Longer, healthier, and happier lives are just a few wide sweeping promises that sauna use offers. If these statements cannot motivate you to stay committed to maintaining your sauna routine, then consider a few practical tools that will keep you dedicated to your sauna use today and every day. There is an 8 pronged approach that will keep you coming back to your sauna in every season of the year and your life. This simple guide is twofold. It allows you to connect with your anchor that motivates you to sauna as well as practical tools to ensure that you are actually using your sauna habitually, and in sometimes novel ways.
This is a short and easy to follow guide on how to make sure that you continue to use your sauna, even on the days when you don’t feel like it. The reality is that regular sauna use over the course of a lifetime can change an individual’s entire biological expression, which means that it should be a no-brainer to hop in for 20 minutes 4-7 times a week. But like any habitual activity once the novelty wears off it can seem arduous to heat the sauna up and take the time out to get in the sauna.
This 8 step guide aims to help keep you on track for your sauna use, not just during the first days of the new year, but throughout the year.
By working with both your logical brain and your habituated physiology this guide hopes to bring you back to your sauna use over and over again so that in 20 years you can be the version of yourself that is healthy, active, robust, and living with a clear and healthy mind.
Your Guide For Habitual Sauna Use
- Recall to mind the innumerable health benefits that are gained from sauna use, and your personal health concerns or fitness goals that brought you to the sauna in the first place
- Sauna for your appearance- If you cannot bring yourself to sauna for your health, then sauna for your beauty or physical appearance in the immediate future as well as for the long term anti-aging effects.
- Sauna for the long term – Consider who you want to be not just next week, but in a decade or perhaps in 2 decades.
- Sauna to sleep well tonight – Lack of sleep feels terrible, so if for no other reason than sauna to sleep.
- Use a sauna so that you can be the best version of yourself professionally- Memory consolidation and cognitive function are very real effects from regular sauna use both for the short term office presentation and to reduce the risk of developing dementia later in life.
- Take time off your sauna- a day off of sauna use once a week as a minimum, and every so often take a longer period of time off.
- Involve your loved ones into your sauna use- Throw a sauna party or bring your friends and family together to sauna as a way of connecting with those closest to you.
- Create a non-negotiable sauna routine that becomes as important to you as your daily dental care.
Consider including aspects of this guide, if not all of these 8 steps to keep you on track for your sauna use. Consider who you want to be today, tomorrow, and in 25 years, and probably at all those junctures you want to be the healthiest version of yourself that is full of vitality!
Remember why you want to sauna. Is it for your health, improved physical appearance, or ameliorated physical and professional performance? Keep in mind your initial reason that brought you into the sauna, and come back to this anchor if you feel like your desire to sauna wanders astray.
Follow along this easy to read guide for incentives to stay on course with your sauna use as well as practical tools to keep you on track with your sauna bathing.
Part 1 – Anchor Yourself in Why You Sauna to Stay on Track With Your Sauna Routine
Understand the Real Life Health Benefits: Live a Longer and Happier Life with Sauna Use
- Reduce all cause-mortality
- Diminish risk of developing Parkinson’s disease
- Detoxify your body from years of toxic build up
- Lower inflammation
- Lessen the chance of developing Alzheimer’s Disease
- Improve insulin sensitivity
- Increase immunity
- Maintain a healthy stable weight for yourself
- Curtail autoimmune disease expression: Rheumatoid diseases, psoriasis, Hashimoto’s as well as many others
- Increase cellular health: Improve mitochondrial function, reduce oxidative stress, and optimize the life death cycle of cells.
The above mentioned list of health benefits that result from regular sauna use could go on to fill pages upon pages. In fact, there are over 10,000 peer reviewed articles in the National Library of Medicine on the health benefits of sauna use. Whether you personally lean into the vast history of ancient humans using heat therapy to heal diseases or into the scientific data collecting aspect, it is undeniable that saunas can and will improve your health.
So, why did you become interested in saunas? Were you surprised that despite your thin appearance you were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, or perhaps because the aches and pains turned out to be rheumatoid arthritis, or is it because you have a family history of cardiovascular disease? Or is it simply to reduce inflammation and limit your psoriasis flare ups? Only you know what originally sparked your interest in sauna use.
So, take some time to recall your health specific reason for beginning your sauna treatment protocol. This should help to keep you on track with continued sauna use.
One thing science has taught us about sauna use is that it must be something that is incorporated into your daily routine, and it must be an activity that you come back to week after week, month after month, year after year, and even decade after decade. The most reputable research on sauna use shows that to truly benefit from heat therapy it must be ongoing over the course of decades.
