What are the Benefits of Sauna

 Should You Jump on this Celeb Trend?

Sweating the small stuff may be good for your health—as long as you’re doing it in a sauna. Pronounced ‘Sow-nah,’ the practice dates back at least as far as the mid-17th century and originated in Finland. Celebrities on Instagram showing off their sauna selfies get some credit for spreading the word about the sauna benefits here in the States, but we are admittedly late to the game when it comes to sweating it out. For perspective, Finland alone has over 2 million saunas; what do they know that we don’t? Here is why you should sauna and the health benefits you can expect from a routine sweat session.

Types of sauna
If you are hoping to try sauna out for yourself, it is becoming easier and easier to find. Everyone from gyms to spas—and even standalone sauna studios—are offering some form of the hot treatment; you can even sauna in your living room should you so desire. Before you book your first session there are a few things you should know, because not all saunas are created equal.

The three most common types of sauna are: Traditional Finnish (can be wet or dry and uses a wood-burning stove to heat the room), steam (a Turkish style of sauna with more humidity) and infrared (with infrared light to raise your skin’s temperature). Infrared saunas have been steadily gaining popularity; while all have seen more users in the United States, it has been said that infrared has surpassed the others in market increase. The reason? Unlike traditional saunas, they are easier to control because they heat your body from within (versus the surrounding air, as traditional saunas do).

“The infrared saunas [we use] are similar to traditional saunas, but, instead, use infrared light to heat the body directly instead of heating the air, giving the user a much more comfortable experience,” confirms Jim Donnelly, CEO of Restore Hyper Wellness + Cryotherapy.