"What we are doing today is a holiday sauna, and now is the perfect time to begin the festivities, as the day is at its shortest, the sun has gone to rest, and we are cleansing everything that has happened during the old year," Eda Veeroja told "Terevisioon" earlier this week in a sauna on Tartu's Raekoja plats.

During the holidays, the sauna is heated with seven logs. "As you place each log into the stove, you can make a wish. For example, I wish for peace in everyone's hearts," Veeroja explained.

Once the sauna is heated, it's time to greet the sauna.

"First, we cleanse everything that needs to be cleared from the ending year. For this, take some salt mixed with wormwood, traditionally known as a purifying agent. As you rub yourself with the salt, say the words, 'Let everything that is leaving, leave!' ("Kõik, mis minekul, see mingu!")" Veeroja instructed.

When cleansing the soles of your feet, Veeroja recommended exhaling deeply to release everything you want to leave behind this year. "Mother Earth will turn everything we release into the soil into springtime flowers," she added.

Next, take a moment to focus on your heart: "As you exhale, open your heart like cupboard doors or like the doors of a shop during the holidays."

It is acceptable to say little in the sauna. "The only words you should utter are seven- or eight-syllable chants," Veeroja explained. "When lying down in the sauna, always keep your face towards the door. Start the whisking process from the feet, and let everything flow out through the head."

Veeroja placed spruce branches and wormwood beneath her face. "The goal is to plan all the good things for the new period."

Whisking begins with thoughts of spring, which symbolizes renewal, growth, and creation, as the whisk moves from the feet toward the head. "Each season has a different tree for its whisk."

"Summer represents energy, strength, great joy, and productivity — everything that moves us forward. Autumn is the time of abundance, a period of harvesting and organizing. Winter is for gathering balance and peace," she explained, suggesting what to reflect on during whisking.

In the sauna, Veeroja believes it's important to sigh with pleasure.

At the end of each sauna session, the sauna is thanked. "The end of the sauna experience is always about gratitude. We thank Mother Earth for growing the trees whose logs form the sauna beams, for the firewood that was chopped, and for the whisks that were bound," said Veeroja. "I thank all my ancestors and everyone who came before me. I thank future generations and everyone who will come after me. May you all be well."

Veeroja noted that this smoke sauna tradition from Old Võru County is included in UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

"If you do not have a sauna, you have a bathroom. You can light a candle, use some salt, and, with a little effort, even get some juniper," Veeroja said, encouraging those without a sauna to try the rituals at home.

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