You can biohack your own biology with sauna, which provides a wealth of health benefits in itself, but you can also hack your own sauna routine with small, simple steps to make your sauna session even more effective.
The popularity of infrared saunas, heat, and light therapy has skyrocketed in recent years.
Regular sauna use helps with many things. Not only as a subjective feeling of well-being, but small and large studies support the positive benefits of sauna use – such as stimulating the body's natural detoxification systems, promoting healthy skin, increasing the effect of exercise with faster recovery and improved performance, relieving pain and inflammation, strengthening the immune system, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, and increasing longevity in a dose-dependent manner.
In biohacking, ancient traditions, such as sauna, sound healing, and breathing techniques, are often used together with new technology to optimize health. With a portable infrared sauna, it's easy – and local – to do something good for yourself, preferably in combination with other wellness and treatment methods.
Read: Biohack with infrared sauna
Here are 10 hacks to maximize your sauna session!
Meditation
Turn on the heat and "turn off" your mind. When you meditate regularly, your nervous system calms down, your heart rate decreases, and your blood pressure, breathing, and pulse all become calmer. Meditation sharpens the brain and makes you happier by increasing the happiness hormone dopamine and reducing stress hormones.
Hydrate with electrolytes
Remember to drink enough water before, during, and after your sauna session, and feel free to add salts and minerals. When you sweat, you also sweat out electrolytes, which are crucial for the body's fluid balance. Make an electrolyte drink, e.g., water with a little Himalayan salt, eat foods rich in salts and minerals, or mix ready-made electrolyte powder directly into Radiant Health's water bottle.
Contrast therapy
Contrast therapy involves alternating exposure of the body to heat and cold, e.g., by combining sauna and ice bath or a cold shower to increase blood circulation and accelerate healing. It can release tension, sharpen the brain, and provide a lot of energy.
Binders, glutathione, castor oil packs, and Chlorella
Binders – or binding agents – are like a sponge that absorbs toxins in the body and carries them out of the digestive system. Taking binders before your sauna session can reduce the absorption or reabsorption of harmful substances released while you sweat. Many also swear by supplements of the body's super antioxidant, glutathione, to support detoxification and detox symptoms, as well as castor oil packs which are often used in detox protocols to, among other things, support the lymphatic system and liver detoxification. Chlorella is an algae that also absorbs heavy metals. 3 mg up to 12 mg (for advanced users) can be taken approximately 30 minutes before a sauna session.
Lavender
Fill the room with the scent of lavender. The plant is known for its calming effect, but did you know it can also strengthen the brain? A small study on the elderly showed that those who slept with lavender scent in the room, two hours every night for six months, had significantly improved memory.
Dry brushing
Boost circulation, remove dead skin cells, and stimulate lymphatic drainage with dry brushing before entering the sauna. The lymphatic system is an important part of the immune system, helping to remove waste and toxins from the body. Gently exfoliating with a dry brush will increase blood circulation and stimulate cell renewal.
Sound healing tracks
Sound healing, with roots in ancient cultures worldwide, can have several health benefits. A review of 400 scientific articles showed that music can improve mood and reduce stress. Another study found that one hour of sound meditation reduced tension, anger, fatigue, anxiety, and depression, and increased feelings of well-being. Sound healing can also have pain-relieving effects.
Breathing techniques
Using various breathing techniques, you can achieve physical and mental calm and make yourself more resilient to stress-related ailments. Breathing – deep, calm, with the belly and through the nose – can reduce inflammation and strengthen the immune system, by, among other things, increasing the amount of oxygen in the blood.
Niacin Detox
Niacin detox is a method where vitamin B3 and infrared sauna are used as tools for targeted increased elimination of waste products. See Radiant Health founder's protocol HERE. NOTE: Start with a low dose. High doses can lead to rashes, redness, and liver disease.
LED mask
Upgrade your skincare routine and enjoy the effects of various therapeutic wavelengths by combining Radiant Health's IR SaunaPod (far infrared light) for a holistic, deep heat treatment and LED mask for targeted facial care with red and near infrared light. The different wavelengths initiate the body's beneficial physiological processes in various ways, helping to improve skin quality and leaving the skin revitalized, rejuvenated, and glowing.
Sauna, infrared light, and red light therapy are referred to by many as a "game changer" in future healthcare for promoting good health, preventing disease, and for therapeutic purposes.
A sauna blanket in a class of its own
Have you checked out Radiant Health's groundbreaking sauna blanket IR Sauna Blanket LumaRed? Here you get near and far infrared heat, combined with red light and jade stones – three wavelengths with all the positive health benefits in one and the same sauna blanket for an unparalleled wellness and therapeutic experience.
Read: Red light therapy and infrared heat therapy.
This article is intended as interesting reading – not as a substitute for medical advice or treatment. If you are unsure whether combination treatments are right for you, consult a doctor. The use of supplements is at your own risk and should be done in consultation with a doctor/healthcare professional.
Text: Trine Dahlman
