Experience the Ultimate in Relaxation and Detoxification with Far Infrared Saunas

by Wes McMahon May 31, 2023

Feeling stressed lately?

You're not alone.

Let's face it: we live in a pretty stressful world. Many of us are juggling jobs, families, and financial worries, which can all be taxing enough. Then, there's the nightly news, which is getting a bit grim.

Along with diet and fitness, stress is one of the most critical variables that impacts your health and wellness. It doesn't just interfere with your emotions and concentration; it can also wreak havoc on your health, and can definitely affect your body directly.

Stress has been linked to a plethora of health problems, including poor blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. It can also affect things like your skin, cause headaches and insomnia, and just generally do a number on your health and wellness.

Sauna use can help soothe and calm you, leaving you feeling rejuvenated, rested, and ready to face the next day.

In fact, stress relief is one of the most beneficial effects of an infrared sauna session. Most of us just find it easier to relax when it's warm: that's probably why most people would pick a tropical island over a snowy mountain for a vacation.

While relaxing in a sauna won't magically alleviate the source of that stress, it can at least help get that tension out of your body. As far as we're concerned, that's one of the most amazing far infrared sauna benefits.

Reduce Stress In Your Far Infrared Sauna

Including some form of relaxation in your wellness routine can have a huge effect on both your mental and emotional health. Sauna use is a tried and true way to do that.

Just taking a half hour of chill time (in a high temperature range) under the infrared light will give you time to center yourself and gather your thoughts.

In fact, one of the biggest health benefits of far infrared sauna therapy is that it's just really relaxing. We all need that nowadays!

Improve Your Infrared Sauna Experience With Music

Many people like to incorporate music into their sauna sessions. Music has been shown to help relax and soothe us, and it can definitely help us wind down after a hectic day.

In case you were wondering 'Can I bring my phone into an infrared sauna?' .... well, you may be able to, but you could also damage your phone. Our advice? Use a wireless speaker instead.

Plus, if you bring your phone into the sauna, you may get sucked into scrolling through your social media, which will keep you from really fully immersing yourself in your far infrared sauna experience.

Infrared Sauna Therapy Health Benefits: Lower Blood Pressure

Ironically, feeling stressed not only contributes to bad blood pressure numbers, it can then become part of a downward spiral, as then you have one more thing to worry about.

We all know that high blood pressure is a significant factor in heart disease, which is the leading cause of death for both men and women in most racial and ethnic groups. In fact, here in America, one person dies from heart disease every 33 seconds!

The modern lifestyle isn't doing us any favors here. The majority of the populations of not just America, but also Australia, Canada, and Europe have at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease. (Risk factors include things like obesity, smoking, and family history of cardiac disease.)

Science is on Team Sauna here as well. There is evidence showing that sauna bathing can immediately improve blood pressure.

The results are even more significant when using a sauna is combined with exercise. Simply using the infrared sauna or infrared sauna blanket three times a week for about 15 minutes at a time after exercising improves blood pressure more than working out alone would.

Far Infrared Sauna Sessions Help Post-Workout Muscle Recovery

Working out doesn't just keep you fit and healthy: it's also a great way to shake off the effects of living in today's hectic, stressful world. Whether you enjoy yoga, pilates, running, swimming, or boxing, or would rather just go to the gym, working up a sweat is a great way to shake off a bad day and improve your overall health.

Of course, you probably won't be up for too much if you're stiff and sore from yesterday's workout.

And, if you don't pay attention to proper muscle recovery techniques, you could be at increased risk of injury. Athletes may also have poorer performance.

Far infrared saunas help with post-workout recovery.

In fact, saunas are commonly used by athletes in many different types of sports. Yogis, weightlifters, mixed martial artists, runners, and amateur and professional athletes.

Why? The heat helps with muscle recovery. It's common knowledge that you should stretch both before and after exercise. This can keep your muscles from stiffening up, which in turn improves blood flow. That is also backed by both real-life testimony and research. In fact, saunas first became popular after the 1936 Olympics, when Finnish athletes shared their love of saunas with the rest of the world.

Research has shown that using a far infrared sauna to help with muscle recovery after exercise can help improve running performance, which can be directly correlated to improved blood flow.

Your cardiovascular respiratory fitness rate, or CFF, measures the effectiveness of your body at delivering oxygen to your muscles. The higher the CRF, the better. Scuba divers have also found that regular sauna use reduces the number of bubbles circulating after chamber dives, which lowers the risk of potentially-deadly decompression sickness.

Turns out that those far infrared sauna benefits could actually save lives.

Infrared Saunas: Private Detoxification Chamber

If you're concerned about your health and wellness, it's probably safe to say that detoxification has popped up on your radar at some point. There's a lot of confusion around this issue, as detoxification has long been associated with cleanses and fad diets … both of which one may associate more with a celebrity's wellness routine than that of the average Joe or Jane.

It can be shocking to realize how much regular detoxification can make in your health. You may not only find that your skin looks clearer and better, you may also find yourself with more energy.

Toxic exposure is by no means something you only have to worry about in factories or shops anymore. The average household contains 62 toxic chemicals. That's not even touching on the 10,000 chemicals that are allowed in food and food packaging. Many have been linked to major health problems, such as an increased risk of cancer, hormonal imbalances, and developmental issues in infants and children.

Heavy metals are a particular concern. They can disrupt the body's natural chemical processes, interfere with the absorption of minerals and nutrition, and are harmful to the heart, brain, kidneys, liver, and bones.

