Portable Sauna – Benefits of an At-Home Infrared Sauna

Whenever I start to hear about a new health trend, I’m a little weary to jump on it. I’ve done that in the past and it hasn’t always been the best experience for me. But the more I started to hear about infrared saunas and how they changed my friend’s lives for the better, the more I decided to look into one. But the problem was, we didn’t necessarily have space for a large one nor did we want to commit to an expensive sauna before we knew we liked it or not. Luckily my friend introduced me to one that you can put almost anywhere in your house and even take with you if you decide to move! Is it super fancy? No. Is it super sexy? No. Does it feel a bit claustrophobic at times? Absolutely. But it’s worth it, especially for the price!

The main reason I decided to start using the sauna was for detoxification. After a certain shot, my body felt sluggish, weighed down, and I was getting unexplained edema (which I’ve had in the past without a specific cause, but it got much, much worse after this experience). When I started talking openly about those struggles, I was told how helpful an infrared sauna can be for detoxing the body. And when I found out that I could have my own infrared sauna in our house for less than $400 with absolutely no need for extra room or special set up, I decided it was worth a try!

If you’re new to infrared saunas or even steam saunas, here are some of the benefits:

• improved circulation
• improved sleep
• detoxification
• improved skin
• sore muscle relief
• relaxation

Since we are constantly exposed to toxins, whether in our food, air, clothing, cleaning products, etc., infrared saunas help sweat many of those toxins out. Since those toxins can build up in our cells and tissues over time, more health problems can come along with it as we age. Sweating these toxins out may not only help us feel better, but improve our chances of living a longer, healthier life, void of things like heart disease, stroke, and more. It also can help with sore muscles and inflammation, which is something both Brian and I experience on a weekly basis! I haven’t experienced this myself, but a friend started using an infrared sauna after immense anxiety that felt like it was taking over her life. She told me that her infrared sauna completely saved her life and she uses it every week now.

This sauna gets up to 140 degrees F and will stay on for 60 minutes, but I prefer to set it between 105-110 degrees F and use it for 30 minutes. I normally find the last 5 minutes pretty damn uncomfortable, but that’s when I try to get into my zen and meditate for just a bit. During and after the sauna session, I drink plenty of water to help flush my system even more. At this point in my life, I try to go in the sauna 2x/week, on hair washing days. Then afterwards, I’ll take a cool shower, use a sheet mask, and roll my jade roller (that I keep in the freezer) over my sheet mask. This has nothing to do with sauna health benefits, but it does cool my face down which tends to feel the hottest after a session. Beauty after detoxing sounds like like a genius plan to me. I hope to up my number of sessions per week, but still haven’t made it a priority. It’s recommended to go 3-4x/week, so hopefully I’ll get there someday…but washing my hair 3-4x sounds like my nightmare.

So far, I haven’t noticed any major benefits or changes other than feeling good after stepping out from my 30 minute session. But I’m in it for the long game, like everything else when it comes to my health. And that’s what I hope to show the most here on my blog. Since it’s been 10 years of writing blog posts, I want to show people that it’s not about the immediate results, it’s about the long game. We live in a society that expects to feel better or look better or even be better after trying something for a week, not 10+ years. But that’s why I’ve been working out consistently for 13+ years and that’s why I’ve been eating healthy for 10+ years, all while documenting it. Health is about the long game and we should all see it that way. So I’ll be sticking with this sauna routine for a while and hopefully we can get a larger setup someday where Brian and I can both be in it at the same time instead of in a tailgate chair in a pop up tent! In the meantime, I’ll be sweating my little bum off in this small space!

If you’re like me and don’t have the space (or budget) for a large sauna, this one is a great option! Brian, I, and even my brother-in-law who is living with us at the moment, all LOVE it and use it on a regular basis along with our compression boots. Our basement has become quite recovery center, with our sauna under the stairs and our compression boots in the other corner of the room and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Let me know if you have any questions about infrared saunas and I’ll try my best to answer them!!

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