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With our archives now 3,500+ articles deep, we\u2019ve decided to republish a classic piece each Sunday to help our newer readers discover some of the best, evergreen gems from the past. This article was originally published in February\u00a02021.<\/i><\/p>\n
For a lowdown on the practicalities of sauna-ing, including how to choose the sauna that\u2019s right for you, check out this article: How to Sauna: All the FAQs.<\/em><\/p>\n There was a particular moment when I finally decided to get myself a sauna.<\/span><\/p>\n Even though I have a garage gym, I had gotten a membership at a nearby 10GYM just so I could use its sauna. I had thought about buying a sauna for years, but before pulling the trigger on this relatively large purchase, I wanted to see if I would enjoy sauna-ing as much as I imagined I would, and I figured paying $10 a month to run this experiment would be worth it.<\/span><\/p>\n I found I <\/span>did<\/span><\/i> get something out of my sauna sessions, but that was the problem. I liked it, but I liked it so much that I found I wanted more from the experience than I could access at the gym. And this became crystal clear when I walked into the sauna on one particular evening.<\/span><\/p>\n The place was packed to the hilt. Perhaps a dozen dudes were crowded into a not-so-large space. Dudes were squished together on the benches; dudes were sprawled out on the floor; dudes were blasting music from their smartphones. Just as soon as I walked in, I walked right back out. I went home and started to earnestly research purchasing a sauna for my home. Not long after, I became the owner of a Finnish-style wooden barrel, which I put together in my backyard.<\/span><\/p>\n A year later, I can say the sauna has been one of the best purchases, nay investments, I\u2019ve ever made, with one of the highest ROIs. I\u2019ve enjoyed it even more than I thought I would. Indeed, my sauna has been helping save my body, mind, and spirit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When I got my sauna, male friends and family members often expressed their excitement for me and their own envy, sharing how they too had long wanted a sauna and had been thinking about getting one for years.<\/span><\/p>\n If you fall into that category, below we highlight the research-backed benefits of regular heat exposure that perhaps will persuade you too to pull the trigger on a lifelong sauna dream, or, at the least, to join a gym that has a sauna; nearly all the benefits we\u2019ll outline apply equally well to the non-personal variety, and are still worth pursuing, even if you have to squish in next to some strangers.<\/span><\/p>\n Sauna is one of the world\u2019s many hot bathing traditions. It originated in Finland but has close relatives in the Russian <\/span>banya<\/span><\/i>, the Turkish <\/span>hammam<\/span><\/i>, and the sweat lodge traditions of Native American tribes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This kind of cultural ubiquity usually points to some veritable, time-tested benefits, and indeed, modern research has been confirming what many of the world\u2019s peoples already knew for thousands of years: saunas can strengthen the body, calm the mind, and bolster the spirit.<\/span><\/p>\n Getting your sweat on in a sauna may not literally release toxins from the body, but it sure <\/span>feels <\/span><\/i>like it does. While mercury doesn\u2019t drip out of your pores, your metaphorical stress does. It just feels dang cleansing.<\/span><\/p>\n Saunas offer a unique, almost paradoxical, sense of rejuvenation. They\u2019re not relaxing in the traditional sense; in fact, the intense heat acts as a stressor on your body, and can get kind of uncomfortable. Yet it\u2019s a discomfort that feels strangely pleasurable; the physical stress somehow alleviates your mental stress.<\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s partly because it <\/span>releases a bunch of feel-good endorphins in your brain<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n Sitting in a sauna also facilitates introspection and a sense of calming reset, especially if you\u2019re by yourself. While you <\/span>could<\/span><\/i> bring your phone into the sauna, the heat isn\u2019t good for it, making sauna sessions a great way to regularly disconnect from the anxiety-inducing distractions of your life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As you first start to warm up, your mind will wander, and it\u2019s a great time to chew on ideas you\u2019ve been mulling over. As your body starts really heating up, you start to lose the ability to do much real thinking. You get into a kind of meditative state, though it\u2019s one you reach without effort; your mind involuntarily starts to go blank. By the end, you feel wrung out, but blissed out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sitting in a sauna not only gives you the kind of \u201crunner\u2019s high\u201d you get from moderate exercise, studies show it also provides you with similar benefits to your cardiovascular health \u2014 improved blood pressure and cholesterol counts, along with a reduction in your chances of heart disease.<\/span><\/p>\n Heat raises your heart rate. In moderate temperature sauna sessions, your heart rate can rise to 100 beats per minute; in hotter sessions, it can hit 150 beats per minute \u2014 as high as when you\u2019re running. Along with that higher heart rate comes an increase in calorie burn.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s often been thought that blood pressure drops in a sauna because the heat dilates your blood vessels, but in fact, <\/span>your blood pressure will climb while sitting in the sauna and then drop below baseline levels once you finish your session<\/span>. Over time, sauna-ing has a healthy effect on your BP; one <\/span>study<\/span> found that men who hit the sauna 4-7 times a week were half as likely to have high blood pressure, and that was compared to those who already did one sauna session a week.<\/span><\/p>\n Saunas have a kind of paradoxical effect on inflammation. While sauna-ing induces inflammation in the body in the same way as exercise does, this short-term increase in inflammation reduces inflammation in the long-term; it increases the body\u2019s capacity to deal with the stress that produces inflammation.<\/p>\n When our bodies become injured or sick, inflammation occurs to help with the healing process. But too much inflammation for too long isn\u2019t healthy. Chronic inflammation makes you feel crappy and can contribute to conditions like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity, and (as we\u2019ll see below) depression.<\/span><\/p>\n One way doctors detect chronic inflammation is by looking at your levels of c-reactive protein (CRP) in your blood. Elevated levels of CRP mean elevated levels of inflammation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One <\/span>study<\/span> of Finnish men found an association between increased sauna use and decreased CRP levels. What\u2019s more, studies suggest that sauna use may increase levels of an anti-inflammatory protein called IL-10 as well.<\/span><\/p>\n In our podcast interview with psychiatrist Charles Raison, he laid out a theory that chronic inflammation in the body may be one (of the many) causes of depression. Besides damaging tissues, chronic inflammation makes us feel sad and down. <\/span>Studies<\/span> have shown that many people with severe depression also have high levels of chronic inflammation. It isn\u2019t clear if the inflammation caused their depression, or if their depression caused the inflammation, but if you reduce the inflammation in these individuals, oftentimes their depression starts to alleviate, too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That may be why several studies have shown that regular sauna sessions, which, as we just discussed, reduce inflammation, also help boost mood.<\/span><\/p>\n In my interview with Raison, he was quick to note that saunas are not a panacea for curing depression. Many people with depression don\u2019t have chronic inflammation, so working on the latter won\u2019t address the former.<\/span><\/p>\n But even if sauna-ing doesn\u2019t work on depression via the inflammation pathway, it may still enhance mood via the aforementioned release of endorphins, or simply by giving you a half hour of silence and solitude; many people with depression simply need more time-outs from the stress that besieges minds that are overly reactive to negativity. If you regularly battle the black dog, consider adding sauna sessions to your multifaceted approach to leashing it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Be sure to listen to our podcast interview with Charles Raison about depression, inflammation, and saunas:<\/span><\/p>\nThe Many Benefits of Sitting in a Sauna<\/span><\/h2>\n
Saunas Are De-Stressing & Meditative<\/h2>\n
Saunas May Boost Cardiovascular Health<\/h2>\n
Saunas May Reduce Chronic Inflammation<\/h2>\n
Saunas May Help Alleviate Depression<\/h2>\n