Introduction to Sauna Therapy
What is a Sauna?
Imagine a little warm room with dry or humid heat meant to make you sweat – and make you feel good out of the deal as well. A sauna that’s what. Basically a sauna is a heat therapy chamber, held between 150 °F and 195 °F. There are some differences in the way heating is achieved, whether electric heaters are used, infrared technology, it is always the same result, a truly relaxing experience perfect for the body and mind.
Usually when you undergo a sauna session, you sit or lie down In this hot room for 15 to 30 minutes. As such, during the time, your body temperature rises and you sweat profusely. This is not empty water, leaving your body, this is a detox process. Saunas can make circulation better, people chillax, and the cardiovascular effects of a mild exercise. Sauna sessions can be enjoyed anywhere, whether it’s a fancy spa, a health club, or even some home setup, as they provide many benefits for the holistic wellness.
A Brief History of Saunas
Sauna is not a modern trend indeed – it has been part of our wellness for thousands of years. Traditionally speaking, the oldest documented use of saunas occur in Finland of old times, people heated stones with fire and put them into small huts. When the stones were hot enough they would throw water up on them producing steam and then sit in the hot temperatures for physical and spiritual rejuvenation.
The sauna tradition circulated also to others parts of the world. It was the principle used in roman bathhouses and many Asian cultures have their own versions, such as the Japanese onsen and the Korean jjimjilbang. Sweat lodges for Century Native Americans even carry the same purpose for heat purification and wellness.
The practice has changed with the modern technology today. This ancient therapy can be done in an infrared sauna, electric heat, or through portable sauna tents making it more accessible now more than ever. The main idea doesn’t change whether you adopt a modern method or an old one, though; you use heat to heal, rejuvenate and refresh.
Physical Health Benefits
Detoxification Through Sweating
You can’t miss the intense sweating while in a sauna as one of the first things you notice. Being uncomfortable at first is all right, as it is how your body gets rid of unwanted toxins in the body. Today our lifestyle is full of pollutants, load of heavy metals, public toxins and other toxic substances through food, air and water. Sweating in a sauna is one way of getting rid of many of these contaminants through your skin.
Your skin is in many ways a third kidney. Your skin s also a means to push out toxins when they have found their way into the body, just like your liver and kidneys do with waste. When you take regular sauna sessions, however, it ramps up the detox process by making you sweat in a very deep manner. Research also shows the belief that once chemical substances such as lead, mercury, and BPA have taken up residence in the body, they’re practically impossible to rid, but that is not necessarily true – sauna use can increase excretion of such substances.
But enough of about toxins. Sweating also chills out dead skin cells, as well as circulation and lymphatic drainage. In short, it leads to better skin tone, less breakouts and even less bloating. Who wouldn’t want to give people the feeling of walking into a room, both lighter and cleaner inside and out?
Improved Cardiovascular Health
Did you know that sitting in a sauna will give you the same fitness benefits as light cardio. If heat is applied to the body, it increases your heart rate and blood vessels dilate (vasodilate). It improves blood flow, helps lowers blood pressure and gets your cardiovascular system working without going to a treadmill.
The Finnish studies, among others, are finding that regular sauna use can reduce the risk for heart disease. Men who participated in a 20 year study that involved nearly 2,000 men found that men who regularly used a sauna 4-7 times a week were 50% less likely to die of cardiovascular reasons than those men who just used the sauna once a week.
The sauna’s warmth also reduces the stiffness of arteries and improves the function of the lining of veins, vital factors responsible for preserving health of the heart. Regular sauna sessions are a gentle but effective way of dealing with people who have high blood pressure. Let's think for a second about how relaxing its is to be warm and to not know that by being there you're boosting your heart up so much. Win-win, right?
Enhanced Immune System Function
Are you looking for tips to protect yourself from the flu before it affects many? It’s a good idea to use the sauna once each week. Being in hot temperatures boosts your temperature temporarily and creates a false fever. This has the result of increasing the number of white blood cells vital for defending us from infections.
Saunas help your immune system by making it practice responding in a fevers conditions. An article in the Journal of Human Kinetics shows that regular sauna use by athletes helped them avoid many colds and problems related to their respiratory systems. Even if you do not exercise regularly, you can still use immunity-boosting benefits.
