How to enter a new bathhouse. Bath signs and superstitions

Visiting Bannik

For a long time, the bathhouse in Rus' was surrounded by an aura of special mystery. Yes, this is not surprising. The bathhouse was considered both the cleanest and the most unclean place. Clean because here, in the bathhouse, the body and soul were cleansed, everything new was born - it was not without reason that before the start of any important business or event, be it a long journey, christening, wedding, big holiday, it was customary to take a good steam in the bathhouse.

Unclean - because the bathhouse was a transitional, borderline place, a boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Icons were never placed in the bathhouse. They entered it without prayer, and upon entering, they removed pectoral cross. In general, visiting a bathhouse was considered a dangerous activity. They believed that at night all kinds of forest evil spirits came to visit the house bathhouse - Bannik (or Baennik). But even during the day in the bathhouse one had to be careful. Don't shout, don't make noise, don't swear - Bannik especially doesn't like this.

Not every day is suitable for a bath. So, on Monday, girls cannot wash their hair - the braids will “come out” or “there will be no happiness.” The environment was also considered dangerous for a girl’s braid. Tuesday is a good, easy day. But Thursday and Saturday were considered the best for the bath. No matter how big the family was, they never went to the bathhouse more than three times, because “for the fourth time the forest evil spirits are steamed.” Sometimes the “third steam” was also considered dangerous - this time belongs to Bannik himself, therefore, leaving the steam room, people tried to appease the angry owner of the bathhouse, leaving him a bunch of water, a piece of soap and a broom.

When building a new bathhouse, a black chicken was buried under the threshold or under the shelf. After that they bowed, walking backwards. When a new stove-stove was heated in a bathhouse for the first time, salt was thrown on it. When going to the steam room for the first time, they took bread and salt with them, after washing, they thanked Bannik and left him the bread and salt on the shelf. In this way it was possible to at least a little appease the owner of the bathhouse, who, according to folk beliefs, had a rather evil disposition and, unlike the brownie, rarely did good to people. Bannik lives behind the stove or under the shelf. He often howls, moans, laughs, and throws stones. A visitor he doesn’t like can be scalded with boiling water, or even “steamed” to death. It was believed that the most dangerous time for a bathhouse was at night, because most of all Bannik did not like those who steamed at night. He strangles such brave souls and kills them with fumes.

Bannik rarely appears to people. Most often it is invisible. But if anyone sees the owner of the bathhouse, it will be bad luck. He looks scary - black, shaggy, long-haired, with iron claws. Therefore, it is better not to make Bannik angry. Try not to go to the bathhouse alone. After washing, they thanked the owner: “Thank you, Bainushko, in the steam bath!” Bannik could provide help to a good, kind person who knew how to appease the bath spirit and even help him out of trouble. However, this happened quite rarely. They also said that Bannik had two wonderful things - an invisible hat and an unchangeable ruble. The magic hat could only be obtained once a year. To do this, you need to go to the bathhouse on Easter night, put a cross and a knife in your left boot, and sit down facing the wall and curse everything. Then Bannik will jump out from under the shelf with an invisibility cap in his hands. Further actions are not described.

A brave person could get an unchangeable (or “non-transferable”) ruble from Bannik. To do this, you had to catch a black cat, swaddle it and throw it into the bathhouse exactly at midnight, saying: “You have a child on you, give me an untranslatable ruble.” Having received a ruble, you had to immediately run out of the bathhouse, sign yourself with a cross three times, and for greater fidelity, draw a circle around yourself three times (again with the help of a cross). But such daredevils were rare. After all, there were many bad omens associated with the bathhouse. Hearing noise, stomping, or howling in the bathhouse means trouble. Seeing yourself in a dream in a dirty, unheated bathhouse means illness, or even death (however, a well-heated bathhouse with clean water in a tub, on the contrary, foreshadowed good things). Only the very last person decided to build a house on the site of the former bathhouse. It was believed that all sorts of misfortunes would befall such a hut - mice would gnaw everything they could, bedbugs would overcome, but worst of all, old Bannik would strangle all the livestock, yearning for the old bathhouse.

It was these homeless Banniks who were considered the most dangerous. They often became werewolves. Moreover, such a Bannik could turn into either an animal (cat, dog, hare) or a person (passer-by, acquaintance, close or distant relative). And here only ingenuity could help the werewolf’s victim. There's usually something wrong with a werewolf's appearance. Either the eyes shine strangely, or the nails are too long. And the hare doesn’t look like a hare, and the familiar one is somehow “not like that.” In the famous novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, the observant Master immediately “saw through” the cat Behemoth: “For some reason it seems to me that you. not much of a cat.” If a person was lucky and managed to identify the werewolf before he found himself in his iron clutches, he should at all costs manage to slam the doors of the house in the face of his pursuer. If the Bannik werewolf managed to lure a person into the bathhouse, the only way to escape from him was to back away. Otherwise, even the bathhouse door will not open.

The bathhouse was considered a particularly dangerous place for women. Therefore, it was rare that a girl or woman dared to enter the bathhouse alone without a sinking heart. The exceptions were fortune tellers and witches. But, since we are talking about women, it is worth remembering another inhabitant of the bathhouse - Obderikha. The character of this bathhouse lady can be judged by her name. It doesn’t cost Obderikha anything to scald a person, to “tear off the skin,” although more often than not, unlike Bannik, she was quite good-natured. If Obderikha is appeased (and for this sometimes it is enough kind words), Obderiha can even help you out of trouble. What Bannik and Obderikha don’t like most is when they say prayers. But if they want to help a person escape from the forest evil spirits, then they themselves suggest prayer. In this case, both the forest guests and the owner of the bathhouse disappear. True, unlike the forest spirits, Bannik is not very afraid of the cross, nor is he afraid of prayer. Only a knowledgeable person, a healer, can deal with the owner of the bathhouse. But he must not forget about the cunning and cunning of the bathhouse spirit.

Ancient Slavic bath rituals

In Rus', the bathhouse, in addition to its everyday meaning, also had a ritual significance. Since time immemorial, it was customary to heat a bathhouse for deceased ancestors - usually they were invited to wash and take a steam bath in special days before big holidays. Ritual bathing on the eve of the wedding was of particular importance. After the wedding, it was also necessary to take a steam bath. Childbirth was also arranged with all the strictness, according to ancient beliefs and traditions. After all, it was in the bathhouse that women gave birth to children, and here they stayed for several days after giving birth, while they themselves were considered “unclean” (modern doctors joke that the air in the steam room is not inferior in its antiseptic properties to a well-equipped operating room).

Hair and nails were cut in the bathhouse. In no case were they thrown away - after all, a sorcerer could use them. There was a special ritual of burning hair. The nails were either burned or collected in a special canvas bag. You couldn’t throw dirty water at your feet, especially in the evening: if you stepped in by accident, you’d get sick.

There were also special ritual days on which it was necessary to take a steam bath: after the celebration of Maslenitsa, on Maundy Thursday, on the eve of Ivan Kupala (on the day of Agrafena Bathing - June 23, July 6). On Agrafena Bathing Suit, they collected herbs and roots, and prepared brooms for the whole year. It was believed that herbs collected at this time had special healing powers. The floor of the bathhouse and the shelves were covered with collected herbs and flowers, and they were steamed with special brooms made of willow, rowan, viburnum, bird cherry, birch, alder, linden, currant, associated with medicinal herbs. Each herb had its own strength, its own quality and transmitted these qualities to man.

