In this special episode of The Additive-Free Lifestyle Podcast Show, we delve into the topic of saunas and hopefully answer all your questions we have received recently about them.

We have received so many questions about our saunas from you guys, so we thought what better way to answer them than to go straight to the source himself, Alex from Found-Space (formerly iHealth Saunas).

Why did we want a sauna?

For a few different reasons.  They are really great for:

  • Detoxing
  • Muscle repair and recovery after workouts
  • Relaxation
  • Weight loss
  • Stress management

And not to mention they are really warm, and you know we live in freezing cold Tassie, right?! Haha

Where can you put the sauna?

Because they are infrared saunas and not traditional steam saunas, they can go anywhere indoors and on any surface.  They come flat-packed which means they can go upstairs too.

The most common place they instal them is in spare rooms.  They can be placed outdoors so long as they are undercover with no chance of any rain getting onto the roof of the sauna as that’s where the electrics are housed.

However, they do stock an outdoor unit called the outdoor barrel if you are looking for a sauna that is specifically meant for outdoors.

How did iHealth Saunas start?

 

Sauna has always been important to Alex’s family – not just as a way to improve their wellbeing but as a way to make a living.

Established in 2008, his parents Miriam and Peter Tyson created Found-Space to bring European quality to the Australian market. After working for other sauna companies, they recognised a need for a sauna company in Australia that delivered a high-quality product and service.

Since Alex has taken over the family business, he and his team have worked hard to create a complete digital support system and wellbeing information hub for Found-Space Sauna clients.

Found-Space is now Australia’s longest-running infrared sauna company, renowned for the quality of their saunas and accessories, helpful service and a tight-knit community. This ongoing passion for excellence is the bedrock of everything Found-Space offers.

Today, tomorrow and forever, their mission remains the same.

Which is to help Australians optimise their health and happiness and that of their families. Whether you want to work on something specific or your reason for looking into the infrared sauna is ‘I’ve just always liked sauna’, they know that an interest in sauna stems from a fundamental desire to be healthier.

They’re an Aussie run family business focusing on wellness as a whole which we love too!

What’s the EMF rating of the iHealth Saunas?

When we were looking into getting saunas the one thing that was really at the top of our list to watch out for was EMF rating.  We wanted to keep it as low as possible.

The iHealth Saunas EMF rating is less than <3 milligauss (mG) which is low.  The less EMF we are exposed to the better given we are exposed to it regularly on a daily basis with Bluetooth, wifi, our phones etc.

If you’re looking at getting a sauna, make sure you look into if it truly is infrared, and ask what is the EMF rating because <5mG is ok but <3mG is the most preferable.  And be careful what you buy because you can get a cheap $2k sauna but you get what you pay for so do your research and make sure you are getting the best quality you can afford.

Also make sure when companies test the EMF ratings that they test the sauna whilst they are fully going, with all panels and lights on which is what Found-Space does.  Not all companies do this so make sure you ask the question.

What does the colour therapy do in the saunas?

Colour has been used for healing since ancient times to balance and harmonise the mind, body and spirit. Use the Found-Space Saunas LED Colour Module to flood your sauna in the colour of your choice. Green and Blue are wonderful if you use your sauna at night and would like to relax. Red and Yellow are energising colours and best to use if you are using your sauna in the mornings. Marry up the colours with the appropriate aromatherapy essential oil(s) to maximise the benefits on your entire being.

The Third Space

Years ago, we listened to this talk whereby it focused on those who work from home and how hard it can be to stop work and then be present with your family.  Especially for those who may work at the dining table or in the lounge room, it can be hard to switch off from work mode and then switch into family mode.

This is where the third space comes in.  For those that work outside the home, their third space can be the time it takes for them to go from work to home, whether that’s the drive home or the train ride home or the bus ride home.  That time allows you to process your workday and get your brain ready for home time.

What we like to do because we work from home and don’t get that, is to incorporate our third space time either in the sauna when we finish work or go for a walk or do a workout when we finish work and then now add a sauna session after that too before we go to family time and cook dinner or whatever it is we need to do at the end of the day.  This allows our brains to switch from one space to the next with better ease and allows our brains to function better.