Your body’s inflammation is reduced not just by increasing your immune system but by having sauna sessions as well. Individuals with arthritis or autoimmune disorders gain a lot from this approach. Faster blood circulation because of heat boosts the body’s recovery from minor illnesses.
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Mental and Emotional Wellness
Stress Relief and Relaxation
So we are all juggling too much. Every day seems to be accompanied by a stress filled work pressure, family responsibility and the constant buzzing in the phone notifications. The good news is that a 20 minute sauna session can work miracles in the way of melting that stress away.
Since a sauna warms your body up so much, it actually causes your body to release ‘all those feel good chemicals that make you feel high,’ according to the scientists. They are exactly those chemicals that you benefit from after a good workout or a belly aching laugh. In accordance with these changes your muscles begin to relax, your breathing slows, and your mind begins to relax. This is sort of a reset button.
Sharing the heat of a sauna is good for many people, but the solitude of a sauna often is just as beneficial. No phones, no screens no small talk, just warmth. In this quiet, meditative environment you have a rare chance to unplug and breathe. If you haven’t gotten much from meditation or mindfulness, sitting quietly in a sauna may be your ticket to the calm world.
In addition, using sauna may help lower the levels of cortisol, your main stress hormone, in your body. And high cortisol levels are not associated with having anxiety, poor sleep, or even weight gain. Saunas decrease cortisol which help your body rebalance and recuperate from the demands of everyday life.
Better Sleep Quality
Have you ever found the warm bath before bed helps you sleep better? Imagine the advantage received by tenth. This is where a sauna can help you when it comes to sleep. Once you’re out of the sauna your body cools down slowly, this is a copy of your natural sleep cycle. The result? It also speeds the sleep onset and improves sleep.
If your body is exposed to excessive heat, it relaxes your muscles and its joints reduce its tension — two reasons that people end tossing and turning at night. Take a sauna session before bed and let your nervous system calm itself down, do that before sleep and you are guaranteed great sleep and no in between sleep interruptions.
The endorphin factor is also there. The same feel good chemicals that allow you relax after a sauna help you slip into a state of rest easier. Sleep experts agree that one of the best ways to make sure the body is prepared to sleep is by winding down with a calming routine and saunas are a perfect (and technology free) way of doing this.
Individuals suffering from insomnia or any other disorder impacting their sleep time tend to report an improvement after some time include of regular sauna use in their lifestyle. It’s not a magic pill, but it really is a powerful tool for recalibrating you body’s natural rhythm.
Mood Enhancement and Endorphin Release
Have you ever walked out of a sauna and been feeling high up in the air? No coincidence that is. This heat is what prompts your brain to disperse endorphins, your body’s natural chemicals for seeing your mood elevated. That’s one reason why some say a session makes them more euphoric or peaceful.
Sauna therapy is also a boon in providing relief to people suffering from anxiety, depression or even the seasonal affective disorder (SAD). A study conducted and published in Psychosomatic Medicine showed people with depression reported improvement of mood with decreased symptoms after only a few sauna sessions.
This is not all about endorphins. Saunas are also great for spurring serotonin production, neurotransmitters that help regulate mood, emotion and behavior. When we have more serotonin we’re more emotionally stable, resilient to stressors everyday.
Antidepressants, anxiety meds, and theheartbreaking epidemic that is, opioid abuse, are becoming more and more common, however, the sauna offers an alternative, natural, side effect free way to make you feel better from the inside out. Of course they aren’t a substitute for medical treatment but they are a valuable complement to any mental health regimen.
Skin and Beauty Advantages
Deep Skin Cleansing
Face it, your skin is exposed to a lot: dirt, oil, pollution and makeup. Nobody has a perfect skincare routine, no matter how solid it is, and your pores can still get gunked up. The best facial you will ever have for your entire body is enter the sauna.
Sweating in a sauna opens up your pores and causes the flushing of dirt, oil and bacteria. It has a really deep cleansing effect that prevents breakouts and black heads but leaves your skin looking so fresh and so radiant. The more blood circulating to that spot also increases oxygen and nutrients to your skin so they are looking their natural, healthy selves.
Bonus on this: Sweating in a clean environment like as in the sauna is a different thing from sweating in the gym. It’s purer as it’s without toxin and external grime, and more effective on flushing out impurities as well. That results in clearer, softer and smoother skin with hardly any effort.