All kinds of conspiracies were also uttered in the bathhouse, most often for medicinal purposes, such as, for example, the Siberian conspiracy given below for all diseases:

“Father, you are the King of Fire, you are king to all kings, you are fire to all fires. Be meek, be merciful! How hot and ardent you are, burning, scorching at open field grass and ants, thickets and slums, underground roots of a damp oak tree... I also pray and repent to you, father, Tsar-Fire, burn and sleep from the servant of God (such and such) all sorts of sorrows and illnesses , fears and commotion..."

This conspiracy should have been pronounced in a bathhouse over hot coals.

They often cast magic in the bathhouse. For example, to bewitch a loved one. To do this, it was enough to pull a twig out of a broom, put it under the threshold, wait for the betrothed to cross this threshold, and only then run to the bathhouse. There the twig should have been placed somewhere higher, where it was hotter. The more the twig dries, the more the beloved will begin to pine for the girl.

Of course, bath witchcraft does not end with such simple actions. We will move on to a special topic, almost not described anywhere - the healer’s bath ritual. There were several types of healing baths. The first type is to maintain life and health. In this case, special medicinal herbs were woven into the bathhouse brooms, giving success, health and prosperity. They drank charmed infusions and decoctions, and the shelves were also covered with branches, flowers and herbs appropriate to the occasion. The second type of baths is against serious illnesses and death. Let's look at them in more detail.

Nine circles of witchcraft baths

The ancient bath ritual described here has miraculously survived to this day. It was used quite rarely, mainly in two cases: when a person was threatened with death from a serious illness or for initiation into healers, healers, that is, for a person’s transition to a higher state of consciousness. The faces of death and illness were believed to be very similar. To overcome death, it was necessary to defeat 9 of its causes, to pass 9 barriers that it puts in the way: 1. Fear generated by ignorance and stupidity. 2. Cunning associated with a lack of wisdom. 3. Hopelessness caused by unbelief. 4. Resistance caused by excessive self-confidence and impatience. 5. Courage, in the absence of wisdom, also often leads to death. 6. Curiosity (mostly excessive). 7. Clarity of thoughts, but not yet clarity of consciousness. 8. Knowledge, which in itself is fraught with great danger. 9. Inactivity equivalent to old age.

Ancient healers knew that no disease could overthrow a person as long as his will was strong. The patient's fear can paralyze his will and nullify all the efforts of the healer. Cunning is what distracts the sufferer from the true path of healing. Cunning is often associated with laziness, and both seek easy roads. But the path to real health (understanding, knowledge) is always difficult, which is why it is so important not to outwit yourself, otherwise values ​​may be replaced. The third cause of death is hopelessness. If the patient himself does not believe in his healing, the doctor has nothing to do here. Healers believe that, having overcome the first three barriers of death, the patient will inevitably recover. And here impatience and excessive self-confidence lie in wait for him, and most often this is expressed in resistance to new knowledge, which is necessary for final healing.

But then there are the highest levels, intended mainly for initiation into healers. A person seeking knowledge can sometimes be hindered even by this positive quality like courage. Especially if courage is not combined with forethought and caution. Excessive curiosity could also directly lead to death. A person seeking secret knowledge must understand what should be seen and known, and what for the time being should remain under the cover of secrecy. Clarity of thoughts appears in a person at an even higher level - a very serious trap, just like knowledge. His ideas about the world are becoming clearer, more distinct, and here it is important to understand in time that the world and our thoughts about it are not exactly the same thing.

The world is immeasurably greater than any thoughts about it. And sometimes properly educated feelings and sensations can say much more about the world than the smartest thoughts. As for knowledge, the future healer should have understood that knowledge and skill are not the same thing. And unused, dead knowledge is capable of cruelly taking revenge on its keeper. You cannot reveal secret, sacred knowledge to an unprepared person... If you managed to cope with all this, the face of the last reason was revealed under the name of inaction, or old age. Having come close to the truth, having known everything, having learned everything, it is very dangerous to suddenly feel deep fatigue. This kind of fatigue is truly akin to old age. Having realized how vain life is, how many unnecessary actions we perform, it is very difficult not to fall into the disease of wisdom-inaction.

A person who has reached this stage already knows how to act without lifting a finger, and vice versa, to remain inactive when everyone is sure of the opposite. It is important to distinguish one situation in which you should do nothing, from another in which the best way out is action. Anyone who learns this will be able to overcome the ninth barrier of death. The ritual to overcome the nine barriers of death is carried out in the “healer’s temple” - the bathhouse.

The healer's bathhouse was usually built on the shore of a lake (an ordinary village bathhouse was not suitable for this purpose). It had 3 rooms: a dressing room; washing room; steam room

IN dressing room Healing herbs, drinks, firewood for the stove, all kinds of herbs for soaping were stored: soapwort, elderberries, horse chestnut, white dawn, raven's eye. Some of these herbs are poisonous, so care should be taken not to leave the foam on the skin for too long and not to get it into the eyes or mouth. open wounds. Ordinary soap was not used in the healer’s bath ritual. Here, in the dressing room, they kept brooms. They were composed of three types of plants - field grass, aquatic plants and tree branches.

At the same time, the healer remembered that aquatic plants taken from the river give swiftness, swamp plants have restraining energy and stability, and lake plants can bring balance. All plants were collected away from cemeteries and crowded places, each at its own time. Before picking the desired plant, you had to ask him for forgiveness and read the corresponding plot.

For example, when picking nettles, the following conspiracy was read: “The gray death went around three houses, did not find anyone, may he not find my brother, my sister (etc.), give me strength to do what I have planned.” The conspiracy should be pronounced quietly, but with inner strength coming from the depths of the heart. Having picked the plant, one should thank it. Each plant requires its own approach. For example, to pick an arrowhead, you need to sip water from the river and quietly say a spell, without thinking about anything - the arrowhead may be frightened by the person’s thoughts.

IN washing room Before the start of treatment (or initiation), three candles made from wax and medicinal herbs crushed into powder were placed. They were made like this: the required herbal powder was mixed with melted fresh wax and poured into candle molds with a previously passed hemp (or hemp) wick. Oak barrels with cold and hot water. An oak barrel added strength - it was used in rituals associated with the accumulation of strength. If it was necessary to remove damage from a person, then they used barrels made of poplar or willow. Basins, tubs, and gangs were placed next to the barrels.

IN steam room there was a stove-heater and a three-tier shelf. The entire room was lined with fir boards or some other coniferous wood, but without resin “pockets”. For the heater, not ordinary stones were used, but large pebbles - river, sea, lake. It was believed that it was best to take pebbles from 9 different places. At the same time, the nature of the water, for example a river, was taken into account: it can be fast, calm, deep, shallow, flat, mountainous, etc.

To cure a dangerous disease, a healer could limit himself to several “circles,” mainly the first three. To be initiated into a healer, it was necessary to go through all nine circles, each of which freed a person from one of the types of death. Each circle used its own herbs, trees, and attributes. This was not easy to do. It was necessary to know when to prepare the herb for a decoction, and when to prepare a filler for candles. It could take more than one month, or even more than one year, to complete all nine circles.

Circle one

Plants for broom: hazel, arrowhead, tripartite string (the string can be replaced with nettle).

Main area of ​​influence: legs. Diseases of the first circle are fear, stupidity, ignorance.

Carrying out the ritual: On April 6, a vase with hazel branches, string grass (or nettle) and arrowhead is placed at the eastern window of the house (or at the eastern wall). You need to light three candles in front of the vase, mentally turning to the spirits of these plants with a request for help in an important matter. Both hazel branches, and string, and arrowhead are harvested in the summer and stored in dry form. If you haven’t had time to stock up on hazel branches, under no circumstances should you cut them in April. After the candles burn out, take a small branch from each plant. The powder from them will be used to make herbal candles. The remaining branches and herbs are tied into a broom.