The sauna is the place where you can address multiple health modalities in the one space.  You’re sweating, thereby reducing the toxic burden on your body, then you’re hydrating, your body is also going into a parasympathetic state which means you’re getting out of flight or fight and getting into a calm state where you could meditate in the sauna if you wanted to or listen to a podcast and learn.  It gives you that all-important ‘me time’ which is so incredibly important these days which we don’t get.

Are saunas safe for children to use?

There are a few things you need to remember when it comes to saunas and kids.  Our adult bodies are designed to sweat.  When we get too hot, we sweat to draw liquid onto our skin to cool us down.  Children from 5 to 14 or so don’t have that ability to sweat like that so instead they will go red in the face and can overheat more easily.

Having said that, children as young as 5 can go in the sauna but you would have them in the sauna for a shorter amount of time and at a lower temperature.  For example, optimal sauna session times for adults are around 30-45 minutes at around 45 to 55 degrees. For children, you would do no more than 20 minutes at 40-45 degrees. Obviously, the younger the child the shorter the time and lower the temperature.  Alex doesn’t see the need for children under 5 to go in the sauna as their bodies simply don’t have the toxic burden that our adult bodies do.  You also need to make sure that your kids stay well hydrated whilst they are in the sauna and afterwards.  Also, make sure your kids don’t play around with the controls in the sauna because the last thing you want is for them to turn it up to 70 degrees.  For more information about this definitely speak to the company you are looking to purchase your sauna through.

Are saunas safe for pets to be inside?

Pets are really good at following their intuition, more so than we are.  But you need to exercise the same caution with animals in the sauna as you would children.  Pets often seek out warm spots which is why they like saunas so much, but you wouldn’t have them sitting in there for 50 minutes at 60 degrees with you without hydration because it is simply too much for them, so exercise caution.

How does the sauna help you detox?

Our bodies take on toxins everywhere, every day from what we eat, to what we breathe into what we put on our bodies.

Our bodies have a mechanism to deal with the influx of toxins in our bodies to a certain degree through our detox pathways being sweating, peeing, pooing, breathing and through mucous but then our body gets to a point where it’s overloaded and it can’t deal with any more toxins.

So, with the toxins that remain our body, being the smart workhorse that it is, stores those remaining toxins in the fat stores in the subcutaneous layer of our skin.  Because the infrared in the saunas penetrate down 4-5cm down into the skin it gets down into that subcutaneous layer where those toxins are stored and draws them out via sweating in the sauna.

How much do saunas cost?

The costs of the saunas vary, depending on your needs, from $4,500 to $7,500 (as at September 2020).  You can pay for them outright or pay them off at around $70-$80 interest-free a fortnight to make them more affordable.

We get these are a big investment and the best advice we can give is to look at where you can potentially redistribute funds in your budget to be able to afford something like this.  It really is an investment in your health.  Maybe it’s not buying takeaway coffees anymore or buying lunch every day.  For Tracey, she realised that if she cut down on her family’s meat intake, she was easily saving $70 a fortnight.

If you want it badly enough, you will find a way.

Having said that we understand this is not an affordable option for everyone.

How much water should you drink whilst in the sauna?

A litre per sauna session is a good place to start and it’s a good idea to drink half a litre of water before having a sauna too.  This is on top of what we should all be drinking per day to stay hydrated.  A good guide is for every 22kgs of weight you should be drinking 1 litre of water.

Using essential oils in the sauna

 

The model of saunas that Jo and Tracey have come with a dish in them where you can put essential oils.  Jo has found that she can’t smell them as much as she would like so she is going to apply the oils topically to her skin first whereas Tracey dry body brushes with essential oils first before going into the sauna.  Tracey has done a post all about this which you can read here.

How can you get a sauna?

Head on over to HERE to check them all out.  Give them a call and discuss your needs with them and they will work out the best sauna package for you.  Use Code: Additivefree10 for a discount.

There’s so much info over on their website as well as plenty of videos and blog posts so check it out.

Jo and Tracey x

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