Lithuanian pirtis with Rimas and Birute

Why Lithuania? #

The Lithuanian school of sauna bathing has a traditionally strong reputation. For example, Jurgita Alima Shakti (Mazurkevičiūtė) once won a European bathing Cup in Ukraine; Vladas Jokubauskas is one of the most respected teachers in the post-Soviet space. So, I was excited to participate in several workshops organized by Rimas Kavaliauskas and Birutė Masiliauskienė.

The workshops #

We spent about a week in various locations, discussing trees and herbs, stoves and steam rooms, and the dynamics of the process. Some parts were led by Rimas, and others by Birute.

It was fascinating to watch Birute skillfully manage the group dynamics, smoothly guiding participants with very different cultural backgrounds and life experiences to a common base, essential for productive work.
This included overcoming the fear of one’s own body and the bodies of fellow sauna-goers.

As a result, none of the participants had any problems, whether it was simply being in a small space with unfamiliar, naked people, whisking, undergoing and providing honey massages, or juniper needle therapy. She handled it all masterfully.

I also want to highlight the vivid imagery used to describe the processes, which ran through most of the workshops. For example, using the seasons to describe the stages of sauna bathing, or comparing the steam to cappuccino foam. These images were bright and memorable, and some echoed the ideas of Ivan Ivankin, viewing whisking not as a series of mechanical actions but as the sauna master’s presentation of a certain image, which the person being “whisked” experiences.

Throughout all the workshops, there was a strong emphasis on plants. One particularly memorable aspect was the extensive usage of birch and its derivatives in steam bathing: infusion, “tea”, hydrosol, tar, birch water, sponges. Hydrosol I liked the least, despite the fact that we made it ourselves.

Farewells #

I couldn’t attend the entire program, and with a bit of sadness from parting with new friends and blackened fingernails from oak whisks, I headed home. I made many pleasant new acquaintances, such as Yoichi, who teaches banya whisking in Japan; Katie, who is at the forefront of the UK sauna scene.; Jackie, whose sauna business in Maine is thriving; and Laura, a very spiritual sauna master and tradition bearer. I learned something from each of them and carry it forward. Including the unique, region-specific perspective on the sauna conveyed by Birute and Rimas. It was very vivid, yet at the same time grounded and natural.