On this day, all participants in the bath ritual must fast. Usually these are two people - a healer and a “big one” (or initiate into a healer). A stork feather was hung on the neck of the second of them (the stork was considered a symbol of the 1st circle). A few days before the procedure, the feather is placed in a steam room in the corner above the stove.

The floor and shelves are covered with hazel branches. In the second room (where the barrels of water are) place three herbal candles: one with leaves and crushed hazel bark, the second with a string, the third with arrowhead.

Then prepare a decoction for the steam room: throw immortelle grass and flowers into boiling water, add hazel leaves a little later, boil for 5-7 minutes, then infuse in a clay or silver bowl (for 1 liter of water - 3 tablespoons of immortelle and 5 tablespoons of hazel ). To serve on stones, 1 glass of broth is diluted in 3 liters of water.

The stove is heated with birch wood, adding some oak and hazel branches. When the sauna is hot, it’s time to prepare a broom. To do this, you need to dip it in hot water for 5-7 minutes (you can’t do it longer, because otherwise all the power of the plants will go into the water). The water in which the broom was steamed can be used to pour on the stones: first two buckets of water, then one - a decoction of immortelle and hazel.

Vaping method: they begin to soar from a lying position on their stomach. The one who floats whips the person lying down with a broom from head to toe and back at a very fast pace. Point is repeated three times. Then gently blow steam to the head with a broom and, pressing the broom tightly, pass it through the entire body to the heels three times. Then do this: wave the broom, forcing steam to the lower back, press the broom in the lower back, move from the lower back to the heels (and three times). At the same time, it is very good to hit all the legs. Once again, run the broom from head to toe, turn the person lying on his back. Repeat everything in the same order, working very carefully with a broom in the face area.

Healers believed that first a series of people enters the human body and expels everything “unclean.” Then the arrowhead, clearing out everything that the line did not manage to capture. After them, hazel acts, cleansing the spirit. Moreover, the power of the string is the power of the wind, it acts through the sense of smell, the arrowhead (the power of water) works through the sense of touch. The power of herbs merges with the destructive power of the heat of the bath and the creative effect of steam and water.

The effects of the procedures are consolidated with a hazelnut drink. It is prepared like this: pound hazelnut kernels in a wooden or ceramic mortar, pour in spring water, leave until a white layer appears on the surface of the water, remove the layer, boil, cool to 50 °C, add honey, filter. The resulting hazelnut drink is drunk after the steam room.

The main plant of this circle, the hazel of the Slavs, has long been considered a sacred tree. They believed that lightning would not strike the hazel tree, and they hid under it during a thunderstorm. Hazel was considered a good amulet against evil spirits. For a long time, the cradle of a child was surrounded by a lighted hazel branch - against damage. And in Rus' they believed that a twin nut (a double nut under one shell) brings happiness and wealth; it was worn in wallets to prevent money transfers, and on the neck to avoid misfortunes and serious illnesses.

After the bath, the leaves covering the shelves, as well as the broom, need to be dried and burned.

Circle two

Plants for broom: horsetail, sedge, elm (or poplar).

Main area of ​​influence: back. Diseases of the second circle - cunning, laziness.

Carrying out a bath ritual: On October 8, a vase with poplar or elm branches is placed near the eastern window or wall,

sedge and horsetail grass. As in the first circle, 3 candles made of pure wax are lit. You should mentally ask for the help of these plants; when the candles burn out, tie a broom from elm, horsetail and sedge and prepare candles for the bath (in the same way as in the first circle).

Three days before the second round, prepare the following infusion for drinking in the steam room: pour currant leaves with boiling spring water, cool, add poplar fluff, leave for three days, strain. Drink chilled after the steam room.

On the day of the second circle, they wear a canvas bag with a tuft of elk hair or a figurine of an elk made of elm (poplar).

While the bathhouse is heating, prepare the following infusion: throw currant leaves into boiling water, then poplar leaves or buds. Boil for 2-3 minutes, then insist. At the same time, prepare a broom (soak it briefly in water).

It is best to heat the stove with birch wood with the addition of poplar or elm logs. The shelves in the steam room are covered with elm or poplar leaves. In the second room, 3 candles are lit (with elm, horsetail and sedge). They warm up well in the steam room, while water is splashed into the oven 3 times (in which the broom was steamed), and an infusion of currants and poplar buds 3 times.

Steaming procedure. First, they hover with a broom on their backs. Slow, medium-force blows are passed along the back from the lower back to the head and back three times. Then use a broom to disperse the steam along the body - from the lower back to the heels and from the lower back to the head and back three times. After which, with quick but weak blows (with the tip of a broom) they pass from the heels to the head. Then they apply 10 sweeping blows to the back and, pressing the broom to the body, sweep it from head to toe. After this, they turn the person soaring onto his back and perform all the actions described above, excluding the last 10 blows.

Coming out of the steam room, they rub themselves with poplar infusion. After which you should plunge first into hot, then into cold water and consolidate the effect of the procedure by drinking a pre-prepared infusion of poplar fluff with currants.

The leaves covering the shelves, as well as the broom, must be dried and burned.

It was believed that during the passage of the second circle, horsetail first acts on a person (especially on the abdominal area), then sedge (the element of wind) enters his body through the sense of smell, and only then elm or poplar. Horsetail normalizes metabolic digestive processes, restores the original strength of a person. You need to talk to these plants in different ways. When picking horsetail, you should speak in a whisper; When cutting sedge, you can not only speak loudly, but also sing at the top of your voice, but elm needs to mutter quietly.

Candles with horsetail, sedge and elm powder are not lit simultaneously, as during the 1st circle, but one by one. First - with horsetail, then with sedge, and lastly - with elm.

Before you burn the broom and leaves from the shelves, you need to thank the trees for their branches. The healers believed that each of the nine circles not only relieves powerlessness and illness, but also scares away Likho (according to the Slavs, Likho is a thin, one-eyed woman who sits on the shoulders of her victim - from then on, illnesses and misfortunes begin to fall on a person) . Having completed the first circle, a person gains the ability to act, to resist an illness or difficult situation. Having completed the second round, he learns to choose means and begins to understand what will really bring him healing and benefit, and what will only indulge him bad habits and passions. A person learns to be honest with himself, and therefore with other people.

Circle three

Plants for broom: wormwood, cattail, rowan.

Main area of ​​influence: neck. Diseases of the third circle: hopelessness, lack of faith in one’s strength.

Carrying out the ritual: On November 3, a vase with rowan branches, cattails and wormwood is placed near the eastern window or wall. Light up wax candles, as in the first two circles. Then prepare a broom and herbal candles for the bath.

The stove is heated with birch wood with the addition of a small amount of dry rowan branches. While the sauna is heating, you need to carry a canvas bag with a tuft of wild boar hair or a boar figurine made from rowan wood. Then you should prepare an infusion for the steam room: first throw strawberries (leaves) into boiling water, then rowan leaves. Boil for 3-5 minutes, insist. Used for pushing on stones.

In addition, a rowan drink is prepared: rowan berries are boiled, squeezed, mixed with the broth, when it cools down, add a little honey.

When the bathhouse is ready, the first herbal candle, made from wormwood, is lit in the washing room. When it almost burns out, put a candle with cattails, and lastly, a rowan candle. The shelves in the steam room are covered with rowan leaves. A canvas bag with a figurine or wild boar hair is hung over the stove in the steam room.

They warm up well in the steam room, putting two cups of water into the oven and one with an infusion of rowan berries and strawberries.

Vaping method: they start to soar from the back. First, they are passed three times with light blows of a broom from the neck to the heels and back. Then alternate a blow with a broom with a surge of steam (1 time) from the heels to the lower back and from the neck to the lower back. Particular attention is paid to the spine, walking along cervical vertebrae, after which they strike with a broom across the body back and forth from the neck to the heels (3 times). Having caught up with steam, they again pass the broom from the neck to the heels, turn the person steaming onto his back and repeat all over again.

