Sure, you know how to sit in a sauna, but do you know how to do it like a pro? There are plenty of opportunities to take your home sauna to the next level and truly create a sanctuary at home. From using enhancements like aromatherapy and halotherapy to general sauna safety tips, read on to learn how to get the most of a sauna at home by making it a truly incredible sauna experience.

How to Get the Most Out a Sauna with Enhancements

Chromotherapy

Chromotherapy, also called color light therapy, is the process of restoring balance to the body by applying color. Color light therapy relies on the premise that each color is associated with a different bodily response. For example, red is typically associated with stimulation, while blue is considered a mentally relaxing color.

Color light therapy has been reported to temporarily reduce swelling, relieve pain, decrease inflammation, accelerate open wound healing and greatly reduce overall recovery after medical and surgical procedures. When paired with a healthy lifestyle, chromotherapy patients have demonstrated increased range of motion, decreased muscle tension and spasm, and improved circulation. Your home sauna from Clearlight has chromotherapy lights built in to help you reap all the benefits of color therapy.

Halotherapy

The practice of salt therapy, or halotherapy, uses microsalt to promote a range of health benefits once inhaled. Many believe that when people inhale this salty air, it can help stimulate their respiratory system, reduce inflammation, fight infection, clear blockages and reduce discomfort.

The treatment is intended to recreate the atmosphere of salt caves with a high concentration of micronized salt in the air. One of the best solutions on the market is the Microsalt Halotherapy Generator that can be incorporated into your sauna and used to crush salt into microparticles that are easily inhaled. Creating your own salt sauna experience allows you to combine the powerful detoxifying properties of infrared therapy with the healing benefits of halotherapy.

Aromatherapy

Spending time in an infrared sauna is relaxing on its own, but you can enhance the experience even further by incorporating essential oils. It is important to note that essential oils are very strong and should be diluted or used with a carrier oil to avoid too much exposure. Ten of the best essential oils for sauna aromatherapy include birch, cinnamon, citrus, eucalyptus, frankincense, lavender, peppermint, pine, sandalwood, and tea tree oils.

Depending on your desired results, try mixing different essential oil combinations. Some simple combination ideas include citrus + peppermint for an energizing experience, pine + birch to go woodsy, and lavender + sandalwood for mental clarity and relaxation. Simply place a few drops of your favorite oil in a small container and place it in your home sauna to be heated and enjoy.

Red Light Therapy

Red light therapy, also known as photobiomodulation, LED light therapy, and low level light therapy, works by using red low-level wavelengths of light to produce a biochemical effect in cells by penetrating approximately 5 millimeters below the skin’s surface. This effect helps strengthen the mitochondria and increase cell energy to improve performance of cells. Red light is considered “low level” because it works at an energy density that’s low compared to other forms of laser therapies.

The light from near infrared LEDs has been shown to bring energy to cells, reduce pain, increase collagen and elastin production in skin cells, speed up the wound healing process, reduce inflammation and provide numerous anti-aging benefits. To use red light therapy with your sauna at home, you can attach a Jacuzzi® Light Therapy tower to the door of your sauna.

Vibration Resonance Therapy

This additional therapy combines the healing effects of sound and vibration to soothe all systems of the body to bring you to a deeper state of relaxation. In your sauna, the vibration resonance therapy (VRT) modules attach to the bottom of the sauna bench and use an amplified audio signal to resonate sound waves to the surface of the sauna.

Listen to some soothing music while using VRT to really let the sounds and vibrations resonate throughout the body and stimulate the body’s natural relaxation response. Including vibration resonance therapy in your home sauna sessions enhances the rejuvenating properties of infrared therapy. Think of it as a light touch massage for your body and mind during your sauna session.

How to Get the Most Out a Sauna with Activities

Hot Yoga

As the name implies, hot yoga is the practice of yoga in a heated setting. Hot yoga sessions are typically more vigorous and intense than the average yoga practice. Many use hot yoga as a way to connect with their body physically, mentally, or spiritually. Both infrared saunas and hot yoga offer the health benefits of detoxification, weight loss, flexibility, and reduced stress. Doing hot yoga in a sauna is the perfect scenario!

Meditation

A home sauna creates the perfect environment for you to disconnect from everyday life and connect with yourself instead. Taking just 10 minutes of your day to meditate in your sauna can help significantly reduce your stress. On top of meditation, breathing exercises can help bring you to a state of mindfulness and concentration, which can help you push through the heat sauna session and get comfortable.

How to Use a Home Sauna: Tips & Safety

Home Sauna Tips

• Place your sauna near a shower or pool for easy access.
• Bring a towel to sit on for comfort and cleanliness.
• Take a shower before and after your sauna session.
• Block off uninterrupted sauna time so you can fully relax.

Home Sauna Safety

• Limit your sessions to approximately 20 minutes.
• Don’t use a sauna before working out.
• Keep water nearby to stay hydrated.
• Don’t use a sauna if pregnant.
• End your sauna session if you begin to feel lightheaded.