So, if you are looking to reduce all-cause-mortality with sauna use then it is recommended to get in your sauna at least 4-7 times a week, and that those who do this will live healthier lives compared to those who sauna only 2-3 times a week. (1) Using a sauna for your health demands a robust time commitment, but the data is undeniable, saunas save lives!
If Not for the Health of it, Then Sauna For Your Appearance: Real Time Beauty Hacks
- Skin-blood flow to the peripheral parts of your body for a glowing appearance
- Purification- Clean your skin from the inside out and get rid of old skin cells effective for smoother skin.
- Wound Healing- Rid yourself of lingering scars, bumps, and blemishes on the skin
- Collagen Boost- Ignite collagen (an essential building block for healthy skin) production.
If remembering all of the numerous health benefits that can be derived from sauna use cannot get you to stay on track with your sauna protocol, then perhaps vanity will.
There is truly nothing quite like the post sauna glow. As the body heats up in a sauna this causes vasodilation which is the widening of the blood vessels in conjunction with this blood flow to the periphery of the body, meaning the skin. (2) As newly oxygenated and nourished blood flows up to the surface of the skin it leaves the sauna user with an unparalleled glow. The next time you need to look your best for a meeting, a date, or even a photoshoot consider using a sauna beforehand!
Furthermore, as you begin to sweat in the sauna your pores are cleaned from the inside out. As sweat emerges out of the sweat glands in beautiful spiral movements your skin is getting an inside out cleaning like never before. Imagine power washing your skin from the inside out, and that essentially describes a sauna session. Lingering dirt from car pollution, cooking, make-up, and all of life’s debris can nestle under layers of skin even if you clean your skin regularly. So, for a truly natural glow step inside the sauna to look your best.
The great news is that a sauna always leaves your skin looking beautiful and you don’t even have to book into a spa for an expensive facial.
If you are able to use an infrared sauna then you can double down on the beauty benefits of a sauna. Infrared light induces collagen production which is one of two primary binding proteins for the skin. Tighten the look of your skin with a sauna to enhance your youthful appearance. Furthermore, if you are using an infrared sauna you can benefit from the process of photobiomodulation (phototherapy that uses red and near infrared light) you can speed up the process of wound healing. Dealing with acne scars, or any other lingering wounds of the skin? Then you can quickly, safely, and effectively heal these with regular exposure to infrared light in your sauna. (3)
Perhaps, this year you can take expensive and potentially dangerous plastic surgery off your to-do list and replace it with regular use of a sauna.
If the only thing keeping you on track with your sauna protocol is beauty effects, remember you can sauna for your appearance and still benefit from all of the health positive side effects!
Sauna For Your Sleep: Find Relaxation at Long Last
Speaking of beauty, remember that saunas are a reliable way to help you garnish the quality and quantity of sleep you need for your health, physical appearance, and brain function. So, if you need another reason to stay on track with your sauna protocol, remember that using a sauna later in the day will help to relax your nervous system and help you fall asleep more easily.
There are few individuals alive today that are not dealing with an overload of toxic stress, which just means that your body is essentially stuck in states of hypervigilance and activity. Turn the switch on your nervous system with sauna use and at long last come home to relaxation with a single sauna session.
Additionally, by healing the body in the sauna you create the opportunity for the biological sleep response to occur. Innate in this process is the dropping down of your core body temperature. If you want to fall asleep more easily at night it is essential to combine a relaxed nervous system with a dropping body temperature.
Schedule your day around a late day sauna for best results for sleep. If you need help staying on track with your sauna use, remember that sleep is crucial for brain function, physical appearance, reaction time and therefore road safety, as well as overall cognitive function.
Sauna For Your Professional Life: Memory Consolidation
If you cannot stay on track with your sauna protocol for your health, physical appearance, or sleep, then perhaps you are a type ‘A’ personality and you want to succeed at work? If this is the case you will definitely want to sauna regularly to keep your brain running at maximum capacity for memory consolidation, neurological health, and even for neurogenesis. (4)
Dr. Rhonda Patrick, sauna expert, describes using a sauna before important talks as a place to review material before delivery of a very important speech. The biology of sauna use supports this practice. As the body heats, blood flow to the brain is increased, and in so doing supports cognitive loads such as memorization for an exam, improved language learning, or even preparing for a corporate, or political speech. (5)
Not only do saunas support shorter term memory consolidation, over time sauna use may reduce the risk of dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease. (6) If your brain and its ability to function is very important for you artistically, professionally, or for any reason, perhaps this is the motivation and the driving force behind using a sauna regularly.
Part 2 – How to Stay on Track With Your Sauna Routine
You will likely need to continue to remind yourself of your essential reason why you sauna if you find yourself missing days, or even falling off your sauna use altogether. In addition to understanding why you sauna, use these helpful techniques and tools to keep you on target.
