Stress Relief and Infrared Sauna [2021 Guide]

Putting your body into relaxation mode with an infrared sauna also helps alleviate your stress levels. We are hardwired to respond to stress with the ‘fight or flight’ response through our sympathetic nervous system. Prehistoric people had to worry about predators, but since we don’t have to worry about sabre-toothed tigers anymore, we have created new fears: work, money, relationships and family which can all cause stress.

When you are stressed, your body triggers the fight or flight response and releases adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline makes your heart rate increase and cortisol tells your body that it is under attack. 

This constant release of hormones into your bloodstream will harm you in several ways: your immune system can be damaged, your body will retain more fat cells and you might gain weight. As a result, you are prone to depression as well as anxiety, which will then disrupt your sleep patterns, affecting your memory retention and ability to concentrate. The constant release of adrenaline can also cause a cardiac emergency as well.

Lack of sleep is also detrimental to health. You will experience increased stress, decreased brain function, impaired motor controls, lethargy, weight gain, poor mood swings, lowered and reduced immune functions to fight disease and infections, lowered productivity and poor memory.

Using an infrared sauna daily will remove your body from the fight or flight sympathetic mode, and instead, you will relax in the parasympathetic mode. This will cause your heart rate to decrease, your blood vessels to dilate and to make you feel much more relaxed. The feeling of relaxation tends to last for the rest of the day into the night.

Improved sleep is the primary benefit that I consistently experience when using my infrared sauna. 

The trick that I use is to take a very hot steam shower right after I get out of my sauna. I don’t personally own a proper steam shower, so I just turn the water on as hot as possible, let the steam build up in the shower and then get in. If you combine the sauna and steam together you will be so physically exhausted that you will have no choice but to sleep and relax.