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I’m a heat
junky. Unlike many first time visitors to Thailand who can
no more imagine voluntarily sitting in a hot steam room than
eating spicy food, I enjoy both with great pleasure. I still
remember my first Thai meal -- a Tom Yum soup that shocked,
surprised and delighted – and for sheer steaminess
could
have moonlighted as a herbal steam sauna!
When I found my first herbal steam it was
the aesthetic equivalent of the plastic-chairs-and-linoleum-covered-table-restaurants
that serve the finest Tom Yum: a tiny concrete room overlooking
a derelict mini golf course. The “herbal” component
was a big pot of herbs boiling outside. Depending on how often
the attendant roused herself to stoke up the rubber wood fire
or add fresh herbs, the inside temperature ranged from tepid
to searing. Completely inadvertently, the grotty venue had
recreated the essence of herbal steam-ness: a refreshing combination
of heat and cold. Despite the odd ambiance, the experience
never left me.
It’s not easy to trace the origins of
herbal steam. In Thailand, the herbal steam bath is apparently
an age-old tradition which, like massage, has been passed
down through generations of skilled practitioners. Thai herbal
medicine incorporates components from various other traditional
healing arts including Ayurvedic remedies from India, Chinese
medicine and Theravada Buddhist traditions.
The original Thai herbal steams were located
in rural temples. The medicinal steam vapor was used to treat
skin ailments, muscle stress, and respiratory problems. Besides
leaving you smelling great, there are a host of other benefits
to be derived from the herbal steam: improved circulation,
relief from tension, ridding the body of toxins, clearing
respiratory passages, aiding digestion, soothing aching muscles
, cleansing and rejuvenating the skin, and promoting sound
sleep.
In the old days, the monastic herbal practitioner
would collect a mixture of fresh and dried essential herbs
for the specific occasion or patient. The roots and rhizomes
included turmeric, prai (closely related to ginger), lemongrass,
bergamot lime, camphor and tamarind leaves, among others.
Often, the specific combination depended on what was naturally
available in nearby kitchen gardens or forests.
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Though hardly
any herbal steams still operate in rural Thai temples, the
tradition has grown exponentially in hotels and dedicated
spas throughout the country. The herbal steam rooms on Samui
incorporate many of the herbs found in the local version of
Tom Yum. The most commonly used are lemongrass and lime leaves
and camphor (too much of the latter, if you ask me). My personal
steam symphony includes a mixture of prai combined with aromatics
like lime, lemongrass and turmeric.
An added benefit of the herbal steam is to
prepare the body for a massage. The steam enters the lungs,
allowing the therapeutic herbs to effectively be absorbed
into the body. Whatever herbal oil or warming rub the masseusse
applies will be absorbed more readily after the herbal steam.
Also, warm and relaxed post-herbal steam muscles can be more
easily stretched by the masseur.
Some people enjoy the steam primarily for
relaxation. Others have found it a marvelous way to freshen
up after a rough night, or before one! Sometimes I go in just
to remind myself of the audacity of that first bowl of soup.
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The room temperature - usually 35c-45c
(95f-110f) is lower than in an ordinary dry
sauna. Ideally, you should sit or recline
for short periods of time (between 5 and 10
minutes), alternating with a refreshing sluicing
from a water bucket or a dip in a cool plunge
pool (if there is one!). Some people like
to spend only about five minutes in the heat
at a time, and then cool off and repeat. Others
like to stay as long as they can stand it.
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When NOT to steam
It is not advisable to use the herbal steam if you have a
fever or an inflammatory disease or injury, if you are in
your first trimester of pregnancy or if you have been drinking
alcohol. People with a history of heart disease, high blood
pressure, asthma or skin disease shouldn’t go in either!
By Shelley Poplak
Back to steam
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