Healthy Home Additions: Personal Saunas

You’ve probably seen them at the gym or in a spa, saunas are those small rooms or buildings where people go to sweat. There are loads of different types of saunas, for example, there are the Infrared Saunas, but there many other different kinds. The health benefits of saunas include relieving hypertension or high blood pressure, reducing stress and flushing toxins from the body.

Saunas, steam rooms and bath houses have been around for centuries. Saunas are said to have their origins in Finland, where today almost every Finnish home is said to come with a sauna built in to the home or somewhere on the property.

Saunas can be used with dry or wet heat sessions, traditionally, saunas are heated by having a container filled with hot stones. The hot rocks have water poured on them to regulate humidity and to generate steam and heat. There is a thermometer in the room to be sure the temperature does not go too far below or too high above what would be considered to be a healthy temperature to sweat in.

Saunas are traditionally built of wood and some choose specific woods believed to have additional health benefits such as cedar or cypress.

While saunas have been used as places to gather socially, the benefits of having a sauna built inside of the home or as a small separate building on your property will allow you to use it in privacy (as most of the time nudity is recommended due to high temperatures), you can use it as often as you’d like and you will always have the best seat in the house.

Some saunas have benches built inside of it where you can choose to lay on the lower benches or the raised benches. You will experience a greater intensity of heat on the higher benches or if you are directly next to or facing the hot stones. Additionally, the more you use your sauna, the greater the benefits to your health.

Saunas increase body temperature which can cause blood vessels to get larger which helps blood to flow more easily. This also creates sweating which removes fluid and releases toxins from the body. It relaxes muscles and eases mental stress which can help reduce hypertension and make it easier to stretch and sleep at the end of the night.