Infrared sauna, face mask and scented candles. Take a time-out from infection control measures with your own home spa. When we can't go out, why not bring outdoor activities indoors?
The coronavirus pandemic has led to lockdown and ever-new infection control measures that limit our personal freedom. For the first time for this generation. We can't go to the gym. Swimming and using saunas at spas or public swimming pools are completely or partially closed. We can't hug or meet everyone we love. Parties and concerts? Sorry. We are surrounded by uncertainty. What about work? Economy? Will we make it home for Christmas?
We have been promised better times, hopefully during 2021. In the meantime, we must adhere to changing advice, rules and recommendations, and do our best to stay healthy – to once again be able to protect those around us.
How can we make the best use of our time without going crazy, hitting a wall, or getting on each other's nerves?
While some experts predict negative consequences, other experts encourage people to do more of what, according to science, makes us happy. Spend time with loved ones. Spend time in nature. Have more sex. On the whole, de-stress and take care of your health.
Cocooning
In 1981, trend forecaster Faith Popcorn introduced the concept of cocooning, a description of human behavior in a crisis. In short, people seek safety in their homes and prioritize comfort and coziness at home when dangers threaten outside.
In recent years, cocooning has also been used to describe the millennial generation, with the motto «staying at home is the new going out». The digital world has drawn young people in, where they spend time together, separately, on the internet – in contrast to previous generations. Now we are all there.
The coronavirus pandemic has, as with previous crises in history, led to a resurgence of cocooning, where the center of our activities is in our homes. We move outdoor activities indoors.
Sauna Boom
The founder of Radiant Health, Siw Hansson Kaulbach, has experienced a boom in sales of infrared heating products in 2020.
– The development since I started has been enormous, especially in the last two years, and after the lockdown in March, sales have exploded. I can well imagine that the home solutions I offer are welcome when many things are closed due to corona, she says.
Moving spa and wellness activities to the home seems to be a growing trend in Norway.
– It's incredibly fun that my products can generally contribute to well-being, better health and more coziness at home, which was one of the reasons I started in the first place. But it feels extra good that the heating products can also be a positive contributor in these different times we live in.
The bestseller, IR SaunaPod, has sold the most since its launch.
– People love the sauna. In it, you can sit in your own living room and watch TV or work from home, while the heat boosts your metabolism, provides pain relief, and has a cleansing effect through sweating. You get your very own home spa.
Other products that have boomed this year are the IR Therapy Mat and the IR Sauna Blanket Breeze.
– The therapy mat and sauna blanket have therapeutic stones sewn into them, which allows the heat to penetrate extra deeply into the body.
All in all, Radiant Health offers a range of different infrared heating products, tailored to wishes and needs. In 2020, the brand has added four new products to its range and more are to come. Siw enthusiastically talks about one of the newest products: the IR Foot Sauna.
– The foot sauna is wonderful for sore knees, calves and feet, and increases blood circulation in the legs. In Chinese medicine, the feet are the body's second heart. Focusing on foot and leg care can contribute to well-being for the entire body. The health benefits are many.
Home Spa
For natural reasons, Siw uses all the products herself, but not just to test them out, but also because she needs them. The family of four lives almost in quarantine to do their part in contributing to lowering the infection rate. Most daily activities happen at home.
– I have set myself up with a home spa, where I try to take a 30-minute time-out every day. I get so happy when I can easily jump straight into the sauna, or into one of the other products. Right now, it's mostly the sauna, sauna blanket, or therapy mat. Often in the evening, because then I sleep extra well, she says, adding.
– Since I can't go to the gym, the sauna becomes a combined workout and recovery session, where I can get my heart rate up, relax, and clear my head at the same time.
