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The sauna is one of my favorite mental health tools. I do enjoy the sauna. At least at first. The combination of back-and-forth sauna into a cold tub or shower for a few rounds is like a brain reset button. I've yet to have a bad attitude that can't be resolved through it. I'm trying to prove the theory wrong.
The effects of sauna have been clinically studied extensively. There are tons of health benefits, but there are a few worth calling out specifically for mental health.
BENEFITS:
If done at night, it can help improve sleep
Significantly reduces cortisol levels
Improves mood
Enhances our ability to experience pleasure & joy
IMPROVE SLEEP
Our body temperature helps control our sleep/wake cycle. Our skin functions like a thermostat, if it feels heat, it activates mechanisms to cool us off. If it feels cold, our core starts to warm up. If you do a sauna at night, you'll actually start to cool down afterward, which can help aid with sleep, the ultimate mental health tool.
REDUCE CORTISOL
A study in the American Journal of Men's health showed significant decreases in cortisol output as a result of sauna, and specifically back and forth between sauna and cold. They did 4 sauna sessions of 12 minutes each at 90 degrees Celsius (195 degrees Fahrenheit), then a 6 minute cooldown period in between sessions that included 1 minute in 10 degree Celsius water. (50 degrees Fahrenheit).
Late day cortisol correlates with depression. Correlation isn't causation, but if your mental illness experience is anything like mine was, things can get particularly dicey at night. Lots of rumination and downward spiral thinking. My suicide attempt when I was nine happened at night.
IMPROVE MOOD
When you get into a sauna, you release both endorphins (feel good) and dynorphins (don't feel good). It turns that the release of dynorphins does a couple of dope things. One is it ends up improving your baseline mood.
QUALITY OF LIFE
The other effect of dynorphins being released is that it actually improves your ability to experience the good feeling from endorphins. The neurological pathways get more efficient, so you end up feeling more euphoria from the same amount of endorphins.
A side note on this - there are a couple of studies showing exercise can improve your sensitivity to dopamine and serotonin. The takeaway is that these both sauna and exercise help make life more enjoyable. They reduce stress, but also just generally make things more pleasurable. "The little things" in life will hit harder.
This might be a scientific explanation for the concept of delayed gratification. People talk about delayed gratification in terms of money, exercise and nutrition. But what this is showing is that intentionally experiencing some discomfort now will result in a higher quality of life later.
NORTH SHORE SAUNA
I've used saunas at various gyms, but in winter 2023-2024 bought a sauna tent from North Shore Sauna. It is among the dopest things I have ever purchased. It's a transportable, wood burning sauna tent. It heats up to 180-200 degrees Fahrenheit in 10-15 minutes. I'll start the fire, toss the frisbee to the dog for a few minutes, change and hop in. So far, I've just left mine up for several months in the back yard. Thing is durable.
They are a super dope, veteran owned company located in Duluth in my home state of Minnesota.