There are some warning signs that you could use a good detox. Craving sugary and carb-heavy foods, digestive issues, fatigue, 'brain fog', achy joints, insomnia, and trouble losing weight have all been linked or possibly linked to toxins.

This is another area where infrared sauna sessions can improve health and wellness. Detoxification has long been associated with sauna baths.

The cleansing attributes of a good sweat session and how spending time in a high temperature range benefits the body are no new discoveries: the ancient steam baths and sweat lodges used in ancient times were known to have cleansing properties. (Technically, the sauna industry has been around for centuries. Primitive steam rooms and sweat lodges were really the prototypes of today's infrared saunas.)

Although the liver and kidneys are officially in charge of cleansing, the skin will also eliminate toxins. The heat and light from infrared waves penetrate beneath the surface of the skin, reaching the fat layers where many toxins are stored … just as your body is heating up and sweating.

Studies have shown that saunas can increase the levels of heavy metals typically found in sweat. These include things like arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury, which are all known to be harmful.

Hydration of course also helps with detoxification. (If you were wondering 'Should I drink water in a sauna?' Absolutely! Keeping yourself properly hydrated isn't just crucial to proper sauna usage, it's also important for your body and health overall.)

Detoxification can also have a dramatic impact on your skin, as does good circulation.

Ease Chronic Pain With Infrared Saunas

Have you ever wanted to soak in a warm bath to ease sore muscles? Do you often feel stiff or sore?

Aches and pains can be a huge source of stress in and of themselves. They also certainly don't help fight it.

And when you're sore and hurting, you probably don't have much energy.

Infrared sauna use may also help those who suffer from chronic pain and/or muscle soreness. Heat naturally loosens your muscles, which reduces stiffness, improves circulation, and increases range of motion.

Ever used a heating pad? A good heat treatment tends to relax the body and soothe nerve endings. And, because saunas improve circulation, those sore muscles will be getting oxygenated blood, which can also help reduce swelling and inflammation.

Saunas also aid in the release of endorphins, which are hormones that reduce muscle soreness and help with pain relief.

Incorporating a far infrared sauna into your treatment plan won't cure a chronic condition, but it can definitely provide relief, which will in turn improve your mental and emotional wellness.

Infrared Saunas Help With Weight Loss

Are you fighting the battle of the bulge? Are you working out regularly and eating right, but still stuck at that dreaded plateau?

Carrying extra weight isn't just bad for the body: it also weighs on your emotions. Trying to lose weight can be frustrating and difficult. Those extra pounds don't just add to the number on the scale: they can also add to feelings of low self esteem and unhappiness ... both of which contribute to feelings of stress.

Then there's comfort eating. Soothing yourself with pizza and ice cream after a bad day at work may provide some short-term comfort, but only makes matters worse.

Consider incorporating the use of a far infrared sauna into your routine. There is scientific evidence which shows that saunas do help with weight loss. The effects are even more pronounced when combined with regular exercise.

And while it may seem like sweating is just going to result in a loss of water weight, research has shown that one of the most surprising perks of far infrared sauna therapy is weight loss.

When you look good, you feel good.

This brings us to a few other questions we often hear.

The first: Should I protect my hair in an infrared sauna? It's not a must, but covering your head with a towel can help keep the heat from drying out your locks.

Another thing many people ask is 'Do infrared saunas damage skin?' It's actually the opposite. Many people find that saunas help improve their skin tone. Many models and actresses use them for these benefits.

Far Infrared Saunas: Burning Stress And Calories

You may have heard the old adage about how wellness isn't a destination, but a journey. That also applies to weight loss. Taking care of your body shouldn't have to entail doing anything you hate. After all, your emotional health is just as important as your physical health.

Spending time in far infrared saunas speeds up your heart. This isn't a woo-woo claim: it's based on pure science. There's plenty of scientific evidence showing that our hearts beat faster when it's hot (as it is in an infrared sauna or sauna room) to keep the blood moving. That increased heart rate translates directly into increased calorie burn ... which is key to dropping those stubborn pounds.

It is still important to exercise regularly: using a far infrared sauna won't change that. However, exercise when combined with using a far infrared sauna is typically more effective than exercise alone. Plus, many people find that using saunas regularly gives them more energy, which then allows them to push harder.

In fact, one of the best benefits of far infrared saunas may be that they let you take time to focus on you, and just enjoy the soothing heat and pretty lights.

Why Choose Far Infrared Saunas Over Traditional Saunas?

Traditional saunas offer many of the same health benefits as a far infrared sauna would.

So why go with infrared? Heat and sweating are the goal with both types, but an infrared sauna allows for a lower temperature range than a traditional sauna. Therefore, many people find them more comfortable.

It's also worth mentioning that, instead of heating the air, an infrared sauna heats you. That also allows for shorter sessions, which can make it even easier to incorporate sauna treatment into your personal wellness plan.

The Potential Health Benefits Of Infrared Saunas Far Outweigh Any Risks

Another question many people have is 'Are there health risks with infrared sauna?' That's a pretty valid query, especially for those considering far infrared sauna therapy, whether it's to lose weight, relieve pain, improve post-workout recovery, or just enjoy the relaxation.

There are no known general side effects. However, if you are pregnant or have any kind of chronic health issues, ask your doctor for advice.

Please contact us with questions about choosing or using a far infrared sauna.