KEY POINTS:
Saunas have been part of alternative therapies and hydrotherapies for ages, and today they're as popular as they ever were - most gyms, some beauty therapy clinics and many private households have one. But why is it that a sauna makes us feel so totally refreshed yet pleasantly dozey?
Just like a Turkish bath, the sauna is a sweat bath, in other words the idea is to make you sweat like a monsoon shower. The difference between the two is that the Turkish bath stimulates the sweat glands using hot, wet steam, while saunas rely on drier heat.
The best thing about indulging in a sauna (or three) is that all the sweating kicks the blood circulation into action and rids the body of unwanted matter, such as toxins, bacteria and dead skin cells.
It's no wonder that the "newly cleansed you" feels and looks so much better afterwards. In fact, you'll feel even better if you make essential oils part of the sauna experience, as they help the body shed toxins.
Eucalyptus, pine and peppermint are the most popular, but tea tree, lemon, lavender, clary sage, lime, grapefruit and birch are great choices too.
Another good reason to have a regular sauna is that it keeps our hearts healthy.
Some health professionals even believe it benefits our tickers much the same way exercise does - that's because it lowers our blood pressure, raises the pulse rate and keeps our arteries clean and unclogged.
A third plus is that the sauna's heat boosts our immune systems, so keeps cold and flu viruses at bay right through winter. This is because many viruses simply can't survive hot environments.
Good news for dieters - saunas lift the metabolic rate (the rate at which we turn energy into fuel), so you'll burn fat more quickly. Saunas also soothe the nerve endings, so ease away muscle aches.
- Detours, HoS
