Over the past decade, research has shown what the Finns and other Scandinavians have known for millennia. The sauna is good for you!



I've outlined seven reasons you should sauna, and described how to sauna to get the most health benefit. I also included some of the most common questions people ask at the end.





How to Take a Sauna



Finnish saunas are hot. For those who've never experienced a sauna, the first few times will feel almost unbearable. But like anything else in life, you eventually adapt to the stress. And that's when you start to experience the health benefits of the sauna.




Set the temperature between 176° F (80° C) and 212° F (100° C). The hotter, the better. As you adapt to the lower end of this temperature range, work your way up, toward 212°.



After acclimating to the heat, toss a scoop of water on the rocks. If you use a sauna in a commercial space, this may not be allowed. Tossing the water onto the hot stones creates a quick blast of steam, which makes the temperature feel much higher. As the steam hits your skin, it feels like you're getting hit with thousands of tiny pinpricks.



Gently beat your skin with silver birch branches. This adds to the intensity of the sauna and may enhance the detoxification benefits.



Stay in the sauna for 15 minutes or more. You may need to work up to this duration if you've never used a sauna before.



Step out of the sauna, wipe off your sweat, and cool down. Wiping off the sweat helps ensure toxins you've released won't re-enter your skin as you cool off. Drink plenty of water to help replace what you've lost through perspiration. If your sauna happens to be near a lake, jump in. If not, you could take a quick, cool shower.



Re-enter the sauna for another 15+ minutes. You'll notice that the next time, you sweat sooner than the time before. If you have the time, you can do another cool-down session followed by another sauna session. Traditionally, people took up to two hours for their sauna practices.



Take a cold shower and cool down completely. If you do not cool down properly, you'll continue to sweat, which lowers blood volume, raises hematocrit and cortisol and thickens your blood. You may also feel fatigued or experience chest or joint pain, bruising, or even bloody stools.




Pro Tip: Use Essential Oils In The SaunaSipping water with peppermint essential oil may help you last longer, as it has a cooling effect on the body.



7 Sauna Health Benefits



A sauna is enjoyable, but not necessarily comfortable. It's the discomfort that causes the effects on your body, which is known as heat stress. Your body perceives the extreme heat as a threat and reacts accordingly.



You feel surprised by the initial blast of heat when you walk in the door, but it's five to fifteen minutes later, when your core temperature begins to rise, that alarms start going off in your body.



Blood flows away from your core and out to your skin, and blood vessels dilate, making it easier to get blood, and the heat it holds onto, out to your skin where the heat passes to the environment. Of course, it doesn't work so well, since it's hotter in the sauna than it is in your body.



You begin to sweat as another means of cooling the body. Your heart beats faster and pumps more blood with each stroke. You secrete stress-related hormones and neurotransmitters, and your brain starts talking you into stepping out of the sauna.



But if you wait a little longer, and get past the point of discomfort, you'll gain the health benefits described below. And with each sauna session, you learn to handle the heat a little better than before, allowing you to last longer, or handle it hotter. You adapt to the stress response as you adapt to any other stress.



1. Increases growth hormone and norepinephrine



Growth hormone-releasing hormone (the hormone that tells your pituitary to release growth hormone) can rise to four times its normal level,