After leaving the steam room, you should plunge into cold water. Duration cold procedure- no more than a minute. Then they wash themselves, using soapwort instead of soap, and wash themselves with infusion of rowan bark. The effect is secured by drinking a drink made from rowan berries. The used leaves and broom are dried and burned.

The healers plucked the plants of the third circle in the following way: cattail, watering it with cupped palms; rowan tree, addressing it in a voice imitating the rustle of grass.

Quite often, a little was added to the infusion for the steam room. vegetable oil. On the third circle, it is important that the stones are taken from different places: the first - river, the second - swamp, the third - lake, the fourth - from a wild field, the fifth - from a domestic, cultivated field, the sixth - from a forest clearing, the seventh - from a coniferous forest , the eighth is from deciduous, the ninth is from mixed forest. An important point: when working with mountain ash, we tried to be especially careful. This tree is easy to offend. People believed that cutting down a rowan tree meant incurring illness or death. They did not touch the rowan tree because healers often “transferred” the disease from a person to the rowan tree. On the other hand, rowan was used to protect newlyweds: berries were hidden in pockets, leaves were placed in shoes.

Those who completed the third round of the healer’s bath got rid of the feeling of hopelessness and began to believe in their own destiny. This gave the sick strength for healing and understanding: only the person himself can truly help himself, the healer only guides him, helps awaken the ability for self-healing present in each of us.

Note: after a bath with a rowan broom, the steamer felt a feeling of special freshness and vigor. Usually such a bath was not taken before bed, or, on the contrary, they were steamed in it if they needed to spend the night without sleep.

Circle four

Plants for broom: pleasant plant (dill, mint, thyme), water lily (yellow water lily), maple.

Main area of ​​influence: belly Diseases of the circle - self-confidence, impatience.

Carrying out the ritual: On January 8, before the start of the procedure, candles are placed in front of a vase with maple branches, a capsule, and a spicy plant. Then brooms and herbal candles are prepared from wax and capsule powder, a spicy plant and maple bark and leaves.

Three days before the ritual, a drink is prepared: they take spring water or maple juice (prepared in advance), put young maple branches and leaves in there, and leave for three days.

The shelves in the steam room are covered with maple branches.

While the bathhouse is heating, prepare a decoction for the steam room: first add rose hips, then maple leaves, into boiling water. They warm up in the bathhouse, putting two bowls of water into the oven and one of a decoction of rosehip and maple.

Vaping method: begin to float from the stomach. First, apply a broom from the face to the stomach and from the feet to the stomach 3 times. Then, without a break, from the face to the very feet - also 3 times. After this, they hit the chest ten times, alternating fairly strong blows with a surge of steam. Then the person steaming is turned over on his stomach and everything is repeated all over again, but from the back, excluding ten blows.

After the steam room, they rub the body with a previously prepared maple infusion (possibly with rose hips), then plunge first into hot water and then into cold water. Drink maple drink. As in previous cases, the broom and leaves from the shelf are dried and burned.

Healers believed that maple had an effect on the stomach, spices on the taste, the mouth (the element of fire), and the egg-little on vision and eyes. The egg capsule had to be picked very calmly, the spice plant - very quietly, the maple - talking to him in a normal voice.

The main plant of the fourth circle of healing baths is maple. The Slavs considered it the tree of patience. It helps to acquire perseverance, get rid of excessive haste and impatience. This is very important for a healer initiate. The patient, having gone through this circle, learns perseverance in achieving his goal. (Maple, according to the legends of the Eastern and Western Slavs, is a tree into which a person is turned (“sworn”). For this reason, it was rarely used. Only the healer was allowed to communicate with this tree, treat the sick with its help and identify the incurable.)

Circle five

Plants for broom: wormwood, alder, ash.

Main area of ​​influence: lower back, shoulders. Diseases: excessive courage, self-confidence.

Carrying out the ritual: On March 30, candles are lit for plants of the fifth circle - wormwood, alder and ash. A broom and herbal candles are prepared from these plants (with wormwood herb, powdered alder catkins and crushed ash bark and leaves).

Three days before the ritual, a drink is prepared: ash leaves are soaked in spring water for three days, honey is added, and cooled with ice. Caution: ash is a poisonous plant. On the day of the fifth circle ritual, the fur of a brown bear or a bear figurine carved from ash is worn on the body in a canvas bag.

While the bathhouse is heating, prepare a decoction for the steam room: pine needles are thrown into boiling water, then ash branches.

The shelves in the steam room are covered with ash branches, and a canvas bag with a figurine or fur of a bear is hung above the stove. Herbal candles are placed in the washing room. First, they warm up in the steam room (without a broom). A decoction or infusion for the steam room is poured onto the stones (2 bottles with water, the third with a decoction). Then they begin the procedure of soaring with a broom.

Vaping method: begin to float from the back. The steamer is placed on his stomach. The steamed broom is pressed to the lower back and held for some time. After this, quickly glide with a broom from neck to heels. This is followed by ten blows to the lower back, after which the broom is again applied from the neck to the toes, as if wiping the body with it. Then the person soaring is turned over onto his back and everything is repeated, with the exception of ten blows.

After the steam room, the body is rubbed with ash infusion. Then they plunge first into hot, then into cold water. Drink a pre-prepared drink from ash leaves with honey. The broom and branches from the shelf, as in previous cases, are dried and burned.

It was believed that wormwood is the herb of death and it has a beneficial effect on bones ( musculoskeletal system). In this case we mean black wormwood. White wormwood, on the contrary, is a plant of life. Alder had a beneficial effect on the blood and veins (river energy). Ash - on the lower back, shoulders. Ash (the main plant of this circle) was considered by the Slavs to be the guardian of health, wealth, and strength. This is a very prudent and careful tree - it never believes in early thaws and is in no hurry to open its buds in the spring. The tree passed this property on to man during the bath ritual of the fifth circle. The fifth circle teaches reasonable caution: you need to rely on your own strengths, but know that they are not unlimited. This helps determine when to rely only on yourself, and when to resort to someone else's help.

Circle six

Plants for broom: onions, reeds, pine branches.

Willow branches are laid on the shelves; Unlike previous circles, the main plant of the sixth circle - willow - is not included in the broom.

Main area of ​​influence: pelvic area, sacrum. The disease of the sixth circle is curiosity.

Carrying out the ritual: on the day of the arrival of the first migratory birds, candles are lit for the plants of the sixth circle. Prepare herbal candles and a broom for steaming. 19 days before the ritual, you need to take spring water and soak thin willow branches in it. On the eighteenth day, the infusion is boiled, a little St. John's wort is added, heated for about five more minutes, removed from the heat, a few juniper berries are added, and infused for another day. Cool before use.

On the day of the sixth circle, a decoction is prepared for the steam room according to the following recipe: St. John's wort is thrown into boiling water, then green pine cones and willow branches.

The stove is heated. When the bath is heated, herbal candles are lit in the washing room. The shelves, as already mentioned, are covered with willow branches. They warm up well in the steam room, first pouring water (2 shots) onto the stones, then the broth.

Vaping method: First, they hover the chest with a broom. To do this, place the person steaming on a shelf face up, apply a steamed broom to the area of ​​the heart and hold it there for some time. After this, ten blows of medium strength are passed from the neck to the feet. Then they apply a broom to the face (very carefully), hold it for some time, after which ten sharp blows are passed along the entire body from head to toe. The broom is again pressed to the heart area, again passed over the entire body with ten blows of medium strength. They turn the person steaming onto his stomach and repeat everything again.

