← BETTER! with Dr. Stephanie Estima | Strength, Body Composition & Perimenopause
BETTER! with Dr. Stephanie Estima | Strength, Body Composition & Perimenopause
Don't Love the Stairmaster: Try Passive Cardio with Infrared Sauna with Connie Zack
01:08:12
Infrared sauna meets women's health. Connie Zack, co-founder of Sunlighten, breaks down the science of infrared light therapy — four wavelengths, real clinical research, and why 15 minutes three times a week might be the most efficient thing you can add to your protocol right now. Watch the full episode at https://youtu.be/4HFLbZrZclM
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Far infrared is the foundation of the infrared spectrum. It sets off this biochemical cascade that impacts every single system and starts to increase circulation, increase blood flow, increase your heart rate and increase oxygen to your tissues. Today is the day you need to start training your body for your future self. So you're never as young as you're going to be today and you don't get the opportunity 10 years from now to turn back the clock and do things that you wish you would have done.
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B
I have heard a lot of, you know, prominent people in the health space say, well, I would never do an infrared sauna because it's not hot enough. And I think that that is a relatively weak argument.
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A
You know, Hippocrates said, if you can cause a fever, I can cure any disease. Right. Because that fever starts to thermoregulate the body. It starts to make the immune system stronger, it strengthens all of your cells and then you have that wonderful cool down process which is a state of resilience.
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B
Hello, my friends. Welcome to another episode of better with Dr. Stephanie. It's me, your host, Dr. Stephanie Seema. You know how much I love saunas, you know how much I love light therapy. And in this podcast we are combining the two. We are going to be talking all about sauna therapy and we're going to specifically be talking about it for women. And I want you to be listening to this with and I'm going to give you a little Easter egg now on the passive cardio. So if you're somebody like me who doesn't love doing a lot of cardio, we are going to make the case for how sauna therapy can be passive cardio. So listen out for that. My guest today is Connie Zach. She is the co founder of Sunlighten and a pioneer in infrared technology. Sunlighten is a global leader in infrared saunas and light therapy. They were established in 1999. That is a whopping 27 years ago. I know, 1999. 27 years. Crazy. Okay, if you were looking for a sign for sauna therapy, this is it. We have a special deal for all of our better listeners. You can head over to get.sunlighten.com forward slash Dr. Stephanie. That's me. And use code Dr. Stephanie for a special discount. Without further delay, please enjoy my conversation with Connie Zachary.
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Foreign.
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A
Okay, so week one, I'm so excited for her to get to start using it. So week one she is going to do 15 minutes a day for three to four times that first week she is going to add it on to something that she already does. So whatever she already does in her routine, say it's a walk in the morning, say, you know, a Lot of people right now are doing a much better job of getting up and, you know, getting outside and getting some, some time in nature, time with the sun. So say that that's part of her morning routine. Then she's going to add on 15 minutes, she's going to come back in and she's going to get inside her sauna and do that three to four times a week. In the first week, as far as what she's going to wear, here's the great news is say she went for a walk and say she had on. I'm getting really specific, you know, because if I went for a walk, I'd probably have a sports bra with a tank top and a pair of shorts. And when I came back inside and went inside my sauna, I'm all about not. I have enough distractions all day long. Like I, I mean, I'm serious. It is like, it's, it's squirrel city, you know, here. So I need to manage my distractions and create my boundaries. And the, one of the ways I do that is, is my non negotiables. I get them done quickly without taking detours. So if I were doing that, I would go outside, take my walk, come back inside in the stuff I already have. I would go downstairs inside my sauna, I would take off my tank top, leave my sports bra and shorts on and sit there and enjoy my 15 minutes of sunlight and sauna. That's week, week one. She's also going to add water afterwards and, and electrolytes. So that's really important to week one is making sure that you're rehydrating and adding the minerals. You're going, you're going to lose them, I assure you. So you need to make sure and replenish for sure. Week 100, this is like the unicorn rainbow place, right? This is like sparkles and confetti going everywhere. I'm so happy. Congratulations. I ideally, week 100, she's doing it five times a week for 40 minutes a day and it is added on or it's on its own. By week 100, she has the ability to figure out, you know, where it fits in, that she can do it consistently, obviously. So 40 minutes, five times a week, plenty of hydration, plenty of electrolytes.
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B
Is she naked at that point?
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A
That is, that is her personal preference.
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B
So the clothing, clothing is, it doesn't matter if you're wearing that.
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A
No, I mean the more, the more clothing that you wear, the more blocking you're going to have. Now covering our heaters, we have this technology called salient technology and it is infrared emitting and it, it covers the heaters and has a flexible nature so that you can lean up against it. I don't know if you've ever noticed it that you. Yeah, okay, that is infrared emitting. And so that enhances the entire experience by having that in there with the infrared light energy. It's going to get through. Like if you have, like if I had, if I went in there with my tank top, it's still going to get through. And there's, there's actually plenty of studies. I was just reading about infrared emitting materials, et cetera. But it is ideal to have as few clothes as possible. It is really up to your comfort zone. Again back to how are you going to do it that you can do it consistently. And my little hack that I do is when I want to go down there, I go down there and whatever I have on and, and I may start disrobing and taking up and I may come out with a lot less clothes than I went in. But I don't want to have to worry about. I've got to change, I've got to do this and that and this and that because then it's going to take me forever to get in there.
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B
Yeah, yeah, I know that there's, you know, Nordic style spas where there's like hot and cold, you know, you go into a cold plunge for 10 seconds, then you go and you heat up in a sauna. Talk to us about the benefits of contrast therapy and why that might also be augmenting me. We've been talking a lot about the benefits of he and of course it's very well established. Contrast therapy is also great as well. So talk to us about that and some of the benefits of cold therapy too.
