Bath procedures: how to take a steam bath with a broom, what to do after a bath
Bath procedures familiar to everyone: fragrant steam, skillfully selected broom, ice douche and massage in the bath – the benefits and pleasure of this procedure are undeniable. But do all of us know how to properly steam in the bath and what to do after the bath?
In this article, we will give some recommendations on when to go to the bath, when you can steam, how to steam with a broom, and what is useful to do after the bath. After all, what could be better than taking a steam bath in a Russian bath? But you need to do it wisely.
When to take a bath
The best time to visit the bath is considered to be the morning hours. At the very beginning, it is very useful to swim in the pool for 15-20 minutes. Then it is good to take a warm (35-38 ° C) shower (3-4 minutes). If there is no pool in the bath, then take a warm shower.
You don't need to wet your head. Soap should not be used, as it washes away the natural protective film from the skin, and you can burn yourself in the steam room.
Before steaming with a broom, you need to prepare a place for subsequent rest. Pour hot water over the bench until it warms up. You should enter the steam room only in a special cap. The best option is a felt cap (or a hat with a brim). So you will create additional protection for your head from the heat. If there is none, a scarf, a turban from a towel will do. The main thing is that the headgear does not squeeze the head. The cap can be soaked in cold water before entering the steam room.
When can you steam
If you are a beginner, the first stay in the steam room should not exceed 5 minutes. It is best to sit on the bottom shelf. On the next visit, you can go to the steam room a couple of times and gradually bring the total number of visits to 3-4, and the time spent in the steam room per visit – up to 8-10 minutes. However, the total time spent in the steam room for the entire time of the bath procedure, even for experienced bath attendants, should not exceed 35 minutes. A visit to the bath is usually given 2-2.5 hours, it is no longer recommended.
After you have taken a steam bath in a Russian bath, sit for a minute before leaving the steam room to prepare the circulatory system for a standing position.
In the steam room, do not forget to breathe only through the nose: hot air cools when breathing through the nose, if it is too dry, it is moistened.
It is important to remember that you are doing all this primarily for your health. Therefore, in the steam room, you should listen only to your own feelings. Records are not needed here, and leaving the steam room ahead of time is better than sitting in it. The best motto when visiting a bath is gradualness and moderation.
Before steaming in the bath, take care of a towel, because you should not stand in the steam room, since the temperature difference between the legs and head can be up to 20 ° C, and this can lead to heat stroke. It's better to be on the shelf. From time to time, you should roll over on your side, lie down alternately on your back and on your stomach so that the body warms up evenly.
After visiting the steam room for 2 minutes, you should calmly walk around, slowly raise and lower your hands several times, breathe deeply. Make sure there are no drafts in the room. Spend 5 minutes under a warm shower, then rest for 15 minutes wrapped in a bathrobe or sheet. You can drink hot drinks to keep warm.
How to bathe with a broom
If it is better to make the first entry into the steam room "empty-handed", then on the second and third entries into the steam room you can already take a broom prepared in advance, and preferably two at once. It is good if your brooms are short, fluffy and light.
Before steaming with a broom, you should choose for yourself shelves with a suitable air temperature. Lie on your stomach and freely extend your arms along the torso. It is better to go to the bath with an assistant. Let your partner use two brooms to lightly stroke all over your body from feet to head. In the opposite direction, one broom should slide on one side, and the other on the other. Repeat three times.
Steam room with a broom: lumbar region
Next, the brooms should be lifted up so that they capture hot air, and then lowered to the lower back and pressed tightly with your hand for a couple of seconds. Similarly, hot brooms are pressed to the area of the shoulder blades and knees. Repeat three times. You need to try not to tear the brooms from the body. Visiting a steam room with a broom when the air is too hot is not safe for beginners – you should avoid sudden movements and do not lift the brooms up. The end part of the broom makes lashing movements for a minute. First on the back in all directions, then on the hips and down to the feet. Then stroking is done for a minute, but the movements should be more active and faster than the first time when stroking.
Now roll over onto your back. All techniques should be carried out in the same sequence.