After leaving the steam room, they wash themselves with soapwort (or other soapy plants), and rub their entire body with willow infusion. Then they plunge first into cold, then into hot water. They drink a pre-prepared drink made from willow, St. John's wort and juniper berries. After the bath, willow branches and leaves, as well as a broom, are dried and burned.

It was believed that onions and pine affected the human soul, reed - on his mind. Willow, the main plant of this circle, gives a person health, vitality, fast growth, successful offspring. Moreover, it was the young willow that had the protective power (the old one was often considered a refuge of devils; healers often “referred” diseases to the old willow). By the way, a decoction of willow (especially with juniper) in Russia has long been used for diseases of the stomach, throat, and fever; bruises and tumors were treated with willow lotions.

The bathhouse of the sixth circle freed a person from excessive curiosity and the carelessness associated with it, and brought peace and tranquility into his life.

Circle seven

Plants for broom: garlic, white water lily, linden.

The main plant of the seventh circle is also not included in the broom - it is an apple tree.

Main area of ​​influence: rib cage. Diseases are confusion of consciousness.

Carrying out the ritual: On July 4th, candles were placed in front of the water lily, linden tree and garlic stalks. After this, a broom and herbal candles were prepared (with crushed powder from garlic, water lily flowers, bark, leaves and linden flowers).

On the day of the ritual, a decoction is prepared for the steam room: first, blueberries (berries) are thrown into boiling water, then linden flowers and an apple tree branch. Then cook apple drink: apple tree leaves are thrown into boiling water, after a minute they are taken out, squeezed into the broth, chopped apples are thrown in, after about ten minutes the apples are taken out, the drink is cooled.

The shelves in the steam room are covered fresh leaves apple trees They warm up well in the steam room, first adding water to the stones, then a decoction (linden, blueberry, apple).

Vaping method: place the person steaming on the shelves with his stomach down.

A steamed broom is pressed onto the area chest(from the back), followed by ten quick blows throughout the body. This is repeated 3 times, after which they are passed with a broom from the lower back to the heels, then from the lower back to the neck. Raise the broom up, shake it, then press it to your neck. The chest, lower back, etc. are treated in the same way (from the neck to the heels).

After the steam room, they wash with soapwort or other soap plants, rub themselves with the infusion of apple buds, and drink an apple drink to consolidate the effect.

After the bath, the broom and leaves are dried and burned.

It was believed that garlic affects the mouth and tongue; its element is fire. The water lily is responsible for spirituality and also has a beneficial effect on the feet; The linden tree, having chosen the energy of the sun for itself, had an effect on vision.

The seventh circle is one of the highest circles of the bath ritual. After passing it, a person learns to see things in their true light.

Circle eight

Plants for broom: cornflower, reed, birch.

Main area of ​​influence: neck, back of head. Diseases of the circle - idealization of knowledge.

Carrying out the ritual: On May 8, candles are lit in front of the plants of the eighth circle - cornflowers, reeds and birch. A broom is prepared from these plants; Powders for herbal candles are prepared from grass and cornflower flowers (harvested last summer), reeds and birch bark.

Three days before the eighth circle of the ritual, they take spring water, soak birch buds in it, and leave it in a warm place. On the third day, refrigerate. This is the drink of the eighth circle. On the day of the ritual, snake skin or a figurine of a snake carved from birch is worn on the body in a canvas bag.

The shelves in the steam room are covered with birch leaves. While the bathhouse is heating, prepare a decoction for the steam room: first throw cornflowers into boiling water, then birch leaves.

In the washing room, herbal candles are lit, a canvas bag with snake skin or a snake figurine is hung over the stove in the steam room, warmed up well, first pouring water on the stones, then decoction.

Vaping method: begin to float from the back. First, they strike with a broom from the heels to the head, as if rolling a wheel along the back, and repeat three times. Then a broom is applied to the back of the head, held for some time, followed by ten light blows throughout the body. Press the broom to the back of your head again. Again they are given ten quick strikes all over the body. Turn the person soaring onto his back and repeat the entire cycle.

After the steam room, they rub the entire body with birch infusion and plunge first into hot, then into cold water. They drink a drink made from birch buds.

Used brooms, branches and leaves are dried and burned.

It was believed that cornflower affected the hand area, birch - the head area, reed - the skin, hair, and touch.

The main plant of this circle is birch, one of the most revered trees among the Slavs. True, the attitude towards her was often ambivalent. On the one hand, birch brought health and goodness, on the other hand, it could have a harmful effect, since, according to the beliefs of the ancient Slavs, the soul of a deceased person could settle in it. But birch branches, used in various rituals and ceremonies, were considered a reliable amulet in folk magic. Healers often “transmitted” childhood diseases to the growing young birch tree by pouring water under it, in which they bathed the sick child. ABOUT healing properties birch trees have already been described in previous chapters.

The bathhouse of this circle healed a person’s excessive fixation on knowledge, what is now called the “personal significance complex,” and taught him to distinguish between true and false knowledge.

Circle nine

Plants for broom: chamomile, willow, oak.

Main area of ​​influence: hands. The disease of the circle is old age.

Carrying out the ritual: On September 17, candles are lit for the plants of the ninth circle, a broom and herbal candles are prepared with powder from chamomile flowers, leaves and bark of willow and oak.

Three days before the ritual, a drink of the ninth circle is prepared: cut acorns are soaked in spring water, infused for three days, changing the water twice a day. Then oak leaves are thrown into fresh spring water, brought to a boil, boiled for 1 minute, take out the leaves, throw in acorns that have been soaked for 3 days, heat for another 3-5 minutes, then remove from the fire, filter, cool.

On the day of the final circle of the ritual, a canvas bag with wolf hair or a figurine of a wolf carved from oak is worn on the body. While the bathhouse is heating, prepare a decoction for the steam room: first throw acorns into boiling water, then raspberries. In the second room, herbal candles are lit; in the steam room, a canvas bag with wolf hair or a figurine of a wolf is hung over the stove.

The shelves in the steam room are covered with oak branches.

They warm up well in the steam room, not forgetting to apply water to the stones first, then the broth.

Vaping method: The steamer is placed on the shelves with his back up. First, they are hit three times with strong blows from head to toe. This is followed by slow, “pulling” blows from the heels to the lower back and from the head to the lower back also 3 times. After which there are measured, but not too strong blows from head to heels - but already 7 times. After passing the broom over the hands three times, they turn the person soaring onto his back. Repeat the entire cycle.

After the steam room, they first plunge into cold water, then wash with soapwort, rub themselves with oak bark infusion, and drink an acorn drink. As before, the used broom and leaves are dried and burned.

It was believed that chamomile affects the intestinal area, willow - on reproductive system, the oak tree is responsible for the hands and symbolizes the energy of lightning.

Oak is the main plant of this circle. This is one of the most powerful and long-lived plants. Among the Slavs it was considered sacred. Oak has always symbolized power, strength, fortitude, and masculinity. We have already talked about the healing properties of oak.

The ninth circle is the last in the healer ritual. It is designed to help a person overcome the fear of death, give him strength, vitality, and teach him to resist old age.

Lunar calendar and bath

For a long time, people have been interested in the cosmic body closest to us - the Moon.

This is especially true for Slavic peoples. After all, the ancient Slavs were a “lunar” civilization. The time of sowing and cultivation of fields was checked by the Moon; many calendar ritual holidays are directly related to the Moon. And the word “month” itself indicates that before adoption solar calendar The ancient peoples of Europe used a lunar calendar. By the way, in archaic times, “moon” and “month” were masculine among the Slavs, and “sun” was feminine. The ancient sages carefully, bit by bit, collected knowledge about the night star, about its influence on the Earth and, first of all, on humans.