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A
Contrast therapy. My favorite benefit of contrast therapy, my personal favorite as well as very well studied, is the building and strengthening of your resilience because you are giving your body stress on the heat side. You're stressing it out, right? And then you are going and activating your cold side stress. And, and furthermore, when you're in the cold, you are strengthening your mental resilience. And to me, the mind is one of the most important things we can protect and invest in, especially as we celebrate more birthdays. And so even a little bit of cold after heat is a great way to make you stronger and more resilient. Those are some of the benefits. Other benefits of cold separate is muscle recovery and mood enhancement. Mood enhancement enhancement also is a benefit of doing contrast therapy. I just talked to somebody yesterday that came to Sunlight and. And did we have an ice barrel. We last year acquired the assets to a company called Ice Barrel, which is a cold plunge company. So we have ice barrels in our showroom now as well as in our exercise room. And we had a visitor and he came to town and visited us and did the circuit, did the contrast therapy circuit. So he started off, he did 20 minutes inside his Enlightened, and then he did two, two and a half minutes and afterwards in the ice barrel. And he said the number one thing he noticed was his mood change. He just felt more alive and more alert and happier. And he also said that when he went in, he had some tension in his back and his neck, a little bit of inflammation. And he noticed when he was done, it was all gone.
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B
Awesome. Complete this sentence. The biggest misconception about infrared saunas is
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A
that all infrared is the same.
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B
Okay. And expand on that a little bit.
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A
For me, the market doesn't understand. First of all, the market doesn't understand that infrared is a wavelength of light. So there's multiple dimensions to that wavelength. It's not just one thing. And they think that all infrared saunas do the same thing. And it really matters. Whether it's the wavelength matters, the dose matters, and the delivery. And that's just something that people don't understand. But we can talk about it today.
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B
Yeah, we can talk about it. And so what do people need to understand? Like if they are in the position, if they're going to be making a purchase of a sauna, let's say, for. And it can be anything, like in the sunlight and family, of course, you have the sauna that you're sitting in front of. There's also the portable saunas. Like, what do people need to look for when they're. When they're trying to decide on what kind of sauna that they're going to be using?
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A
Yeah, they really need to understand the testing that has been done behind the scenes because infrared is a. It's a science of energy. And you need to have the precise wavelength transferred as well as the highest quantity and the highest quality. And that comes from a company that is dedicated to mastering that wavelength. So there's independent testing that needs to occur, and that's United States testing. You don't. You want it done by a reputable lab that uses legitimate, experienced devices. You want to look for the highest amount of absorption because it's beyond just the heat. You want as much of the light therapy absorbed into your body as possible. You want to look for safety, you want to look for quality, you want to look for extended experience. There's a great technology that we that sunlighten has is called Pulse iq, which is our intellectual intelligent platform that helps deliver the precise wavelength dose and delivery to make sure you actually get the wellness outcomes that you're looking for. And that's what's really key with, with connecting infrared to results is making sure you're getting as much into your body as possible with the precise dose, the right frequency, and then also independently separate out the wavelength. So that's a lot of information, but that's, that's nirvana. That's the highest goal is to be able to get all four wavelengths, each of them maximized and absorbed as deeply as possible.
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B
Yeah, you said highest absorption. So what are the four wavelengths that we're looking for? And then when you say highest absorption, what does that mean? Is that you mentioned it's like distinct from heat. So talk to me a little bit about what that means.
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A
Yeah, I'll cover that question first because we have a patent on our emissivity and that's really important. That's also something to look for. I didn't cover that is you can look at the patents. We have over 50 global patents on all of our technology. And why a patent is important is it gives you the peace of mind that you can go dig into that and make sure you're getting exactly what we're saying you're getting versus just marketing material. So as far as what absorption means, the way that infrared is transferred specifically, I'm going to be focusing right now on this conversation on far infrared. So there's four different wavelengths. Far infrared is the foundation of the infrared spectrum. It is the most important wavelength out of those four, because far infrared is the one that is absorbed into your water molecules and starts to change all of your biological processes. It sets off this biochemical cascade that impacts every single system and starts to increase circulation, increase blood flow, increase your heart rate and starts to increase oxygen to your tissues. All of those activities deliver the outstanding, you know, results such as detoxification, relaxation, stress reduction, you know, increased energy and increased mental clarity and cardiovascular. Forgot that's like the big one, the cardiovascular benefits. So what's important is if you're just doing heat, for example, and you're not getting the wavelength of energy deeply absorbed into their body, you're not maximizing your results, you're sacrificing results for lower quality delivery. And sunlighten does not sacrifice anything. We that's what we've studied for over 20 years. So the most absorption is, is really based on how we've designed our heaters. And we have what's called like a constant emitter technology. So that makes sure you're constantly getting the maximum amount of infrared, far infrared into your cells.
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B
Okay, so far infrared, we start this is absorption at the level of like
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A
so water molecules, the deepest in into the body. Really it really think about the core and the foundation with far infrared. And then mid infrared is a little bit hotter wavelength. And when it's hotter, it doesn't go. It's not absorbed as deeply. And so it's really great for your muscles and your tissues and helps to reduce inflammation. Excellent for muscle recovery. And then the next spectrum of light is near infrared. This one is invisible light is how we deliver it. Because if you did it traditionally by heat, heat how it is when it's in, in the sun's spectrum, it would be so hot that you wouldn't be able to experience it. So we converted it to LEDs and we started that process about 18 years ago. Eventually brought it to market 16 years ago with the help of Dr. Harry Whelan, who worked on near infrared with NASA. And what's so powerful about near infrared is it works with your mitochondria and supercharges your cells. It's extremely, extremely powerful. We can go into more detail in a bit. And the thing about infrared is it's the heavy lifter of the two light spectrums. So there's near infrared and there's red light. Near infrared is the most powerful one. It's the, it's the, it's the really one you want to focus on. The thing is, is it's invisible, so people can't see it. And a lot of times they have a hard time grasping the fact that something that is invisible is so powerful. And then the next one is red light, which is the start of the visible light spectrum. So the other three I mentioned are in the infrared spectrum that comes from the sun. The majority of light that is in the sun is in the infrared wavelength. So that's far, mid and near. And then when you move from, from invisible to visible, red is the first light. And that one also focuses on cellular repair and as well as helps to supercharge your cells. It's just more of a surface level than near infrared, which goes deep into the body.
