What is an Infrared Sauna?

Infrared sauna sessions are a great addition to your wellness routine. How does it work? Infrared saunas help to detoxify and relax the body using heat and light. They emit infrared light waves that heat the body, releasing toxins when you sweat. The light penetrates your skin but it doesn't heat the air around you. This makes it more tolerable for people who can't handle the high heat of traditional saunas or steam rooms. 

Just like getting a fever when we are sick, a warmer body increases metabolic activity, kills intruders and stimulates the release of toxins. Infrared saunas heat up your body and mimic a fever to make you feel better inside and out. 

Benefits:

*Detoxification

*Weight Loss

*Improved Circulation

*Pain Relief

*Relaxation

Infrared sauna therapy is great for anyone with sore muscles and joints, including athletes who might be sore after playing sports. It relieves pain and helps the body heal faster by expanding blood vessels and increasing circulation. This helps more oxygen reach the tissues and nerves.

Did you know that you can burn up to 600 calories in a single sauna session (45 minutes)? Just like during exercise, your heart rate and blood flow will increase during an infrared sauna session, helping you to burn calories and main assist in weight loss.

Infrared sauna therapy can also be extremely helpful for anyone who suffers from seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. While it is very beneficial to use the infrared sauna during any season, it can be especially beneficial to many people during the Winter. Winter can cause depression symptoms in some people because the days are shorter, it's overcast more often, and it's cold for months at a time. Aside from being very warm and relaxing, infrared sauna sessions can prove helpful because they use medical grade chromotherapy light to help with relaxation and boosting the immune system. The warmth, light, and color can really help in boosting your mood. (We'll touch more on the benefits of the different colors in a future post.)

People often ask how often they should attend infrared sauna sessions. In general, the more often you attend sessions the better you will feel. It is safe to have infrared sauna sessions every day, but you may want to start slow and just do a couple of times a week at first. Sometimes people do not sweat when they first start out using an infrared sauna and this is normal! The sweating will increase the more you attend sessions as your body gets used to it.

Have questions about infrared sauna sessions? Feel free to stop in, give us a call, or leave us a comment!

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Salt Room Appleton

Photos: Nektar Productions