Regular use of saunas over time will balance your skin’s oil production, remove acne, and treat your skin tone. Basically it’s like a mini vacation for your skin without the ridiculous price tag of the spa treatments.
Anti-Aging and Radiant Skin Effects
In this blog post, let’s discuss the fountain of youth, and not the mythical one, but the heat powered one. Collagen is a protein that maintains your skin firm and youthfullooking; it is also what a sauna encourages your body to produce. As collagen breaks down as we age, we get wrinkles and drooping. Sauna induced heat helps your body to produce more collagen and this naturally helps to fight signs of aging.
It also enhances blood flow that feeds your skin cells and enhances your skin cell turnover rate. So you get fresher skin, less fine lines and a glow that is unmistakable. In fact, some dermatologists advise that people in addition to the anti—aging skincare routine use regular sauna exposure.
There’s then the hydration paradox. One may think that sweat is a dehydrating process, but in fact sweating aids in the regulation of oil production and assists in retaining moisture to the skin. So, the key here is to take good care of your hydration before and after the experience in the sauna. When used in combination with a really good moisturizer, the results can be dramatic; softer, plumper and more youthful skin over time.
Radiant skin also requires people to spend hundreds for creams, treatments and serums. However, the secret to it may actually be in a couple of relaxing sauna sessions once every week.
Weight Loss and Metabolism Boost
Calorie Burning in Saunas
Does sitting still in a warm room really do the trick to lose weight? Surprisingly, yes. Sure, a sauna cannot replace your morning run or your yoga class, but it can get your weight loss boost on because of this enhanced calorie burn.
Sauna also makes your heart rate significantly rise in the same way as with moderate cardio exercise. But when your heart rate is elevated this high, even while you are sitting, this means that your body is working harder. The number of calories you may burn depends on your weight and the temperature of the sauna; and while a single 30 minute session can help burn between 150 calories to 300 calories.
Of course, most of the short term weight loss immediately after a session is water weight, but maintaining sessions will provide you with other long term metabolic benefits. Saunas on their own are not going to make you lose fat the same way as diet and exercise, but when they are combined with a regulated diet and regular physical activity it can optimize fat loss and its impact on your body composition.
Saunas, among other athletes and fitness enthusiast, are used post workout to aid in burning off some more calories as the body continues to recover. Really it’s kind of a bonus burn without lifting a finger.
Supporting a Healthy Metabolic Rate
However, when it comes to saunas, the benefits go beyond just burning calories, saunas actually aid in regulating the metabolism and it can even improve it in the long run. This triggers to action brown adipose tissue, a type of fat that uses energy to create heat. It also helps to activate this function thereby enhancing your metabolic rate and this is how you learn to sustain a healthy weight.
Furthermore, sauna improves the circulation and detoxifying mechanisms of the human body, which in return helps the body perform efficiently in using nutrients, and excreting waste. An efficient metabolism is dependent on fueling yourself with good, clean food, which means a clean, well functioning digestion system is necessary, which in turn will keep your energy levels and digestion operating smoothly.
Consequently, sauna therapy conveys gentle and powerful ways for those people with a sluggish metabolism or hormonal imbalance to restore the equilibrium. It’s also sustainable, enjoyable and deeply relaxing and unlike crash diets and extreme workouts.
Conclusion
Sauna sessions are not only a luxury or a way to heat up on a cold day, they’re a full body wellness practice older than ancient tradition and modern science. Boosting your healthy immune system, improving clarity of your skin and reducing stress, enhancing sleep, supporting weight loss and even promoting heart health, the benefits of using a sauna regularly are many and far reaching.
There isn’t many practices out there that take care of the mind and the body so effectively in today’s fast paced world. Whether you want relief from your physical injuries, emotional challenges or just to escape the daily stress, a sauna is a place of heat, health and happiness.
If you are new to saunas, then take your time. Gradual build up of your sessions and making sure you are properly hydrated. With that in mind, listen to your body, but don’t make it a one time thing, turn it into a routine. All the benefits will accrue over time—they will benefit not only how you feel, but how you live.
There is more to a sauna’s warmth than skin deep, it reaches deep into your body, heals and transforms you. In case life gets too overwhelming just remember: sweat a little now and then you have a lot of wellness later.
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