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B
Yeah, like red light. I love that. For hair, skin, nails, more of the, like the. Because it's going to be penetrating just the Surface.
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Correct.
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At the dermis. Yeah. Like at the level of the skin. Okay. Your midlife lack of energy isn't just a caffeine deficiency problem. It's a mitochondrial one. If you're finding that your energy dips between meetings and workouts and that dreaded 2 to 4pm time slot, I want you to think more about optimizing your energy production rather than just having more coffee, more energy drinks, things that are just going to jack up your nervous system. Meet troscriptions. Just blue. This is a methylene blue supplement and it works by supporting ATP production, which is the energy that your cells produce. Methylene blue can improve attention and memory networks, which are exactly the circuits that suffer the most in midlife and that we le on the most during that midlife menopausal transition. Each trochee is 16 milligrams and it's scored. So you can choose how much you want to take at any given time. I typically cut them into four. So I take a quarter of the trochee and see. I would see how you feel for me in about 15, 20 minutes. You're going to feel that smooth energy lift and mood lift as well. I'm always happier when I'm on these guys. This is a completely new way to optimize your health and I want you to give it a try@troscriptions.com for forward slash better or just enter better at checkout and you will get an automatic 10% off your order. That is T R O S C R-I P T I O N S.com better for 10% off your first order. You are probably drinking enough water. You are probably not replacing what your body is actually losing. Here is what nobody told you. As estrogen drops in perimenopause, your kidneys become less efficient at holding on to sodium. I mean, it's so cruel. Which means that your electrolyte needs go up right at the exact moment that most women are still operating on that strategy. Like, drink more water. Stay hydrated, stay hydrated. Low sodium is pretty sneaky and it's hard to kind of put your finger on it. Can look like fatigue, brain fog, headaches. After workouts, that afternoon crash that you've been blaming on poor sleep. It feels like your body's failing you, but it isn't. It's your body asking for something very specific, which is salt. This is why I drink element every single day. I usually do it before training, so I'll put half of a sachet in my water before training or I'LL do it when I'm really sweating. So after a really big sprint session, one packet in my water is gonna give me a thousand milligrams of sodium, 200 milligrams of potassium, and 60 milligrams of magnesium, and I usually half that. So there's no sugar, there's no junk, just the minerals that actually move the needle. You are building something special here, your body. So you have to fuel it properly. My friend, head over to DrinkElement.com better and receive a free sample pack with any order. That's drinklmnt.com better. Okay, so that's a really good foundation. So let's say one of our audience members, we love to call them our Betty's. You know, she's sitting in her car outside of, you know, a sunlightened store, let's say a sauna showroom, and she is trying to talk herself out of buying asana because it feels like it's indulgent. It feels like, I don't know, it's too expensive.
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A
Like, what.
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B
What do you tell her about why this is an important part of her health protocol, if at all?
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A
I would tell her that today is the day you need to start training your body for your future self. So you're never as young as you're going to be today, and you don't get the opportunity 10 years from now to turn back the clock and do things that you wish you would have done. And we know that our sunlight and saunas can help train your body to age. And I think people should train for aging just like they train for. For a race or train for a presentation or train for an exam or, you know, you need you. You have to work at it. Anything in life as you know that, you know is. Is. Is rewarding, significantly rewarding, you know, requires work, and you need to. To put in the work. And I would say start today. That would be the first thing that comes to my mind. Just because as so many people have these goals, you know, they want to be able to play with their grandchildren. They want to be able to lift a suitcase above their head. They want to be able to have you, to have more energy. You know, there's. There's all these different goals that starts with making changes today. It's not going to just automatically happen.
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B
Yeah, well said. All right, so of some of the, you know, saunas are very famous for their cardiovascular benefit, detoxification benefits, mood benefits. Which one do you think for a midlife woman in particular? So someone who's in perimenopause and menopause. What you think of those that she's the most underestimating?
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A
She's most. One that she's underestimating is the mood benefits, for sure. Because that's, that's the piece that gets people completely off track.
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B
Yeah.
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A
I mean, when people talk about like raging hormones or mood changes or. I mean, there's a lot of stories I've, I've had a lot of women talk to me about, you know, significant mood changes where they just feel in enraged or they feel really sad or, I mean, big mood shifts, not just, oh, you know, I've had better days. And that is, there's so, so many studies and I mean, we could talk about this for hours. The benefits of increasing your mood and going in there into a sunlight and sauna and quickly. That's the thing that I love so much, is so many things that you do in life. It takes a lot of time. Right. It gets an investment of time. But when you focus on far infrared, mid infrared, near or red, any of those you can do quickly and notice a benefit. You can sit inside a farm for a sauna in 10, 15 minutes and you can see, feel. Oh, my gosh, I can feel myself breathing. My breath has slowed down. I feel lighter, I feel happier. I have more energy, I have more mental clarity. And that happens really fast. And you didn't really, you didn't do anything. You just enjoyed your experience.
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B
I always find when I'm in my sunlight and I always feel like it's like a warm hug.