Create a Non-Negotiable Schedule and Commit to It
If you brush your teeth daily, then you know what it means to have non-negotiable habits. Begin to understand that your sauna use is a non-negotiable part of your routine on most days. Of course there will be times when you take the day, week, or even month off, but remember health benefits derived from sauna use are cumulative. Deciding to use a sauna is a lifelong commitment.
Find out for yourself when an easy time of day to sauna is. Perhaps it is during your lunch break, or early in the morning before the rest of the household wakes up. It may be directly after your workout at the gym, or an hour before bed once the children are asleep. Find a natural schedule that works for you, and stick with it.
Make sure that your sauna lines up with your daily routine so that it is not inconvenient to sauna. Make the use of a sauna like showering or even brushing your teeth. Sauna use should be easy for you so that you actually are able to do it regularly as a non-negotiable aspect of your daily routine.
If you are doing this make sure that you maintain excellent levels of hydration all day and every day!
Take at Least one Day off a Week
As is the case with almost all activities, make sure you take some days of using a sauna off to recalibrate hydration, and to give your body a rest. While the data suggests that using a sauna 4-7 times a week is best, still make sure that you allow yourself at least one day off a week.
Taking a day off a week will keep some of the novelty of sauna use alive. Or perhaps you choose to sauna every other day depending on your stage in life, as well as physical or scheduling needs.
However you choose to plan your days off from sauna use, please make sure that they happen regularly. Once you come back to your sauna from your day off you will be missing it!
Have a Sauna Party With Friends: Get Your Friends and Family Involved with Your Sauna
If sauna use is going to be a major part of your life, consider incorporating friends and family into your routine. In Finland sauna use is traditionally a communal activity. In fact, in this country there are on average one sauna per household.
Find a way to incorporate your family into your sauna use on a regular basis. Or, even consider throwing a sauna party. Your guests can take turns using the sauna and doing other activities. By including your loved ones into your sauna use you will not feel alienated on your journey. Also their presence will help you to feel like using a sauna is a natural part of your life.
You can even share your sauna with your doggies by allowing them a limited amount of time (dogs cannot sweat to reduce temperature) in your sacred space. So, open your sauna experience up to loved ones to keep you on track with your sauna protocol.
Change Your Sauna Routine Up at Least Once a Season
Novelty matters for humans, so consider changing your sauna schedule from time to time. Sauna as normal 4-7 times per week and every 3 months change things up entirely by taking time off and then super charging your sauna use. Every season consider taking a week off of sauna use before engaging in sauna use for Human Growth Hormone or for Waon Therapy.
For example, decide to host a party where you use a sauna for Human Growth Hormone one weekend. Invite friends over and prepare for a day long sauna experience. This will require taking at least a week off of sauna use before engaging in this protocol. Choose a day when you can commit to several sauna sessions at a high heat. This can be a great way to have a sauna party and involve friends and family. Each individual will go into the sauna a total of 4 times for 20 minutes. There should be a short break between the first and second session, a long break between the second and third session and then a short break between the last two sessions. (7) This is the only way to improve Human Growth Hormone with sauna therapy. It is also a great way to give you a break from your normal sauna routine and keep the spark alive in your relationship with your sauna.
You may even want to include a cold plunge between sessions if you want to make it extra fun!
Conversely, you can have a Waon Therapy sauna party for relaxation. This would require an infrared sauna as well as resting stations outside of the sauna. In this case, you will not want to set the temperature higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Between your four sauna sessions make sure to stay warm and rested. Blankets should be set up in each resting station along with a comfortable place to surface for this therapy. Invite your friends over and take turns in the sauna and resting. This style of sauna use will leave you feeling deeply relaxed.
Even though sauna use should be regular and almost daily every few months, switch things up and dive deeply into a day long sauna protocol between several day long breaks!
Remember Why You Fell in Love With Your Sauna and Stay Committed for a Lifetime
Yes, your relationship to your sauna use is a life long commitment. The reality is data demonstrates that those who sauna more than 4 times a week over several decades will live longer and subjectively happier lives. If longevity and quality of life matter to you it is paramount that you find easy ways to continue to sauna through the good times and the bad.
As long as you stay well hydrated, and take breaks as needed your sauna use can be a part of your daily routine for a lifetime.
If you feel yourself wandering off the path away from your sauna consider using this guide as an invitation back to the healthiest version of yourself.
Sauna use should be accompanied by nourishing food, extensive hydration at all times including electrolytes and essential minerals. If at any time you are unsure sauna use is for you please consult your medical practitioner.
Sources Cited:
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25705824/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18525205/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40802060/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10681252/
- https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/brain-mood-sauna-rhonda-medcram
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7560162/
- https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter/deliberate-heat-exposure-protocols-for-health-and-performance