Author Archives: Christina Mantoura-Gough

A lot of people have learned to take advantage of all the benefits yoga can offer. Once started, people often realise the great mental and physical benefits of such a practice. Now, people are also realising that a sauna can benefit their yoga practice as well. Some yoga experts suggest some of the following yoga poses be used after a sauna session to amplify the gains.

You a will need to have a basic understanding of yoga in order to be able to follow through with the following exercises. Of course, it’s always best to consult your doctor before trying any new exercises.

Side Lateral Stretch

For this exercise, stand in mountain pose. As you raise your arms overhead, press your feet into the floor. Make sure you keep your shoulders lowered, relaxed, and flexed to the back. Gently stretch upwards right through to your fingertips and then arch over to one side. Be sure to keep your feet firmly on the ground. Hold this position while you take 2 to 5 breaths, depending on your comfort level. Now repeat for the other side. Do not do this exercise if you have any injury or discomfort in your hips, back, or shoulders.

Standing Back Bend

Standing firmly on the floor spread your feet to about hip-width apart, and keep them parallel. Put your hands on your lower back so your fingers are pointing downwards. Now interlock your fingers and let your arms travel down towards your calves. If you feel comfortable, you may choose to reach your arms overhead, or simply keep your hands against yourself for support. Hold for 3 to 5 breaths according to your comfort level.

Seated Spinal Twist

Sit firmly on the floor with your weight balanced evenly and your legs straight in front of you. Bend the right knee and bring the sole of your right foot over so it is flat on the floor resting against the left thigh. At the same time, place your right hand behind your back close to your right hip. With your left arm, reach towards the sky. You will feel your spine stretch. Next, bend your left elbow so it rests on the outside of your right knee. As you do this, gently twist your body to the right. Reverse and repeat.

With proper and regular sauna sessions followed by yoga, you are maximizing your opportunity to feel wonderful, healthy, and relaxed.

Most of us would say that we experience some level of stress, and usually on a daily basis. While we try to deal with it, this does have an impact on our bodies. While stress may seem mental, the physical side effects are often present, and this is where the benefits of the sauna can play a major role in stress relief.

Stress affects us physically, mentally, and emotionally. The sauna can help to overcome these effects and manage stress more easily. Research has indicated that stress often plays at least a partial role in many of the diseases and ailments that we can end up with.

The heat from the sauna during a relaxing session causes physical changes to take place. It increases the blood circulation to all parts of our bodies. Our circulatory system plays many important roles in keeping the body healthy, feeding all the parts that we need to keep functioning. When it is stimulated in this way, it is like we are giving our body parts a feast of what they need.

Mentally, stress is a real downer. When we are stressed out, it’s hard to think straight or react properly. It seems like our mind is intent on trying to deal with the stress and its effects, and there is no room to think about anything else. The warmth and quietness of the sauna allows one to relax and let the mind settle down. It can then deal with the effects of stress, providing more clarity. Often those big problems that seem so difficult to solve during the day are much easier to handle during and after your sauna session.

Emotionally, stress can be debilitating. It makes you feel uptight, miserable, and generally worn out. The effect of the sauna seems to melt all of these negative emotions away. If you pay attention to your body when you are in the sauna, you can feel the tenseness reducing and you may begin to feel much better emotionally right away.

All of these positive experiences that you get to enjoy during the sauna session help to replace all of the negative effects of stress. It does’t mean you are going to be stress free tomorrow, but regular use of a home sauna can dramatically improve your mood and energy and enhance your lifestyle.

As an athlete, whether you are professional or amateur, you may want to consider fitting a sauna into your exercise program. There are many benefits that come with one of these units, and if you aren’t familiar with them, they’re worth taking a closer look at.

One of the main reasons that many athletes are now using the sauna as part of their program is because of its ability to help the body detoxify. What you will need to determine is where it best fits in with your overall plan. You will have the option of using it before or after you exercise, and this will depend on what works best for you and what your goals are for using the sauna.

What will happen during your sauna experience is that you will be exposed to a high temperature. For example, with a dry sauna it is usually around 154°F. As your body adapts to this heat, you will begin to sweat and you will feel your heart rate increase. If you were to compare this to running in terms of heart rate, by spending 30 minutes in the sauna, it would be close to you running 10 kilometres.