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A
Yeah, that's how I always describe infrared is a warm hug.
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B
It feels like a hug because it's. And for me personally, like, I have done both. And I've done contrast therapy. I've done the cold plunge followed by the heat, and then you go back in the cold and like keep alternating. But I, there's something. I don't know if it's for. I don't know if it's a female thing. I really. I'll do the cold plunge. I've done the cold plunge. I, you know, I have the discipline to sit in very, very cold water, but I really feel like heat is healing, it is nourishing, it feels safe. The heat and the sweating, it just feels like you're cleaning house. So I. And that. You don't really get that with a cold plunge. I mean, you shiver and certainly there's other, you know, there's like hormesis there. Right. And most women will agree. Like when we were. Whenever I've. I've polled my audience. It's like 10 times out of 10. Women prefer heat to cold.
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A
Yes. Yeah, I, I mean, I, I, I love the feeling of that gentle hug when I go in. I, I can just, like, I can feel it all around me. I can feel the healing, healing energy. And it just, it, it, it just almost forces you in a good way to slow down, right. And to take a deep breath and just to start really focusing on your, like, paying attention to everything that's going on and, and instantly getting relaxed. And that's what I think, as women, is such a gift. You know, that woman that's sitting in her car needs to get out of her car and go inside that showroom, because there, there, it's pri. It's really priceless to wake up and it get so excited to get out of bed and have this electric energy where you just want to go conquer the world. I mean, that's a priceless feeling. And every time when I'm finished with my sunlight and session, I have more mental clarity. I feel like I can go do anything. And I am so much more peaceful and happier. It's just, it's a, it's a big shift, and I look so forward to, to doing it. So it's, it's a gift. I mean, you know, happiness is a gift that we give ourselves.
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B
All right, so let's actually talk a little bit about heat, because I think people hear infrared sauna, and they think heat, it's not quite like the finish or the traditional saunas that, you know, that we're very familiar with. So walk me through the actual mechanism here. So how, and we've talked a little bit about this, but maybe this is an opportunity for us to go deeper in terms of how infrared light interacts with the body at a cellular level in a way that's just genuinely different from becoming hot.
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A
So we'll go back to far and friend, because that's the foundation, and that is the one that is the, the, you know, longest and actually the coolest wavelength. And when I say cool, I want people to understand because there's this misperception that the environment has to be hot in order to get the detox benefits and the cardiovascular benefits and all of that. And that's not true. You're getting the benefits. What makes far infrared so special is that the energy is interacting with your cells. So when urine is absorbed into the body, it starts to change the format, it starts to change your water molecules. They move. Dr. Bland always says they start to dance around. But the Bonds don't break, they just start to move so much and dance. And that mobility internally is what starts the flow of all of the benefits to come. And you're getting a, a more core cellular benefits on all of your mitochondria. The other thing is with all of the different wavelengths, you're impacting so much more mitochondria because you know, you're getting, you know, your core, you're getting deep and in mid infrared you're getting your muscles and your tissues and then, you know, near and red. Man, those guys are super special when it comes to signaling. And your cells and your body, they're just, they have really superpowers with creating ATP and giving your, your body more energy. And that's why, you know, people notice a difference with, they just do five or ten minutes.
- [30:20]
B
Okay. And what, so how, how do we pair that with heat as well? So when we think about, I mean we've all heard everybody talk about hormesis and heat shock proteins and this is why it's so important. And always do your, not always, but it's ideal to do your sauna after your workout because you have these heat shock proteins that have been activated. Because my infrared, my sunlight gets hot. Like I, Yeah, it also gets hot. So talk to us about, we have the infrared, we have the far infrared, you mentioned the, the muscle and tissues at the medium infrared, near infrared and then red light. Tell us also about heat and why that is beneficial for the body.
- [30:57]
A
The heat from far infrared and mid infrared. But there we have plenty. We have two different collections that just have far infrared alone since that's the foundation, it's the core. And if you separate it out, you still get the benefits because you're getting the benefits of the heat that comes from that specific wavelength. What that does to the body is, as you said, it, it starts to, you know, activate the heat shock proteins and increase your body's core temperature. So it gives you, to make it really simple, it gives you a false fever. And you know, Hippocrates said, you know, if you, if you, and if you, if I, if you can cause a fever, I can cure any disease. Yeah, right. Because that fever starts to thermoregulate the body. It starts to make the body, the immune system stronger. It strengthens all of your cells and then you have that wonderful cool down process which is a state of, of resilience. So you know, you're starting to create this horis and then cool down resilience and you're, you're, you're Training your body to be strong, but strong from the cellular level. So the benefit of heat is to produce a deep cellular sweat. And the benefit of the deep cellular sweat is you're removing this toxic burden that a lot of people are trying to protect their bodies against beautiful and
- [32:25]
B
so sunlight and solo carbon technology. I want to talk about this for a moment because this is a heater that has been. And you can maybe expand on the research a little bit, but I've read that the, this is a, this is a heater that's been clinically shown to lower blood press, which I think for women, I think all women, but particularly women in perimenopause and menopause, where cardiovascular risk starts to climb as they're starting to lose estrogen. Talk to us a little bit about how the heater that you're using in this device is also shown to help with some of these cardiovascular risk factors.
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A
Yeah. So our heater, our solo carbon technology, what makes it so effective, specifically in cardiovascular events, is that we've mastered the delivery of the maximum amount. So there is a difference. If you get, you know, 10%, 20%, the lower that you get of this energy into the body, the lower the results. Right. So for your heart and in order to make the significant change, which is difficult to do, you need almost a hundred percent. It's kind of like the best analogy is you think about supplements or food that's, that's really dense in nutrients or supplements that don't have any fillers. That's what our solo carbon is. It's all infrared, all far infrared without the fillers. So the benefit is that your body can absorb it because it's not counteracting, you know, with anything else. And regular traditional heat heats the air, so the air is hot, so you're not getting that energy deep into your cells. Does that make sense?