It did not escape their attention that the power of the Moon is manifested through water. The connection of the Moon with the water element is undeniable. This is most eloquently evidenced by the oceanic ebbs and flows. Man is also two-thirds water. Perhaps this is why the position of the night luminary has such an impact on a person’s life, health, physical condition, and mood. It has long been noticed that during the full moon many chronic diseases, with the position of the Moon in one or another zodiac constellation, the state of the circulatory system and lymph changes. On certain lunar days, certain organs, etc., are vulnerable (or, conversely, require increased stress).

The bath procedure combines all four elements: the cleansing power of water, fiery heat, and the penetrating power of air, complementing all this with the healing effects of herbs and trees. Thus, the connection between the Moon and the bathhouse can also be traced. If our intuition does not let us down, we ourselves can feel it. There are days when you just want to quickly plunge into the original warmth of the water, the gentle heat of the bath. And sometimes, as they say, “your legs can’t carry you to the bathhouse.” And this is no coincidence.

There are lunar days on which a bath procedure can only bring benefits. On such days, the body is most susceptible to the healing effects of water, heat, and aromatic herbs. But there are days that are completely unsuitable for a bath procedure. If you “show character” and still go to the bathhouse on such a day, the least that awaits you is disappointment: the water is not the same, the steam is not good, and the feeling after the bath is not the best. Bigger troubles are possible. For example, health problems. This is especially true for those who have a weak heart.

To avoid troubles, you need to know the recommendations of each lunar day. But first, a few words about the lunar day, or more precisely, the lunar day. There are 29 or 30 days in a lunar month (it differs from a solar one). If you wish, you can calculate the time of their arrival yourself. There are quite simple formulas for this. However, it is easier to use a special lunar calendar. It marks the moments of the full moon, and even lunar eclipses (such calendars are published by a number of Russian and Ukrainian publishing houses, they can be purchased in the same place where you buy your usual solar calendars).

By the way, proper implementation of water procedures during lunar and solar eclipses is a guarantee that eclipses will not have a noticeable effect on you. harmful influence. In any case, you can reduce the risk of all kinds of exacerbations and complications, and improve your well-being.

First, let's list the most favorable days for a bath. These are third, tenth, thirteenth, eighteenth, twenty-first and twenty-seventh lunar day. At the same time, the third lunar day is one of the best for a Finnish dry bath, but the tenth is best devoted to a Russian steam bath.

Not favorable time for the bath - the fourth, twenty-sixth, twenty-ninth lunar days. People with poor health can add the fifteenth lunar day to this list. The remaining days are more or less neutral in relation to the bath procedure. Of course, each day has its own characteristics, so let’s look at this in more detail. For convenience, we divide the days of the lunar calendar by to the following principle: best time for a bath; favorable time for a bath; neutral days; unfavorable days for baths.

Days most favorable for a bath

Third lunar day

As already mentioned, a day ideal for taking a sauna. During this period, the body easily tolerates increased temperature loads. In addition, at the beginning of the lunar month, they become very dense liquid media body, internal organs. A good Finnish sauna will help eliminate this unfavorable influence of the Moon. If you have good health, you can “push yourself.” Before visiting the sauna it is very useful to perform physical exercise. Don't be afraid to overdo it. On this day, any load will be beneficial. Especially if you build it up gradually. The only caveat: do not use oils. Hardening procedures are useful. Rhinitis is well treated.

Tenth lunar day

This is the best day to visit a Russian steam bath. Take everything you can from this procedure. On this day, a biting broom, and the heat of the bath, and ice water swimming pool and a contrast shower will only bring benefits. Take care of healing infusions for steam room, herbal teas. Water during this period has an extremely beneficial effect on the body, in all forms. If you can’t go to the bathhouse, take a steam bath at home and finish it with contrasting procedures (by the way, this is a good day to start building a bathhouse).

Thirteenth lunar day

If you want to look younger, hurry to the bathhouse on this day. During this period, a program is laid down to rejuvenate the body forward. whole month. Therefore, special compositions for steam rooms, medicinal and cosmetic creams, ointments, and masks are effective. Massage with oils is very useful. The thirteenth lunar day is the best time to get rid of wrinkles. You can start a cycle of facial exercises. With the help of a steam room, skin diseases are well treated today. The rejuvenating effect of water is greatest at this time. Just remember to finish the warm treatments with a cold shower.

Eighteenth lunar day

If you visit the steam room at this time, your skin and kidneys will be especially grateful to you. The eighteenth day is very good for a bath. During this period, broom massage is effective, so it is better to steam with a broom. Today, choose birch or nettle. You can combine both brooms into one. Wound-healing compounds work well, and kidney teas are useful. These lunar days are some of the best for using oils. You can take a bath with aromatic oils, do oil massage. People with problem skin should start wellness treatments. Clay treatment is indicated, herbal ointments, mud, compositions based on sea algae. After the steam room it is useful to swim.

Twenty-first lunar day

Strong, active period. An excellent day for both a sauna and a steam bath. It will be good if a large but friendly campaign gathers. There is no better day for a group visit to the steam room. Contrast hardening procedures are useful. Cold water will not do any harm (it is also better to visit a country or village bathhouse on the twenty-first day of the Moon). In general, during this period all “dilating” water procedures are useful, after which you need to douse yourself with cold water to increase vascular tone.

Twenty-seventh lunar day

All water procedures are shown without exception; it is no coincidence that even the symbol of this day is Neptune. One of the best days for sauna magic. “Make some magic” over compositions for the steam room, over herbal infusions for drinking, make some incredible combination of herbs and branches for making brooms. Everything will work out if you follow your own intuition. Water and intuition - keywords this day. Determine the time spent in the steam room, the number of contrast or cold procedures, and the maximum temperature in the steam room in accordance with the “inner voice”; today it will not let you down. All procedures aimed at removing toxins are extremely useful. If it is not possible to visit the steam room, take wet wraps. People with weak hearted caution should be exercised.

Days favorable for baths

Sixth lunar day

A Russian steam bath and sauna will help you effectively cleanse your lungs on this day. All hardening procedures and light tonic massage are useful. Hypertensive patients should pay attention to their health - exacerbations are possible. Everyone else has nothing to fear. Before visiting the steam room, you can give yourself a good physical activity. In general, the sixth day is a time of increased endurance. Most likely, you will easily tolerate the highest temperature in the bathhouse. However, do not forget that the steam room is not a place for records.

Eighth lunar day

During this period, all warming procedures that help remove toxins from the body are useful. Baths and saunas are recommended for almost everyone, as well as moderate exercise stress before entering the steam room. Arthritis responds well to treatment. Those who want to lose weight on this day will easily lose a few extra pounds. Very helpful herbal teas, infusions, decoctions. Warm and hot baths can be included in the overall complex of bath procedures.

Twelfth lunar day

In general, all water warming procedures that remove toxins from the body are useful. On this day, skin diseases are effectively treated in the steam room. After the bath you should not drink strong tea (coffee and alcohol are strictly prohibited on this day). It is better to drink juice or herbal “liver” tea. Sore joints need to be properly treated with a broom. People with weak hearts should skip the bath on this day. Everyone else will benefit from the steam room.

Twenty-fourth lunar day

A favorable period for removing mucus from the body. A dry-air sauna or steam room with dry hot steam is suitable for these purposes. Soft dry steam is good for the lungs and cleanses the skin. The day is also good for removing salts and treating gout. Healing fees will be especially effective today. Herbal teas and baths with adaptogens (schisandra chinensis, eleutherococcus, skullcap baicalensis), and a light tonic massage are useful. One of the best days for a family sauna (sex during this period is healing). It is also good to schedule the construction of a new bathhouse on the twenty-fourth lunar day.

