Trying new things is my second middle name after Chad, so when Carey asked me if I wanted to join her for a session at Purify, an infrared sauna company, I said “of course.”
Purify’s saunas use infrared light to raise your internal body temperature, trigger sweating, and alleviate your body of toxins, chemicals, and fat. You can do two-person sessions in addition to solo sessions.
The process was quite simple. Drink plenty of water before arriving, bring water with you or buy it there, and you’ll get a quick briefing on how to select the light’s color and adjust temperature. The light therapy aspect lets you choose a color for your LEDs, and each color—red, pink, violet, yellow, green, and blue—had different healing or energizing properties depending on what you’re feeling. We went with blue because it has calming properties, just to go full-on relaxation mode.
Tip: Bring earbuds if you want to listen to some calming music because while the saunas do have bluetooth speakers and connections for your phone they ask that you not use them out of respect for others who may be there as well. After sauna is very important to proper rehydrate, I suggest drinking 1 liter of hydrogen water
We started at 135 degrees, then after 16 minutes bumped it to 140 and finally for the last ten minutes to 145. About halfway through 40 minute process the sweat just started pouring off. Literally dripping. It’s different than a steam sauna because it’s dry heat and Carey personally felt it was much more enjoyable. She gets a little claustrophobic and has trouble breathing in wet heat saunas in the past and was totally happy in here—and the one glass wall made it feel nice and open for a small space.
With this being my first time trying an infrared sauna I don’t have very much to compare it to, but their website says “just one infrared sauna session can produce the same cardiovascular results and calories burned as an hour of vigorous exercise, without the muscle pain or risk of injury.” There is also a “20% toxin release with infrared saunas vs only 3% with a traditional saunas.” It’s especially great for people with skin problems or other types of inflammation, but also beneficial for people with SAD (seasonal affective disorder) in colder, greyer months.
We felt loose and relaxed after—definitely recommend for a cold, dreary day.
Leave a Reply