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B
Yeah. And you're. But with the heat, you're still activating those heat shock proteins as we were talking about before?
- [34:07]
A
Yes, yes, absolutely. You just, you're not getting the, A lot of the cellular mitochondria, like all of the, A lot of the, the hallmarks of aging that come from mitochondrial function and, and cellular senescence and gut health. All of those aren't connected to traditional heat just based on the transfer of energy.
- [34:27]
B
And so let's actually talk about some of the studies here. Cause I, I know that there was one from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, and there was also a Journal of Cardiology study that looked at lowering blood pressure. Can you walk us through Those studies
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A
and what they found, yes, the University of Missouri, Kansas City, we referred to that. The UMKC study that we did. The focus was really a general focus. So it's very interesting because the design was just to see if there was any health benefits at all. And then. And it was. The structure of the study was a double blind, placebo controlled, randomized trial. What that means is we had a solo design, which is our lie down portable model that inside the sauna is five of our solo carbon heat panels. And then we compare that to another infrared sauna that did not have our solo carbon heat panels. And there was a group A and group B. Nobody knew which who was in group A or group group B. And it was six weeks. And that study delivered statistically significant reduction in blood pressure, increased quality of life scores, and removal of toxins. So that was significant. There's actually the study side note. Kind of fun fact is there was that particular study that Dr. Oz cited when we were on the Oprah Winfrey show in 2009.
- [35:50]
B
Oh, wow. Awesome. I used to think that the changes happening to my face after 40 were just, I don't know, part of the deal. Right. Something that I had to accept gracefully or fight very expensively. But what you need to understand is the mechanism. Estrogen supports collagen synthesis. And as estrogen declines, so does your skin's structural integrity. Not because you're aging badly or doing it wrong, but because the hormonal scaffolding that kept it, everything taught, is shifting. Right. Red light therapy is one of the few interventions with actual peer reviewed evidence behind it. Specific wavelengths, we're talking 630 to 850 nanometers. They are going to penetrate the dermis and stimulate fibroblast activity. Your cells are going to produce more collagen, more elastin. And that means that the repair mechanism that's been slowing down is now getting a signal to speed back up. I love the Bon Charge face wand. It's what I use at home. It's the size of a mascara wand and it travels everywhere I go. And most importantly, it works. So I want you to have that too. Head over to boncharge.com forward/better. That's boncharge.com forward slash B, T, T, E, R and use the discount code better at checkout. And that is going to give you 5, 15% off your entire cart. Let's talk a little bit about my perimenopausal and menopausal ladies, because we know that, I mean, certainly there are Mood changes. These are, this is one of the more earlier signs of perimenopause is like just not feeling like yourself. And we've touched a little bit on the mood benefits that sunlighten or a sauna, an infrared sauna can have. I also want to talk a little bit about the more classic signs of menopause, which is those hot flashes. Like, one of the things that I find more interesting is when you are exposing yourself to more heat, it does seem that there, that there is an expansion of your thermoregulatory center. So the area in the brain called the hypothalamus, which is, you know, our, our body's control center for temperature. As you are almost training yourself to tolerate larger and larger temperature variants. So that, that can almost help with the incidence of an experience of hot flashes.
- [38:15]
A
That is exactly right. You said it beautifully. I mean, the, the way infrared helps with hot flashes is, is actually counterintuitive, right, because you feel like, oh my gosh, I'm hot. Like the last thing I want to do is it's gonna make it worse. Yeah, yeah, no, no, that's, that's exactly what you want to do because you want to, to properly thermoregulate the body. So the body knows when it gets hot, it knows what to do. So it is a repeated, you know, resilience, you know, ritual opportunity for you to help control your hot flashes as well as benefiting from the cool down period. And I like to mention that because that again, it's part of that whole resilience training. But it's also mentally helps to tell the brain that this is, this is a positive experience. It's the experience that I need. It's going to shift the mood and it's great for regulating your circadian rhythm. And that process has been shown to help with sleep and give you a better night's sleep when you consistently do a sunlight and sauna session. So it's really, you know, so many of the, the experiences that people have when they're going through menopause, it's a domino effect, right? It's like you have hot flashes and then you don't feel you're like yourself. And then because you don't feel like yourself, you have problems sleeping and then you have problems with your mood. Like, all these are, are so connected. And if you know of a tool that can help manage each one of those separately, but yet together in almost a holistic, you know, holistic tool, then why, you know, why wouldn't you want to start trying that and add that to your lifestyle. Just like you would add, you know, you know, good nutrition and walking or exercise or strength training.
- [40:22]
B
I actually love to use my sauna in the evening. So I like to use it probably like 7 or 8 in the evening. I'm in bed something like 9:30 or 10. So I heat myself up and then to your point, around that rebound, like that coming down and that cooling down process such that by the time I'm ready to go to bed, I'm cooler than I otherwise would be, which is going to help my sleep. And I know that there are, there's some emerging research on saunas with the benefit of pairing it right after a weightlifting session or right after a strength or an exercise to sort of augment and you know, have this like synergistic effect on the activity that you just did. Is there one that's better than the other? I mean, I just, personally I just don't have time to do it in the morning. Like I get my workout done and I gotta start my day and I can do the sauna in the evening. But is there, is there an optimal, like if it's like sparkles and unicorns and rainbows and like you could choose whatever you want, like what is the best way to use the sauna?
- [41:18]
A
That is my type of world with sparkles and unicorns and rainbows. So you just made my day that nobody's ever said that. My husband always does that to me. He's also my business partner. He's like, you live in this rainbows and unicorn world?