The remaining lunar days are neutral for the bath. And although their influence is felt by a person every day, they have no direct relation to the bath procedure.

Of course, bathing skills come to a person only with experience. The bathhouse is the field where all wisdom comes through experience. But just as theory is powerless without experience, so experience is blind without theory. We have tried to combine in this book the knowledge accumulated by our experience and the experience of those generations of bathhouse masters, thanks to whom we have this miracle today - a fragrant, warm bathhouse. This knowledge, like any empirical knowledge, was obtained through long searches and many mistakes, collecting successes and discoveries bit by bit. We hope that everything presented on these pages will save you from the need to “reinvent the wheel” and your path to the heights of bathing mastery will begin from the place where the authors end this book. Who knows, maybe you are destined to take another new step on this interesting path. But even if you don’t strive to be a pioneer, we hope that you will feel comfortable, warm and healthy in your bathhouse.

Enjoy Your Bath!

Many people would like to know why you can’t go to the bathhouse after 12. On the Internet you can find many scary stories, which discourage any desire to steam after 12 o’clock at night, but at the same time, a reasonable explanation can be found for such a sign.

The question of why you can’t go to the bathhouse after 12 o’clock at night can be answered in different ways. This sign has been around for a very long time. People have long believed in it, but there are those who believe in it even now. At the same time, some people believe that you can’t wash only in the bathhouse, and some are even afraid to wash in the shower.

Since ancient times, people have become accustomed to believing in the most various signs. Some of them can be explained from a logical point of view, and some, as it seems at first glance, are completely devoid of common sense.

One of the most interesting signs There is a sign that you cannot wash in the bathhouse after 12 o'clock at night.

In the old days, when the bathhouse was the only place for people where they could wash themselves, many followed this rule unconditionally. At the same time, some people did not understand at all what the meaning of the sign was. It turns out that, according to ancient legends, after 12 o'clock at night, devils and other evil spirits came to the bathhouse to wash themselves. If a person did not want to meet with them, he should not go to the bathhouse after 12 o'clock at night.

On the Internet you can find a lot of stories in which people described how they saw evil spirits in the bathhouse when they went to wash at such a late hour. Some even say that they directly communicated with demons in human form. Allegedly, a stranger came to the bathhouse, took a steam bath, and then left in an unknown direction, and hoof marks were found on the ground. It’s hard to believe, but experts fully admit that such stories are not just fiction. When a person believes in something, his consciousness begins to work differently. As a result of this, he can see things that don't actually exist. It just happens that a person is very afraid of certain things, after which they begin to seem to him everywhere.

It is possible that some of the stories people tell about evil spirits turn out to be fiction. Some people get so carried away with making up incredible stories that they themselves do not notice how unconvincing these conversations become.

For example, it is very difficult to believe that anyone had to communicate with a real devil.

When asked why you can’t go to the bathhouse at night, some people give their own explanation. And these explanations are much more mundane than those associated with stories about evil spirits. Some people argue that this sign is based on the fact that it is simply harmful for people to steam at night. Perhaps some bath-goers were so keen on it that they washed at such a late hour. It was because of the inconvenient time that stories about mysterious evil spirits appeared.

Nowadays, people have begun to believe that at this time it is dangerous not only to take a steam bath, but also to wash in the shower or in the bathroom. Perhaps you shouldn’t take a bath at such a late hour, but you can take a shower at such a time if necessary.

To believe or not to believe in omens is everyone’s business. At the same time, people need to focus primarily on their own needs. For example, a situation in which a person urgently needs to wash himself may arise due to a certain work schedule. You should not deny yourself the pleasure of taking a warm shower because of the existence of this sign.

Even modern scientists tried to answer the question of why you can’t go to the bathhouse at night. They tried to explain this by the fact that at night the human heart is not able to withstand serious loads. But no official scientific justification was never put forward.

Many people would like to know why they should not go to the bathhouse at night. Most interpreters associate this sign specifically with evil spirits. It is the fear of meeting evil spirits that warns some modern people from going to the steam room at night.

There are many folk signs, which have been known since ancient times. Many of them are related to the behavior of birds. The titmouse is considered a good and kind bird, therefore the signs associated with it promise good...

For Russians bath procedures They have long ceased to be just a way to cleanse the body. Today they are perceived more as a combination of measures to improve the health of the body, lift the mood, improve the condition of the skin, and also as a pleasant pastime. Many people consider going to the bathhouse one of the best options recreation.

Source: depositphotos.com

At the same time, there are few real experts in bath procedures. Most people steam incorrectly, at best reducing the benefits of the bath to nothing, and at worst even harming their own health. The reason is widespread misconceptions about the Russian bath. Let's look at the most famous of them.

The higher the temperature in the steam room, the more beneficial the procedure

For bath procedures, the optimal temperature is about 60 ° C with 60% humidity. It is this microclimate of the steam room that allows the body to warm up evenly, gradually removing toxins through sweat. At higher temperatures there is a risk of burns respiratory tract.

The longer you steam, the better

The perception of bath heat is different for everyone. It is worth steaming only if the procedure does not deliver discomfort. Trying to endure discomfort and compete with people who are more resilient in this regard is unwise and unsafe for health.

Maximum permissible period Staying in a steam room depends on the person’s age, the presence of chronic diseases, health conditions and other individual factors. An adult who decides to visit the bathhouse for the first time is recommended to limit himself to one visit to the steam room for no more than 7 minutes. With normal tolerance, each subsequent session can be increased by 1 minute. Experienced steamers over time accustom themselves to two or three sessions with a total duration of 15 to 35 minutes.

Before going to the bathhouse you need to eat a hearty meal

Actually worry about full stomach very bad. The break between eating and going to the bathhouse should be at least 3 hours. It is better to include vegetables and fruits, fermented milk and cereal products, as well as some fish and eggs in the meal before the bath. It is not recommended to eat meat, smoked meats, canned food and fast food. Before visiting the steam room, forget about carbonated drinks, legumes and foods rich in flavoring additives and containing animal fats. Their processing, combined with the temperature effect on the body, overloads the liver, which leads to disruption of the digestive system.

You need to go to the bathhouse once a week

Experts believe that going to the bathhouse once a week provides the minimum necessary therapeutic and cosmetic effect on the body, but no one says that this cannot be done more often. Bath lovers who steam 2-3 times a week do not notice any negative consequences.

Bath procedures are dangerous for pregnant women

In Rus', expectant mothers visited the bathhouse without restrictions. Women not only steamed until childbirth, but often even gave birth in steam rooms. Babies were taken to the bathhouse from the first months of life. The bath will not harm pregnant women and modern world. It is only important to observe reasonable moderation: do not overheat and do not take excessively long procedures that can become stressful for the body.

You need to hit the skin with a bath broom

Brooms in the bathhouse are used for two purposes: firstly, with their help they “drive” hot air to the skin and delicately massage its surface, and secondly, they obtain water extracts biologically active substances, which are then splashed onto hot stones to create healing steam. For steaming, brooms are usually used from branches of deciduous trees: birch, oak, linden, eucalyptus, aspen, and also medicinal herbs. For inhalation, brooms made from coniferous plants are also steamed.

To forcefully whip a broom over the body is completely useless, and even unsafe, since you can injure the surface layer of the skin, softened by the heat.

It is better to quench your thirst in the bathhouse with cold water.

A visit to the bathhouse is accompanied by heavy sweating. It is necessary to replenish fluid loss, but cold water is not suitable for this purpose. In the bathhouse it is good to drink herbal teas, berry fruit drinks, and dried fruit compotes. Warm will do boiled water. Use carbonated drinks (including sweet ones), as well as fruit juices to quench your thirst. industrial production undesirable.

