My love affair with infrared saunas

Don't invite me to brunch on a Sunday

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"Some things cannot be unseen. Bless the uninhibited."

I have become one of those people, someone that would rather sit in the exceedingly hot, sweat inducing temperatures reading a book than socializing or sulking in my bed with a hangover.

But I am getting ahead of myself. We’re here to talk infrared sauna’s and why they are god’s gift to wellness.

I first learned of these a few years back when my obsession with the gym steam room and sauna was beginning to waver with the amount of naked bodies in awkward stretch poses started taking its toll on my ability to relax. Some things cannot be unseen. Bless the uninhibited.

I was googling sauna’s in my neighborhood and came across the wellness studio in the East Village that offered ‘private sauna sessions’ in an infrared sauna…you had me at ‘private’.

I was there that afternoon, reading from the studio’s well thumbed book because #rookie didn’t bring anything to read (and obviously couldn’t take my phone into a 150 degree room….maybe?) and sweating my balls off. It felt like I was back on the beaches of Adelaide #home.

So why would someone put themselves through 45min to an hour of nose hair burning, butt crease sweating heat?

Because of the touted benefits they claim to have on the body. DER. HigherDOSE’s owners, Lauren Berlingeri and Katie Kaps, describe their infrared saunas as ”a workout, a massage, acupuncture, and a facial in one,” so there’s that. Add to it that the treatment itself bears the promise of detoxification, relaxation, calorie burning, pain relief, anti-aging and skin purification, cell health, and improved circulation.

Take my money.

First. Is it safe?

YAH. Infrared light is the same type of light that they use to keep premature baby’s warm in the incubators. So yeah, it’s safe. The IR heaters give off a heat that doesn’t actually heat up the room, but rather; is absorbed by the body – just like sitting in the sunshine really, without the skin cancer. Also, infrared kills bacteria. So win win.

Second. Remind me again why you want to sweat from all the bits?

1. Detox

Because sweating is good for the body, it’s our bodies natural way to detox. Raising our core temperature results in a deep (deeeeep), detoxifying sweat at the cellular level…where those nasty toxins such as heavy metals like mercury and lead; are hiding.

Sweat induced from an infrared heat source is comprised of 20% toxins whereas sweat induced from traditional heating systems is comprised of 3% toxins. Making infrared 7x more detoxifying than traditional heat. BOOM.

2. Calorie Burn

The heat being absorbed by the body will cause your core temperature to rise and in turn – an increase in heart rate, similar to that which you get when exercising…but without the effort. Your body is now working hard to lower its core temp and keep up with the increased heart rate, meaning HELLO calorie burn – some studies show at much as 600 calories per 60 min session1. AH YAH.

3. Relaxation

Not as self-explanatory as one may expect. By balancing the bodies level of cortisol (that pesky stress hormone), which are shown to drop immediately after a sweat sesh. Muscles also receive some relaxation benefits from the heat, helping to relieve tension – also added benefit: no naked people doing yoga on the bench across from you, I find that helps me relax also.

4. Pain relief

From all that muscle relaxation I was talking about...

5. Anti-aging and skin purification

The detox situation you have going on inside this little hot box of skin wizardry will help purify your skin by eliminating toxins via our pores and increasing circulation – end result? Clearer, glowing, softer and healthier looking skin.

As for anti-aging, this one won’t happen in your first few sessions, but it has been shown in studies2 that “significant improvements in the skins appearance after just 12 weeks of sauna use” is possible. And while I do feel a certain glow after my sessions, I can’t say that my crow’s feet are immediately erased – that it seems will take time. I mean…if it HAVE to sit in a warm, quiet, relaxing box once a week then damn it I am no quitter.

6. Circulation

Again with the core temperature talk. But seriously as this rises, you circulation naturally increases along with it. Blood flow increases to levels which you experience during moderate exercise and regular use – again…if I have to – can significantly stimulate blood flow even outside of the box of heated heaven. So essentially it’s the easiest workout you will do.

Anything else you need to know?

Just start small, if you’re new to IR or are someone that is not comfortable with heat (ignore this Aussie’s in the room) then a shorter intro session is for you – anywhere from 5-10 min at a lower level heat until you feel comfortable sitting around relaxing in this slice of heaven for anywhere from 30-45 min.

Integrating into wellness design

When it comes to brands or types of sauna's I am not fussy as an end user, however when I specify these for tenant gyms in residential design or for personal clients I have found the best to be Sunlighten due to their smaller size and ease of installation.

If you are thinking about adding one of these to your personal gym or would like to design a space specifically for a infrared sauna, reach out to me or any architect with a background in wellness design to help design a fully integrated wellness space, after all wellness design goes beyond just the sauna itself; its about the space as a whole.

So why are you still reading this and not already heading to your nearest infrared sauna? Hustle.