If you have a sauna at home, you are already on the right path toward wellness! But now that you’ve learned how to get the most out of a sauna, you are about to experience a whole new approach to your sauna sessions with increased health benefits. If you are considering buying a sauna, take these tips into consideration so you can design your ultimate sauna experience.

You’ve made the wise decision to add a sauna to your home or business, and now it’s time to consider the details. What size sauna will best fit you? Where should you place the sauna? What style will fit most elegantly with your existing décor? And, what heat source do you want to use for your new sauna. While that last one seems like a no-brainer, this consideration is probably the single most important element to decide upon before purchasing the sauna. Sauna heat sources can take many forms, but we’ll focus on the differences between near infrared and far infrared heating elements, as infrared is truly the new standard in sauna heating systems today.

What Exactly Does Near Infrared Mean?

Near infrared light is contained within the spectrum of natural sunlight. The sun emits nearly half of its total energy in the near infrared (NIR) spectrum. We are biologically wired to use near infrared energy, much like sunlight is needed to produce vitamin D. Our bodies require this energy from sunlight to survive and to thrive.

Near infrared systems are effective at rejuvenating the skin, help raise core body temperature, improve circulation and can provide pain relief.

What Is a Far Infrared System?

Far infrared, now considered to be one of the leading heat sources for contemporary therapeutic saunas today operates in a similar manner to near infrared but differs in terms of wavelength. Science aside, the tangible benefits of far infrared are significant, as this system heats the body from within and produces the kind of profuse sweating normally only seen with traditional wet-dry sauna systems.

Most clinicians who recommend infrared saunas for healing or wellness purposes will tout the health benefits of a far infrared system.  The additional benefits of far infrared saunas are detoxification, increasing your metabolism, weight loss and stress reduction just to name a few.

How Do Benefits Compare for Near vs. Far Infrared?

Detoxification

While both near and far infrared systems can detoxify the body, they go about it quite differently. Near infrared systems provide topical relief for skin issues and shallow body pain. The results are often less dramatic than what one would expect to see when using a far infrared system.

Far infrared systems can detoxify the body as much as seven times more effectively than standard sauna units because they produce heavy natural sweating that moves harmful elements out of the body quite quickly and also mobilizes toxins by inducing a fat based sweat.

Relaxation

Many sauna users report relaxation is one of the biggest reasons they purchased their new unit or visit their local sauna. Infrared sauna therapy, especially far infrared heating units, promote relaxation by balancing the body’s levels of cortisol – an important hormone in the body that regulates stress.  The infrared heating units help muscles to relax and loosen, and since far infrared wavelengths mimic the body’s own emissions, they tend to impart a sense of rejuvenation in most individuals.

Weight Loss

According to an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association entitled Effect of Sweating, researchers discovered a simple half-hour sauna session could burn as many as 600 calories. This study was conducted using an infrared sauna system.

Near infrared saunas effectively raise your core body temperature to help burn calories.  Far infrared saunas stimulate your metabolism, lower cortisol levels and slightly raise HGH to help with weight loss as well.

Due to the fact that far infrared sauna units tend to more effectively increase the body’s core temperature and safely increase heart rate, they may burn calories more easily than a near infrared unit or traditional sauna.

Skin Rejuvenation

One of the most exciting benefits of using a sauna is the glowing skin you’ll witness after just a few sessions. Two basic things have to happen in order to rejuvenate the skin – improving the body’s circulation and eliminating toxins from the pores of the skin.

Saunas, especially those using infrared technology, accomplish both of these. A near infrared system will effectively improve the topical surface of the skin, while the far infrared units help to promote toxin release through profuse sweating. Most sauna users will find that the sweating component helps to cleanse the skin quite effectively, thereby improving skin tone from the inside out.

Improved Circulation

While all saunas can therapeutically improve circulation and enhance blood flow to key areas of the body, infrared saunas do an impressive job of boosting circulation, all while keeping the user comfortable. Middle to far infrared heating units penetrate deeply and help to stimulate blood flow, minimize pain, reduce inflammation, and enhance muscle recovery.

Are Near & Far Infrared Saunas Safe?

The answer is – yes! Think about it this way, hospitals use infrared heating lamps to warm newborn babies. Unlike exposing yourself to UV rays from the sun or a tanning bed, you cannot burn yourself with infrared heat. There are no known dangers to using an infrared heat source in your sauna.

As always, you’ll want to monitor your body temperature to ensure you don’t overheat. Keep adequately hydrated, too. And, check with your doctor to make sure you are medically cleared to use a sauna and that you don’t have any preexisting conditions that would make sauna use inadvisable. Saunas are incredibly safe, and infrared units provide real therapy without the oppressive heat of a traditional sauna.

Now that you have a good understanding of near infrared vs. far infrared heat, which sauna type do you feel will serve you best? Near infrared units tend to promote topical healing and mild pain relief quite effectively, but far infrared heating units are incredibly effective at removing toxins, improving circulation, and relaxing the muscles. Most experts agree that if you’re really looking to get the maximum therapeutic benefits from your sauna session you’ll want to go for a unit that offers all three spectrum.  These are called Full Spectrum saunas and offer near, mid and far infrared.