It's good to drink beer in the bathhouse

Drinking alcohol in a bathhouse is very dangerous. This doubles the stress experienced by the cardiovascular system, with the existing predisposition increasing the risk of stroke or myocardial infarction. Unfortunately, many Russians, realizing this, still do not deny themselves the pleasure of drinking a couple of glasses of beer and even claim that it is healthy, because supposedly the foamy drink quenches thirst well, and there is little alcohol in it.

In fact, you should not consume any product containing alcohol in the bathhouse. Energy drinks and stimulants are considered especially dangerous in this regard; strong drinks, wine and beer should also be included in the prohibited list.

Nourishing skin masks should be applied between visits to the steam room.

The basis of almost everything nourishing masks– fatty. They create a film on the skin that closes the pores, so you cannot apply masks to the body and face before visiting the steam room: sweating is impaired. In addition, cosmetics of this kind contain aromatic substances that create foreign odors in the steam room.

Before taking bath procedures, you need to rinse with warm water in the shower and wipe your skin dry with a towel. In the steam room, you can use only peeling products to facilitate the exfoliation of dead skin particles. The process can be enhanced with the help of honey: it has not only cleansing properties, but also nutritional properties. The rest of the cosmetics can be applied to the face and body only after completing the bath procedures.

Red spots on the skin after a steam room are a sign of good vascular condition

Leather healthy person after the steam room it becomes smooth pink tint. When uneven red spots appear in certain places, you should be wary: their appearance indicates either a violation of peripheral circulation or severe overheating. The last circumstance is easy to check: just measure your pulse after a visit to the steam room. If it is 140 beats per minute or more, then you need to steam at a more moderate temperature.

You can cool your body in the pool after each steam bath.

Contrasting bath procedures (immersions in cold water or snow rubdowns, alternating with visits to the steam room) are very beneficial for the nervous system: they perfectly relieve stress. However, for other purposes they may be superfluous. If the point of the procedures is to restore strength after an illness, you should abandon temperature contrasts and take a hot shower between visits to the steam room.

But even when contrast procedures are indicated, experts recommend plunging into cold water only after the third steam bath, when the body is already evenly warmed up.

When cooling after a steam room, hair must be kept dry.

This is a very common and harmful misconception. After the steam room, you definitely need to plunge headlong.

As a result of strong heating in the steam room, the vessels of the head and body are in an expanded state. Immersion in cold water causes them to instantly narrow. When the vessels of the head remain dilated, the pressure in them can sharply increase, which can lead to unpleasant consequences: lethargy, drowsiness, and difficulty speaking are the most common. Some consider such sensations to be evidence of the high-quality effects of bath procedures, but in fact these are symptoms of deterioration of cerebral circulation.

It is enough to take one broom to the bathhouse

Experienced steamers never do this. They usually have two or three brooms of different plants. For example, the following combination is very popular: birch, oak and juniper. Birch broom used at the beginning of steaming to open pores, oak - to increase sweating and improve skin condition, juniper - for a gentle massage that improves blood circulation and creates healing steam with a wonderful pine aroma.

Any Banya broom needs pre-processing. Experts recommend steaming the branches in boiling water for 5 minutes, and then keeping them in cold water for the same amount of time.

In the bathhouse you must wash with soap

Soap removes the protective fat layer from the surface of the skin, thereby drying it out greatly. Combine similar effect with intense heating is undesirable. It is better to wash with soap a day before visiting the bathhouse, and use only a hot shower and exfoliating agents. By the way, it is not at all necessary to use industrially produced scrubs and peels: masks made from clay, corn flour or oatmeal, as well as beekeeping products.

You can have sex in the bathhouse

Men are more likely to suffer from the consequences of this misconception. For a person who has just taken bath procedures, sex can be dangerous. The fact is that after the steam room, blood circulation is activated, the load on the vessels increases. The release of a large amount of sex hormones into the blood against such a background can lead to a heart attack and hypertensive crisis.

The bathhouse tradition in Russia has a long history. The rules for visiting a steam room were formed a long time ago; they have been tested by many generations of our ancestors. Taking a steam bath, neglecting these rules, is not only pointless, but also dangerous. In addition, visiting the bathhouse has a number of medical restrictions, which are also useful to familiarize yourself with. A competent approach will help to avoid possible complications and make the most of this enjoyable activity.

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Bath and sauna - excellent remedy recovery. They are especially useful for women. The steam room reduces the number of wrinkles, helps maintain skin elasticity and helps you lose excess weight. But in some conditions the bath is contraindicated.

Sauna and heart

The most significant effect of the bath is on cardiovascular system. The basis of its action is improving blood flow due to temperature changes. Heat promotes the expansion of the smallest blood vessels- capillaries.

The high temperature forces even those vessels that were previously empty to function. The temperature contrast when jumping into the pool helps to narrow the capillaries. And after leaving the pool, the vessels expand again and give off excess heat. This is how “vascular gymnastics” occurs.

The rapid release of fluid from the body due to intense sweating contributes to blood thickening. The blood coagulation system is activated, but at the same time the activity of the anticoagulant system “prophylactically” increases. That is, in the bathhouse the heart, blood vessels and blood are in full combat readiness.

However, this can be dangerous for those who have heart defects with pronounced violations blood circulation You should not visit the steam room if you have severe hypertension with blood pressure over 200 mm Hg. Art., severe coronary disease heart and severe vascular atherosclerosis.

Those who are prone to bleeding or thrombosis, as well as those who have recently undergone surgery, should not tempt fate. You need to be very careful about steaming after 60 years. And age over 70 years is a contraindication to visiting a sauna or bathhouse.

Oxygen for the lungs

Hot air helps cleanse the respiratory tract. The mobility of the costovertebral joints increases, the movements of the chest become more free. Blood circulation in the lungs improves, and the blood is more saturated with oxygen.

Meanwhile, baths and saunas are a significant burden on the body. Therefore, people with exacerbation of chronic diseases of the lungs and bronchi, active tuberculosis and severe bronchial asthma should not take a steam bath.

Heat for joints and muscles

A sauna helps a lot muscle pain after sports activities. Impact high temperature promotes the elimination of substances that cause discomfort in the muscles. Therefore, the sauna is the best method for muscle recovery.

The bath is also useful for joints. An increase in mobility and a decrease in joint pain in the sauna occurs due to increased exchange of interarticular fluid. But if arthritis worsens, you should not take a steam bath.

Kidneys and liver rest

Increased sweating reduces the load on the kidneys, and they are on a “short-term vacation.” Urine production decreases within the first minutes and remains reduced for several hours after leaving the sauna. However, when urolithiasis and severe kidney diseases, it is better not to risk it with a steam room.

The sauna relieves not only the kidneys, but also the liver. Heat improves the secretion of bile, relieves stagnant bile gallbladder. “Relationships” in the intestines are normalized, due to increased lymph flow, the intestines are freed from toxins. The influence of high temperature also has a beneficial effect on the intestinal flora, preventing the development of dysbiosis.

But in case of severe inflammation of the liver, cirrhosis, exhaustion, or exacerbation of peptic ulcer disease, the bath is contraindicated.

There are a number of prohibitions for skin diseases. These are all acute skin diseases or their exacerbation, scleroderma. Those who have a purulent rash, viral or fungal diseases skin, scabies.

The bath is also contraindicated in severe diabetes mellitus, serious disorders of the thyroid gland, glaucoma, epilepsy, psychosis and psychopathy.

And under no circumstances should you be in the steam room in front of everyone. acute infections, fever and malignant tumors.

So women with poor health should definitely consult a doctor before going to the steam room.