- [41:32]
B
Like, yes, I do.
- [41:33]
A
Like, I do, I do. It's my choice. So the answer is it really is personal preference and there really is significant benefits to whether you do it in the morning or you do it at night. It, it, my advice is do what you can do consistently. So for me, I, it's, it's part of my morning routine and it's that it's just, it's part of it. I incorporate it, you know, into it and I still have a great night's sleep because I'm doing my active cardiovascular conditioning and then I'm following up by the passive. So I'm keeping my heart rate elevated and keeping my, my core temperature elevated. I'm doing a more intense workout because I'm augmenting my workout, right? And so my body is appreciating that workout. And then when it comes time to go to sleep and then I do my evening routine and you know, I have, I mean, I sleep great. The people I have a Lot of women friends. I'm in a business network here in Kansas City with women executives, and they all share. A lot of them do it at night, so it's exact same as you do. And they love the fact, exactly what you just talked about it. They love that cooling down. And they just, they almost feel like it is. It prepares them for a great night's sleep. And there's data showing that there's a great study on major depression disorder, which connects the sauna to the decreasing depression. And part of the thought process is that you're, you're activating in your, your thermoregulatory system. Right. And so when your body is cooling itself down, you need to be able to be cool to sleep, and it's better for your body. So it, both, that was a long answer for both are great. It really is, it really is personal preference and something you can do consistently. If there's one thing I can stress for people who are having incorporating this into their life is consistency is key. Consistency is the key that will unlock all of the wellness outcomes that you are looking for. It, it really is not intensity. It's, it's not one time a week for, you know, an hour. If you can just incorporate it in. If you go for a run or you go for a walk or you do strength training, just think to yourself, okay, I'm lifting weights for, you know, 20 minutes. I'm going to add on 20 minutes for my sauna session. Right.
- [44:11]
B
And I, I, I love that messaging because I, I think the same is true with strength training or, and even if you're trying to make any kind of change with your body composition, it's like you, the best diet, the best strength training program is the one that you can commit to.
- [44:23]
A
Yes.
- [44:24]
B
You know, it's like, that's the best one. So the best protocol. But let's just nerd it. I know I have nerds. I have nerds that listen to the show and we love our Dark Roast Betties. That's what we call our nerds. Tell us what happens. So you mentioned passive cardio. I also use the sauna for passive cardio because I do not enjoy cardio generally. Like, there's a couple things I like to do. I like to sprint, I like to walk, but generally to get me on an elliptical machine, like, it's, it's like, you know, dragging a, you know, it's like trying to hurt a cat. I don't like it. So talk to us about this passive cardio benefit. You mentioned that you do Cardio and then you go and sit in the sauna. And that can sort of augment what you just did. Talk to us about what the mechanism is there.
- [45:04]
A
Yeah, there's so many great benefits. So one of the most simple but yet powerful benefits of taking a far infrared sauna is the increased in circulation that you're getting. So you're, you're actively increasing all of the blood flow in your body. And the benefit of increasing blood flow, first of all, it feel, you feel alive, right? I mean it's such a great internal feeling, but it's also great for all of your organs and all of your tissues. I mean, it, you need to have flow inside your body to be long term, you know, healthy. So it, it starts off the circulation, which is like I said, it is the most powerful part. Increasing the blood flow, increasing your heart rate. You also that blood flow. I can't stress that enough because what happens, and we've seen this in many, many studies using far infrared, the change in your vessels and your arteries, you know, you're making them more elastic and flexible and you're strengthening the whole cardiovascular, like your whole heart around you, the structure, because you're providing that passive and you're not, you're not, you're not doing anything to counteract any other parts of your body, right? So like when you're going on the elliptical or I'm going for a run, because I don't do the elliptical, but I, I do run and when I'm doing it, you know, I'm putting some, some pounding on my joints. I mean, I'm, I'm doing some good stuff, but I'm also doing some things that could potentially, you know, hurt my knees, it could hurt my back. I mean, there's different things that it could do over time. The great thing about the sauna is all the party of passive cardiovascular benefits are enabling you and empowering you to be stronger and be more flexible and have more energy. There is a study I love so much. It's called WA ON Therapy. WA on stands for soothing warmth therapy. And the, the extensive part of the therapy is far infrared for 15 minutes followed by a soothing warm blanket. And there's lots and lots and lots of studies, robust studies. One of my favorite is one that looks at exercise capacity with using infrared. And it was specifically done with elderly patients with congestive heart failure and coronary artery disease. And it showed that after using infrared, they walked farther in the same amount of time. And the time was six minutes. And I, I, I love that because the confidence that comes from somebody knowing I just did something for 15 minutes and now I am stronger and more capable of doing it again farther. That's just such a powerful mental aspect. I think I'm getting a little bit off tangent. But like for women the mind is so important. You know, as we, as we celebrate more and more birthdays, gosh, that is the part of your body that you have to protect and, and, and be graceful with and gentle with and, and just really pay attention to because that controls everything else. And if you don't have a strong clear mind, a resilient mind that can bounce back really quickly when faced with adversity, it's going to be much harder to, to manage through situations. And infrared can help, you know, create a strong resilient mind.
- [48:57]
B
Talk to us a little bit about that stress. So talk to us about cortisol and the HPA axis, cortisol patterning and how sauna can help with that.