Then lie down on your stomach again. The first two steps should be repeated – stroking and fastening for 2 minutes. Then they proceed to the next technique – whipping and a broom compress: they raise the broom up to capture hot steam, and make a couple of whips on the back muscles. After that, press the broom with your hand.
The same should be done in the area of the lower back, buttocks, thighs and feet, while excluding the area of the popliteal fossae!
A broom compress helps after injuries, sports, muscle pain, gout, sciatica. And whipping with a broom is a centuries-old remedy for “orange peel" on the hips.
Steam room with a broom: "stretching"
The next stage of visiting the steam room with a broom is “stretching”. To do this, both brooms are placed in the lumbar region and simultaneously parted in different directions: one broom goes to the head, and the other moves to the feet. This technique helps well with pain in the lumbosacral spine. Repeat the technique five times, and finish with a general stroking of the whole body.
On the third and fourth visits to the steam room with a broom, the whole procedure should be repeated, however, for the first two steps – stroking and lashing – take less time, as the body will already be prepared for a stronger effect.
In the final part, the rubbing technique is used. To do this, slightly pressing on the leaves of the broom, they whip the body. The trunk is rubbed in any direction, the limbs should be rubbed along. The rubbing also ends with a general stroking of the whole body for a minute.
How to take a steam bath in a Russian bath: contrast procedures
For hardening, raising immunity and training blood vessels, it is useful to alternate visits to the steam room with a pool (cool shower). However, you should not end the entire bath procedure with cold water. It is necessary to take a warm shower or briefly return to the steam room. If you are going to dive into the snow or an ice hole, then be sure to return to the steam room after that and take a good steam with a broom!
Contrast procedures are a wonderful vascular training and a great way to rejuvenate the skin!
However, be careful and don't overcool. Therefore, if you are not an experienced bath attendant, limit yourself to a cool shower between visits to the steam room.
If at the moment the issue of losing weight is acute for you, you should abandon contrast procedures. The fact is that exposure to cold immediately stops the process of sweating, and hence the fight against extra pounds.
In no case do not take soap into the steam room and do not wash in it.
You should not use other people's things: scissors, washcloth, broom, soap, pumice stone, comb, etc.
Do not take glass or breakable items or objects that can cut you, such as razor blades, into the washing or steam room.
Bath massage
It is very useful to massage in the bath, and you need to do it after leaving the steam room, when the body is steamed and the skin is elastic. Do not drink cold drinks before the massage. The total massage time should be 20-30 minutes. If you massage yourself on your own, then limit yourself to 15 minutes. Repeat each massage technique three to four times. On a warm body, apply a special massage cream or anti-cellulite oil.
After the massage, it is recommended to whip with a broom. Then take a warm shower and start washing. After that, go to the steam room for another minute.
What is useful after the bath
At the very end of visiting the bath, you can wash yourself with a washcloth and soap. Although experienced bath attendants do not recognize soap in the bath, since brooms have already done all his work, and they argue that after the bath it is useful to rub the whole body with a damp broom – it will be better than a washcloth, and the skin will not become dry from soap.
Before the final shower, you can exfoliate the skin. For this, the following composition is recommended: mix coarse salt with soda and gently rub the whole body, including the face, with this mixture, lightly massaging the skin with your fingertips. The duration of the composition is 3-4 minutes. Then take a warm shower.
Having visited the bath once, do not expect that a miracle will suddenly happen. To achieve a significant result – strengthening health, raising immunity, increasing vitality, curing ailments, long-awaited weight loss, you should visit the bathhouse regularly. Optimally once a week.
Do not rush to get dressed right away, as the body will sweat for some time. It is better to sit for 15 minutes in a bathrobe in a draft-free room. This is the best time to put on a nourishing face mask.
Do not visit the bath if you have a serious cold (with fever), in the presence of chronic diseases, malignant tumors, thrombophlebitis, severe autonomic disorders, migraine, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. Bath is contraindicated for patients with acute eczema and psoriasis. It is also not recommended for exacerbation of gastrointestinal diseases, diseases of the kidneys, nervous system, musculoskeletal system. If you have any doubts, before visiting the bath, consult your doctor.