There’s nothing like a good sweat session in an infrared sauna. Getting unhealthy toxins out through your pores is liberating, relieving, and great for your overall health. But did you know using an infrared sauna can help improve your mental health and mood?
This article will outline how infrared saunas have significant benefits towards your mental health, as well as your physical health.
What Is an Infrared Sauna?
The critical difference between an infrared sauna and a traditional sauna is the heat creation method. A regular sauna uses steam or heated rocks which heat the room and your body, while an infrared sauna uses infrared light to heat the body directly. This means that infrared saunas usually operate at lower temperatures than traditional saunas. Scientific studies have shown that these newer saunas have numerous health benefits, including physical relief and improved mood.
How Infrared Saunas Improve Physical Health
In an infrared sauna, the infrared light waves cause your body to sweat. Healthy perspiration levels can help eliminate toxins in your body, which is excellent for promoting relaxation and overall physical health. It can also reduce the risk of vascular diseases. The heat also increases blood flow and the effectiveness of blood circulation. This reduces inflammation, which is vital for soothing sore muscles and relieving pain.
How Infrared Saunas Help with Mood Enhancement
The heat from an infrared sauna releases endorphins — hormones that improve overall well-being and reduce pain and stress. We can call endorphins your body’s ‘natural feel-good chemicals’. Also, the calming atmosphere of the infrared sauna promotes relaxation and can reduce anxiety and stress, even without the heat.
Heat therapy increases levels of serotonin and decreases levels of cortisol. As a neurotransmitter chemical, serotonin sends messages throughout your body that promote happiness — it’s known as a mood stabiliser. It can also help produce healthy sleeping patterns. Its overall biological function is complex, but it’s beneficial, and going to an infrared sauna can increase its production!
How Infrared Saunas Help with Mental Health
Aside from overall mood enhancements, infrared saunas also have a positive effect on mental health. Recent scientific studies have found that regularly using an infrared sauna reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety. Infrared saunas have been proven to optimise the production of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin — our brain’s natural antidepressants. Not only this, but infrared saunas can also lower cortisol levels— a chemical that contributes to stress and tension.
Heat therapy (of which saunas constitute a significant part) is especially effective in relieving symptoms of mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression. Infrared saunas are an excellent tool for improving mental health through a combination of healthy hormone and chemical production, the well-known link between physical and mental health, and overall well-being.
Tips for Using Infrared Saunas for Mood Enhancement and Mental Health
If you plan to use infrared saunas to improve your mood, mental health, or physical wellness, optimising safety, effectiveness, and convenience is essential. Here’s how:
- If you’re new to infrared saunas (or saunas in general), we recommend starting with shorter sessions of about 15 minutes. Once your body has adjusted to the heat and you’re used to the sweat, you can work up to longer sessions.
- If you plan to use the sauna regularly, it’s recommended to go 2-3 times a week to receive the best benefits.
- Always remember to drink a lot of water when using infrared saunas — this is important to replenish fluids that you lose through sweat.
- Never use alcohol or other drugs before or during sauna sessions.
Finally, remember to listen to your body! If you feel dizzy or lightheaded, leave the sauna and rest outside. If these symptoms don’t pass in a few minutes, seek help.
We’re Here to Help
Infrared saunas can work wonders for both your physical and mental health. You will leave the sauna feeling relieved, fresh and clean.
Similar to how infrared saunas can help alleviate physical discomfort, they may temporarily boost mood and mental health. However, this does not mean they can permanently cure these ailments. Regular exercise, relaxation, sufficient sleep and diet are important to maintaining good physical and mental health.
At Rimba Sweat, we’re dedicated to providing relief and relaxation like no other saunas do. Incorporate infrared sauna sessions into your relaxation and wellness routine and reap the benefits. We look forward to welcoming you to our infrared saunas. To book a session, contact us on our website or call (02) 8959 0672.