Post-COVID-19, interest in health and wellness has reached new levels. More specifically, interest in health and wellness at home has reached new levels.
Probably the most obvious sign of this is the demand for home gym equipment and remote classes. Home spas or home saunas are the next frontiers in personal wellness.
The benefits of a home spa
By creating a home spa, you can give yourself regular, simple but effective, wellness treatments at home. This is more convenient and private than using public facilities. In particular, it means that you can have your treatments whenever is best for you rather than when there is availability. Over the long term, it’s also generally more economical than going to a public spa.
You may find that a home spa is all you need to manage your personal wellness. Alternatively, you may wish to keep going to a spa but use your visits there more strategically. Essentially, you’d pay for treatments where you would actually benefit from a therapist’s skills. This is a far better use of everyone’s time and money.
The specific benefits of a home sauna
Saunas are essentially heat treatments. Heat stimulates the heart. It, therefore, increases the speed at which blood flows around your body. This means that oxygen and nutrients are delivered more quickly, and toxins are removed more quickly. It also means that your lungs have to work harder to keep pace with your heart.
As a bonus, heat, of course, makes you sweat. This helps to clear out even more toxins. If you add steam as well, your body will be cleansed on the inside as well as the outside. This is particularly useful for getting pollutants out of your lungs.
Although saunas stimulate your body, they relax your mind. Heat encourages you to slow down and calm down. If you practice meditation (or are interested in learning), saunas are a great place for it. Even if you’re not, just “disconnecting” for a while can do wonders for your mental health.
Popping to a spa for an occasional sauna will do you some good. Ideally, however, you want to have regular sauna treatments. That means at least once a week. Three or four times a week is better. Some people benefit from having daily saunas. The more often and more regularly you sauna the more you can expect to see (and feel) results. These include:
Stress relief
Pain relief (especially from joint and muscular conditions like rheumatoid arthritis)
Better skin and hair
Better weight control
Improved lung health
Creating a home spa
A home spa needs to be a place where you can be private and peaceful. Ideally, you’ll be able to give yourself heat treatments, steam treatments, and basic massages. Of these, heat is usually the most important, hence the demand for home saunas. Steam is hugely beneficial, especially for respiratory conditions but if it doesn’t work for you, that’s fine.
Massage using equipment is, realistically, never going to be as effective as a massage from a proper therapist. It is, however, much better than nothing, especially since you can have it every day if you wish.
The best way to get a heat treatment is to invest in a proper home sauna. If you have outdoor space, you could install a sauna cabin. You could then choose between a traditional steam sauna and an infrared sauna. If you don’t have outdoor space, then you could invest in an indoor sauna tent or mat.
Generally, the most effective way to get the benefits of steam and massage is to install a steam shower with hydrotherapy jets. If, however, you are happy with your current shower, you could buy a steam generator on its own and retrofit it. Then, when you do upgrade your shower, get one with hydrotherapy jets and move the steam generator across.
Choosing the right sauna for you
The key to getting maximum value from your home sauna is choosing the right sauna for your needs, wants, and budget. There are saunas for all kinds of situations. You just need to think through what you want so you can choose the best option.
Do you have space for a sauna cabin?
Realistically, very few people are likely to have space for an indoor sauna room. If, however, you have a garden, you might want to consider giving over some of the space to a sauna cabin. Having a sauna in a cabin puts some physical and mental distance between you and whatever is happening in the house. This can help with the “disconnecting” process.
Sauna cabins are certain investments but over time they’ll pay for themselves because you’ll save on public sauna fees. Also, they can add value to your home when you come to sell. If, however, you don’t have space for a sauna cabin, you can still have an indoor sauna tent or mat. You can take these with you when you move.
Do you want a traditional sauna or an infrared one?
If you have space for an outdoor sauna cabin, you can choose between a traditional sauna and an infrared one. The advantage of the traditional sauna is that you can have steam if you wish. Of course, this is only an advantage if you’re happy to sit in a steamy environment. If you’re not, then you might find an infrared sauna a more practical option.
How big a sauna do you want?
Big can be beautiful. It is, however, generally more expensive. This is definitely the case with saunas. Bigger saunas take more material to build. They also require more power to run.
This is fine if you’re getting the use out of them. In fact, it’s generally going to be a lot more economical than paying the fees for public saunas. If, however, you’re mainly going to use your sauna alone or in a couple, then it’ll be harder for you to get the best value for your money.
Often a good compromise is to buy a sauna cabin that’s slightly bigger than what you think you’ll need. This gives you a bit of flexibility without significantly increasing the cost of your home sauna.