- [49:05]
A
Yeah, so infrared helps to decrease cortisol. What happens? And there, again there's, there's plenty of studies showing the shift of the body from the sympathetic state to the parasympathetic state. So you know, when you're in the sympathetic state and you're, you're firing, your adrenaline's going, I mean, you know, all, everything's there to save your life and your cortisol is increasing. That's all good temporarily, but it is not a sustainable effect for your body, for your nervous system. And that's what causes long term stress is by having this, this shift in your nervous system and always being in a sympathetic state. And infrared is a way to quickly shift the body from the sympathetic state to the parasympathetic state. And what I love about this, this knowledge and the tool is it's something, I'm a big data geek and, and I'm really big into measuring and tracking and all that stuff. And this is something that you can track on your own. You know, if you have a wearable in any way you can track after you consistently using your sunlight and sauna, you can track your, your heart rate variability which is an indicator of your nervous system stress. And you can track your sleep score. You know, you can track your resting heart rate. You know, there's plenty of studies showing a decrease in, in resting heart rate and an increase in HRV over time. So those are some, th, some benefits that help ensure we manage our stress more effectively, you know, by using infrared.
- [50:49]
B
I know that, you know, we've, we said the ideal time is Whenever you can make it happen most consistently. Is there like a minimum effective dose in terms of how often we're doing it per week, how long we're doing it? Is there a minimum temperature that we want to be thinking about? Like, how do we think about some of these variables making it? And the way I want to really frame this is like, let's not do the maximum the most. Because I don't think that many women operate in this, like, maximum optimization kind of lane that we often see a lot of the biohackers and it's like a lot of burrows that tend to push this idea. But what is enough to see a change, but not so extreme that we feel like, you know, we are just adding an, you know, one more thing where we have to spend hours, you know, trying to, trying to affect a result.
- [51:35]
A
Fifteen minutes, 15 minutes a day, three to four times a week. The wound studies I would talked about that. That was the amount of time it is great. If you can do it longer, you will sweat more. If you do it longer, you will feel. You know, you talked about earlier, I loved when you referenced how you love the heat because you just feel purged and clean. You just feel like. Right, That's. Yeah, I feel the same way. And that requires more time because you. That, that whole purging is a process, right? You need the core temperature to increase. You need to start activating sweat. You need to have time to have the body, you know, release the sweats and the change in the endorphins. And that's, that's a little bit more of a process. But if we're just talking about noticing a change in our body, we want to do the minimum. It's 15 minutes consistently. What's important as far as temperature goes with infrared. It is a personal preference because the minute you turn on your infrared sauna, the energy is on and it's transferred. A great analogy is light therapy is just the same as it is a light bulb. You turn it on and it's on. It does not need. This is important. It does not need to heat up for long periods of time to get the benefits. Because the minute you turn it on, that activation of the increased circulation and the biochemical cascade in your body starts to take place. So temperature specifically for those are like, well, what temperature should I focus on? That is a personal preference. It just depends on how your body responds. We are our all, all our own personal experiment, right? This is a, this is an individual treatment. You do what is most comfortable, what you can do most Often as a consistent routine. So that's what's really important. Some people, my husband likes to, to go in there when it's really, really hot. He loves the heat and he will stay in there longer if it's really, really hot. I turn it on, I do my morning routine and, and I am enjoying it while the heat is changing and I love that experience.
- [54:01]
B
I am like your husband, I think. I like my, I like to preheat my sauna. I like it hot when I get in. Yeah, so I do love that. But it is really nice to know that there's an option if you don't because I always thought that that was required. So that's a really nice point of clarification for me as well.
- [54:15]
A
It's not required. Get in, start using it.
- [54:17]
B
I love that. So if somebody's doing 15 minutes three to four times a week, what are they going to start noticing?
- [54:24]
A
They'll notice an increase in energy. They'll notice an increase in mental clarity. They should notice a difference in their mood. They should. Absolutely. They should also just overall I always you know, comment on my like shoulders cuz I, I feel like I stay all day with my shoulders up, you know, and my earrings and they, they will notice a reduction in tension and more relaxed. They also, they should notice a difference in their sleep score if they're measuring that.
- [54:58]
B
Also the skin I find.
- [55:00]
A
Yeah, we haven't talked about the skin. Goodness. Yeah, the skin is, I always say that when you take a consistent sauna session, you're purifying the body so the skin will follow. Right. So it's, you get this beautiful glow when you consistently sweat inside you by using, you know, far and Fred for sure. I, I, whenever I talk about like skin glowing it, it brings me back to when we first opened Our Day Spa. 2008. We have a local day spa here in Kansas City and we have four sunlight and saunas in there. And I wanted to understand the feedback that people were getting, you know, back then in 2008 we were, we're trying to help educate people on, on using coming in the sauna. So I really wanted to, to double check on their experience and how, you know, how what was their feedback. So I sat for a week outside and just listened to people as they came out of the sauna. And the number one consistent feedback was oh my gosh, I just feel like my skin is glowing. I feel like I am glowing.
- [56:15]
B
Like a facial. You just got a really great facial.
- [56:17]
A
Yes, exactly. So I made, I made glow getter t Shirts after that experience? Yes.
- [56:24]
B
And what about, what about food? Before, after. Does it matter? Water intake before and after electrolytes. I have some thoughts on electrolytes, but I want to. I know, I want to know what
- [56:34]
A
you think as far as water and electrolytes. I'll touch on that. Specifically, water is really, if the most important aspect it is. That is really the only thing, not the only thing, that's too strong of a statement. But water is critical to a positive experience because for so many reasons. First of all, if you go in there super, super dehydrated, you're not going to get as many benefits and you're going to dehydrate the body further, which is not a good thing. So you need to adequately hydrate. My recommendation is 16 ounces before you take a sauna session. I personally take a glass, you know, of water inside my sauna.
- [57:18]
B
I do that too. Yeah.
- [57:20]
A
And, and then I hydrate afterwards and that's where I implement the electrolytes. So what, what is your recommendation on electrolyte?
