from the rumination there.
Thus, the Roman terms were absolutely unique phenomenon, performing hygienic, medical, social and cultural functions. They were not only a resting place, but also an excellent prophylactic facility, a kind of hydrotherapy to maintain vitality and health of citizens.
Japanese bath "ofuro".Home bath "Ofuro" appeared in Japan more than 2500 years ago. It is a very special phenomenon, fundamentally different from European or Asian.
This is a large wooden barrel filled with water, heated to a temperature of 45-50 ° C.For convenience, a special stand is installed in the barrel, sitting on which you can take a semi-lying position. Water in "Ofuro" covers only the lower part of the body to the heart. The upper part is during the procedure in water vapor. Bathers stay in a barrel for 4-5 minutes, then wipe dry, dressed in a robe and lying rest on couches.
In addition to "Ofuro", in Japan there are other types of baths, many of which for the European seem exotic. One of them, used with medicinal purposes, is the so-called sawdust.
A mixture of sawdust, crushed wood and cedar leaves, as well as various medicinal and aromatic herbs( the number of which can reach several tens) is poured into a special bed with a thick layer and heated to 55-60 ° C.Then a person is laid on the bed, which is covered with a layer of sawdust around the neck. After the procedure, the sawdust is carefully shaken."Opilochnaya bath" has a multicomponent healing effect, having simultaneous influence on the skin, respiratory organs and nervous system.
Georgian bath. Georgian baths appeared many centuries ago. They are based on the use of a natural pair of hot mountain springs saturated with sulfur. Water from the sources, which was fed through ceramic pipes, filled the marble lined pools.
Baths with smoldering sulfuric water were located in grottoes, which in ancient times were lit by torches. In the special department, the choir performed Georgian multi-part songs, which created a special atmosphere and a specific mood.
In modern Georgian baths, besides the swimming pool with its adjoining stone massage beds, there is also a shower. Massage and washing produces a special rigid mitten of natural wool bath-attendant massage therapist.
Once Georgian baths worked around the clock. Here they arranged lunches, solved business issues. In the "women's" days, bride-groomes were held.
The most famous sulfur baths, which were described by AS Pushkin, are in the capital of Georgia - Tbilisi.
Bath procedures train the cardiovascular system, strengthen the respiratory system, help normalize blood pressure, help with the treatment of injuries, sprains, dislocations, with the deposition of salts, kidney diseases. High temperature promotes the acceleration of metabolism, improves the skin condition, destroys pathogenic bacteria and fungi.