The smoke sauna is an ancient temple of health, where both body and soul are cleansed. Here near Tartu (South Estonia), we keep the smoke sauna tradition slow and respectful —a calm ritual, not a rush. When you step into the smoke sauna, it is as if you have entered a time machine that takes you back centuries. Time suddenly begins to move much more slowly and calmly.

The sauna is heated early in the morning, always starting with a sauna greeting. The sauna is also told who it is being heated for.
To get the stove nice and hot, you need to burn 3-4 stove loads of dry alder and aspen wood, which takes 6-8 hours. When the last load has burned, the ashes and embers are removed, the first “black” steam is thrown in, the windows and doors are closed, and the sauna is left to “bake” for 30-45 minutes.

Those entering the sauna always greet it. The sauna has its own spirit, and one communicates with it.
The sauna whisk is passed from hand to hand and the person throwing the water on the stones wishes for something good, just like saying a toast at a festive table.

It is nice to sit quietly in the front room, chat and drink sauna beer.
After throwing water on the hot stones and whisking with birch branches, you cool off in the pond – forest quiet, near Tartu, in every season. In winter, we cut hole in the ice so you can dip into cold water the traditional way.
You leave the sauna by thanking it.
The effects of a smoke sauna on the body last for several days.