- [57:27]
B
That is exactly what I do. Okay, so I, I will take 16 ounces with some ice. You know, it's a glass thing with a little glass straw thing. I take that into the sauna while. Because I won't. I'm not disciplined enough. This is just me being totally honest. I'm not disciplined enough to drink all of that before the session. So I'm going to do it during when I start sweating and I'm starting to feel parched, et cetera. And then I will also do electrolytes afterwards. So I'll take probably depending on my activity that day and how long the session was, I'm probably going to take something like at least 250 to 500 mgs of, you know, of salt of some kind. So I will take somewhere between 250 to, to 500. And that's, that's what I like to do. I find that it just helps me hold onto the water that I've been, that I've been consuming during the sauna session and it helps me to rehydrate as well.
- [58:12]
A
Yep, I agree. I think it's a great, it's a great recipe.
- [58:16]
B
So for our Bettys, who, let's say they're in perimenopause time poor, we'll say they're very busy and important. So they have lots and lots of things that are, that are on their plate. And maybe she's trying to do everything right. You know, maybe she's strength training. Maybe she's Running. What is the case for her for making sauna a non negotiable rather than like a. Oh, that would be really nice. What is the case for making it a need to have.
- [58:41]
A
You need to commit and always recommend pair it. Don't start it by itself because then it's easy to isolate and, and, and forget about. But what are other things that you already do that are non negotiables? You know, I mean list your non negotiable. Is, is it, is it walking in the morning? Is it going for a run? Is it going to the gym? Like what are those things? And then adding your sunlight and sauna at the end and that is your post recovery time from what you just did. But you're also getting active recovery by getting the healing coming from the heat and the light therapy. So and the light that is the best way to, to get started and to get into the consistent routine is by incorporating it and, and kind of bolting it on to what you're already doing and you know you're going to do. If it's like for example, I'm a big green juicer so you know, if I was starting over, you know, what is something that I, you know, I have my green juice in the morning, I have my hot water with lemon. Those are non negotiables happen every single day. So why don't I drink my hot water with lemon on my green juice inside my sauna? Like I can.
- [60:02]
B
Oh, I love, I love efficiency and habit stacking. Yeah, those are like my favorite things
- [60:07]
A
to do and it is, this is the perfect thing to habit stack with because there think about all the things and I go back to the morning just because that's my routine. So you know, I love to hear your habit stacks at night as far as using your sunlight. But my habit stacks in the morning, you know, are those, what am I doing? Like for example, I will sit down and I'll you know, write down like how, what is the. My play by play for the day, right? Like what is it? What are all the things I'm going to be doing? Where's my time frames? You know, like how is this all going to pan out? It is makes so much more sense to do that inside my sauna while I'm getting the energy into my body than it does to be sitting at the kitchen table. The kitchen table is not providing me any healthy value, but this sauna is. So the more, you know, the more you can take all the things that you do. Like my hot water with lemon and My green juice and my, my intention setting for. And then go down. Mine's downstairs. Go downstairs. Do it all in there, man. It unlocks this great creative place inside my brain where I just come up with different solutions. I end up having this just great brainstorming session inside my sauna where, you know, I come up with solutions to problems that happened the day before and all these things just because I shifted the location of where I, you know, do my routines. That's just one example. I mean, I have a gazillion of different hacks that I've done over the years, but definitely habit stacking is something that I would especially to everybody in this group that's listening because they're time poor, right. And so the last thing they're going to want to do is add on something else that's going to take their time. But here's the good news. You don't have to do that. Take whatever you're already doing if you're doing it at night. And then if you have an evening routine, if you're doing like sleepy time tea or whatever is your part of your eating is stretching, do it inside the sauna and that way you get, you know, two to three for, for one benefit.
- [62:18]
B
Yeah, I love that. Mine is just so much more boring than that. It's for me.
- [62:23]
A
Well, it's supposed to be boring at night.
- [62:25]
B
Yeah, exactly. So I, for me, it's really just. I have been going all day long. So whether it's driving kids to soccer or it's whatever cooking or my business, you know, whatever it is. And it's just 30 to 45 minutes of time where I don't have to answer to anyone. I just have a little bit of space and it's just me. That's. That's really what it is. I'm not, I, I love leverage and I love efficiency. But in the evening, I'm trying to slow down a little bit. I'm trying to slow my brain down. And so for. I would otherwise spend that on my, that time on my phone or cleaning the kitchen or running and doing laundry, you know, doing something. So this is just my, this is just space. It's just like a little like my little boundary. Like Mama. Mama needs 45 years to herself. And then I'll come out and then I can, you know, and I can be a better mom and I can help everybody get to bed and all the things. But I. That, that's what my evening routine looks like.
- [63:22]
A
I love it. It's like your box of happiness in
- [63:25]
B
my box of happiness. That's exactly right. Okay, so if somebody, if somebody can't afford a sunlighten for whatever reason, what are some of the ways that they can mimic some of the benefits that we've been discussing today?
- [63:39]
A
Well, the first thing I would say is check around in your local community because you'll be surprised at how many places have a sunlight and sauna. And that would be the best way to mimic is to go there. For example, you know where I'm at, this is right by the, our day spa and people, I hear that all the time, like I come in and use a sauna. We have an unlimited membership for $199 a month. And that's their, you know, that's their time inside the sauna and they don't have one at home, they can't afford it, they don't have the space, etc. So that would be really the number one thing. And I, I assure you, especially now with AI, the Internet, I mean you could just type in, you know, where close to me can I experience a sunlight and sauna and then you're all set.
- [64:27]
B
Yeah, I think that there's probably, I, I know my chiropractor has a sauna in her office. So you can always be checking with, with wellness practitioners as well.
- [64:35]
A
Exactly, yeah. