Sweat it out

Happy Friday!

I came late to saunas, no doubt because I grew up in Queensland. With all the humidity in summer, it was a bit like living in a sauna. It was only when we got to Melbourne that I discovered what zillions of people have known forever. 

People have been getting into saunas for a while. As in, for thousands of years. In Scandinavia, of course, but also China, the Americas, and elsewhere. The first known sauna in Finland was a hole dug into the side of a hill (and ‘sauna’ is the only Finnish word in popular use in English). In Mexico and central America, a temazcal is a sweat lodge, usually made of clay or stone. The ancient Romans and Greeks built large scale bathing facilities that included thermal rooms for sweating. In Islamic culture its called a hammam. Indians use heat therapy in Ayurvedic medicine. And so on. 

People went to the enormous trouble of creating a heated space because of the considerable benefits they experienced. And because its so pleasurable. Come the 20C, science caught up and a huge number of studies now prove just how beneficial saunas are. 

Saunas provide passive exercise. We just sit or lie down, enjoying the heat, perhaps listening to music or a podcast or chatting with a friend. But there’s a lot going on. The body tries to cool itself by increasing heart rate, pushing blood from the core to the skin, and sweating, being the main ones. When we heat the body by running or similar, the body cools itself in the same way.  

These cooling actions improves our health in several ways: 

– Cardiovascular health improvements by reducing blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol levels.

– Reduced inflammation throughout the body and improving symptoms of conditions such as arthritis, muscle pain, and chronic fatigue syndrome.

– Improved detoxification by helping to increase sweating, which can help to remove toxins from the body and boost metabolism.

– Improved skin health by increasing blood flow and creating a significant increase in collagen production.

Traditional saunas use steam to create heat, mostly by throwing water onto hot rocks. Infrared saunas heat the body directly, rather than heating the air around the body. Invented in the 1960s by Japanese scientist Dr. Tadashi Ishikawa, infrared saunas are more comfortable and efficient than traditional saunas, and also allow for a wider range of health benefits.

Our superb Sunlighten saunas are literally best-in-class. The most effective, highest quality full-spectrum saunas available on the market, near, mid and far infrared available. 

They include Chromotherapy, or colour therapy, the science of using colours to adjust body vibrations to frequencies that result in health and harmony. They have a full sound system, including Spotify, YouTube (and even Netflix!). Mostly, you’ll sweat deep, and sweat fast, saving time while getting the maximum physical benefits of full spectrum infrared therapy. 

What To Do Before A Sauna
– Drink water 
– Place a towel on the bench and floor of the sauna (and keep a clean towel handy to wipe excessive sweat from your body too)
– Set up your favourite music or podcast through the Bluetooth connectivity.

What To Do During A Sauna
– Drink water
– Enhance your sauna experience with colour therapy
– Sit back and relax! Ponder the meaning of life, what to have for dinner, how awesome you’ll feel after a great sleep (we recommend going phone-free during sauna sessions too)

What To Do After A Sauna
– You guessed it, drink more water 
– Have a shower to cleanse the skin (hot tip: a cold shower will activate cold shock proteins which can aid weight loss) 
– Feel good! (I know, we’ll have to twist your arm on this one) 

Enjoy the sweat and live longer, younger, healthier, better all!