Your body sees this use of the sauna as a form of exercise. Based on this, it is very important that you make sure that you drink plenty of water before and after using the sauna to make sure that you remain hydrated. This is the same concept as if you were working out.

View the use of the sauna at the same way that you would if you were going into an exercise session. Replacing your water as mentioned is important. Just as you would not eat a large meal before you exercise, you should adhere to the same rules prior to your sauna use.

You may want to have a snack if this is your regular routine when exercising, especially if you feel that your body needs the fuel. Most likely, you will also want to have something light to eat following your sauna session to refuel.

As an athlete, chances are that you have a schedule that you follow. Depending on the type of athlete you are and what your goals are, you can fit in your sauna sessions accordingly. Whether you want to do it before your exercise or after, you may want to experiment to see which gives you the most benefit.

Taking a look back at the history of the sauna, it certainly gives us a clear picture of just how far these wonderful units have come.

History shows us that the first wooden sauna was built by the Finns over 2000 years ago. These were not free standing units, and actually were built into the side of a hill or a large embankment. Eventually, they were built using wooden logs and stood above the ground. To produce the heat, stones that were heated in the stone fireplace with wood used as the burning source were used.

The room would become warm as a result of this, but at the same time it would be filled with the smoke from the fire. Prior to any one being able to enter the sauna, the smoke had to be cleared once the temperature was brought up to the desired level. Although the smoke was gone, the aroma of the smoking wood remained and created the wonderful atmosphere that sauna lovers of that time were able to enjoy.

As time progressed, metal wood stoves became more popular and began to replace wood saunas. It was discovered that splashing water on the heated rocks would create steam. This combined with the high heat (which at times would go about 200°F) was well received by the sauna users. It was believed that the combination of this heat and steam was creating the health benefits that the Finns were enjoying so much.

The Finnish people have long since claimed that the sauna is ideal for cleansing of the body inside and out. Back in history, it was also used as a method for preparing those that had passed away for burial. The sauna was a very important part of the daily living and lifestyle of many people.

As the Finnish people moved to different areas of the world they brought their expertise and knowledge of the sauna with them, and eventually around the 1950s electric saunas came into being.

If we fast forward from history up to today, we can see that the sauna has evolved dramatically. Now the heat sources are many, including wood, gas, or electricity, and even solar power. There are both wet and dry saunas including smoke and steam, and now with the latest technology, infrared as well.

There is no doubt that the sauna has proven its worth with many people over the years, and will continue to do so for many years to come.

So, you’ve decided to have your sauna installed outdoors in the perfect spot. Now that you have this wonderful addition in place, it’s surely already become a beautiful oasis that you escape to. Now, you may want to consider the decor for the rest of your backyard area.

You may find that your sauna has given you the desire to plan for a new outdoor landscape. With our busy lifestyles we often don’t get the opportunity to enjoy our home surroundings, particularly the outdoors, as much as many of us would like to.

You want to be able to surround yourself with a beautiful exterior view as you sit in your sauna and just let all the pressures of the world melt away. As you come out and are ready to relax even more, perhaps you would like to have a nice garden setting where you may want to enjoy the sounds of a garden pond, for example.

You are not likely going to want to do all of your updates to your yard at one time, so it is better to plan in sections. Begin by working on the garden area surrounding your sauna first to keep it manageable.

Some individuals like to have their sauna close to the home so they don’t have any distance to go to enjoy it. It’s a good idea to consider whether you want to have a patio adjoining the sauna for somewhere to relax afterwards.

Depending on the style of the sauna, you may want to build an entire backdoor theme around it. There are many different styles available, and whichever you chose, styling your garden around it will be fun and exciting.

The one thing you want to remember when you’re doing your backyard makeover is to make it as soothing and convenient as possible. You now have your sauna area for your relaxation, and building the garden area around it will extend your pleasure. You can continue with this by building an additional area for cooking and enjoying outdoor meals.

Creating a beautiful outdoor oasis is sure to help you spend more time with family and friends, take more time to relax, and appreciate your outdoor living space.