8 top health benefits of sauna

If you’ve ever enjoyed a cleansing sauna treatment, you know it feels good.

But it’s not just how you feel. A healthy sweat does a body good too. 

How? Let’s count the ways…

1.    Fast relief for aching joints and muscles

Infrared heat treatment has many benefits, but this one rises to the top: near instant relief from tired, sore, aching joints and muscles. Whether your pain comes from aging or arthritis, or is the result of a workout, sauna causes blood vessels to dilate, increasing circulation and speeding healing. Tension in your muscles begins to relax, and waste products in your joints get flushed. A sauna treatment is the perfect post-workout routine.

2.   A stronger heart and better circulation

Using a sauna increases your heart rate similar to moderate exercise. Blood pumps faster, circulation increases, and blood pressure eases. Your entire circulatory system benefits, from your arteries to the strength of your heart muscle.

3.   Welcome relief from stress and tension 

During heat therapy, your body releases “feel good” chemicals, which actually helps train your body to do it more often, even outside the sauna. Simply put, a sauna session helps you feel better now, and make it easier to deal with stress later.

4.   A healthy toxin flush

When you amp up a sweat, you can actively reduce such toxins and lead and mercury. Even a short sauna will generate up to a pint of sweat. It doesn’t just feel good, it’s cleansing you from the inside-out. 

5.   Clearer, more youthful looking skin

A good sweat helps draw bacteria from sweat ducts, cleanse pores and improve micro-circulation in your skin. So your skin doesn’t just look better, it feels softer to the touch.

6.   Sound, restful sleep

A quick sauna treatment before bed can make it easier to get to sleep and stay asleep longer. Raising your body temperature before sleep spurs your body to automatically work to lower it. This lowering of your core temperature leaves you calmer, more relaxed and ready for rest. 

7.    Stronger lungs

Lung health is getting a lot of attention these days, for good reason. Regular sauna treatments will help strengthen your lungs and open up air passages.  

8.   Better focus & attention (and brain support too)

Studies have shown sauna sessions boost the hormone norepinephrine, which helps you pay closer attention and maintain focus. This “heat stress” also helps your body store this hormone later, so you can use it when you need it (and we always need it!). Plus, heat therapy has been shown to be beneficial to the aging brain, keeping you sharper and supporting memory and brain function.

If you’ve never tried a sauna before, make 2022 the year you start. Just remember to stay hydrated with enough water. 

Because the hottest health treatment I know will make you sweat. And that’s the beginning of a laundry list of good things that come with a few minutes of sauna, whether you do it at a spa or gym, or even better, enjoy the perfect heat therapy right in your own home.