TRYING a FINNISH SAUNA & ICE SWIMMING for THE FIRST TIME in FINLAND!

It was my first time trying a Finnish Sauna, rolling in the snow and ice swimming :O

Today I'm in the Arctic Circle in Finland (close to Rovaniemi) in the middle of winter. I'm trying an authentic Finnish Sauna for the first time! As a southern girl, I'm not used to the cold, so I'm really scared about what I'll do next: roll in the snow and swim in ice-cold water (also called winter swimming or polar plunge)! :O

In Finland, there are a lot of saunas, and the first one we try is a traditional Finnish sauna at an actual Finnish home (the best experience ever! :D). Then we go to a lakeside sauna in the Finnish country side, which is actually a barrel sauna (round floating sauna), in the middle of a frozen lake. By the way, I know that the traditional sauna etiquette means you have to get naked with strangers, but this is a family friendly YouTube channel, so we'll be keeping our swimsuit on!

Also, this is the LAST video of my Finland series. I loved this series and Finland and I'm so grateful of having experienced this beautiful, and very underrated country!
Watch the full Finland playlist here:

FIRST CLASS OVERNIGHT TRAIN to the ARCTIC (The Lapland Express):

#sauna #finland #finnishsauna #icebaths #iceswimming #winter #arcticcircle #northpole

[LucileHR]

Book this activity and many others around the world with Get Your Guide (partner):

[LivingBobby]

OMG, this is wild! Finland looks so cool!!!

[TuomasVu]

I have enjoyed these videos about Finland a lot. It's nice to see when you visit places that are so familiar to me, and how exotic and wonderful they are, even though I don't always understand that in everyday life here. It's nice to see that you've enjoyed yourself a lot here, and I hope you have the opportunity to visit Finland again soon!

Greetings from Finland.

[galgrunfeld]

If you're still in the Helsinki area, 1 hour away from Helsinki, in Kotka, there's a glass sauna right next to the ocean - I went there with friends, and it's amazing! You can see the cold outside while being in the hot sauna. There's also a **cave** sauna there which I haven't went to. It's in Santalahti.

[MikaTarkela]

You can actually feel really relaxed when you go into the cold water. Just concentrate in your breathing and take long deep breaths and the initial shock will go away :) After a while it makes you feel really relaxed just like meditation so the key is to stay in the water for a bit longer, like 15 - 60 seconds :)

[Pyllymysli]

Finn and a avid Sauna goer here! The rolling around in snow thing really gets your blood going and it's refreshing as any! It also comes with this old belief that when you go from hot to cold and hot again, you are gonna get tougher, healthier and stronger. Like hardening steel!

[Durga]

Bravo, that is a real challenge to do the ice plunge, bon courage!!!!

[JariJuslin]

Cold water dips also help to burn certain kind of stress hormones, because, well, body reacts quite heavily to the shock consuming them in the process.

Luckily my local swimming hall has a cold water pool (8C), so I can get the therapeutic effect without traveling farther.

And all swimming halls in Finland obviously have saunas, so you can heat yourself back.

[FreeThinker-ucwt]

I'm part Finn living in USA and admire your Sisu (Bravery). I hope to visit Finland someday and make my ancestors proud!

[rootkite]

Aivan mahtavaa! 👏💙 So inspiring that you went all the way in the traditional style, even though it was scary and shocking! ❤ That is the Finnish concept of "sisu" at its best 😊 After lots of experiences, the extreme bodily sensations can even become a craving, once the body and mind both adapt. The benefits increase with exposure, and a spiritual element can start to emerge. Thank you for this video and your courage! ❄️

[ohmp]

Nice, that was a real sauna. I have always talked with my friends that real sauna is heated by firewood and electric sauna is just a sauna simulator :D
Fun fact: the biggest part of the water that appears on skin in sauna is not sweat but just concentrated water from the air after you throw water onto the rocks. Your skin is much colder than the air, so the water concentrates on it. Throwing water and the steam coming from it is called "löyly". If I understood you're from France, in French way that could be written like "le ulu" but pronounce them together, not like "le" would be an article and a little stop after it.

[leena]

I do this to alleviate my headaches. As a person who does this somewhat on the regular - neoprene socks are a game changer. My feet hurt so much without them it's unbearable. With them on you can actually swim, not just dip in. It's a strange feeling when your feet feel normal and everything else is cold. I know some people enjoy it without the socks, but I enjoy the cold, not the pain.

Enjoyed the video! Very brave - most Finns never even try this.

[uikonimi]

About the snow feeling like needles: in a snow storm the snow can travel so fast it acts like sandpaper and actually scrapes your skin off.

[hbee]

Hey Lucille! You are so brave! Awesome experience for you to share with us. 🙂🌟❤

[missavelat]

Im finnish guy and its really amazing to see people likes finland

[veli-pekkakultanen]

You are so great! Finnish experience.

[rebeccamandelos]

You did great for a beginner ! 🥶💙🩵💦🤍🧊🤍❄️🔥

[apuuvah]

Nice. Welcome to Finland. Ice swimming is brutal, but very healthy if no prior heart problems.

[danydany]

Waouh ! Bravo Lucile !!! Je sais que tu es super courageuse, mais là c'est un exploit ! Je suis fière de ce que tu as fait, mais pour les prochaines vidéos ne prend pas trop de grands risques 😘

[SimoExMachina]

Actually, as you throw water on the stones, the temperarure of the room is decreasing, but because of the added moisture in the air, it *feels* hotter.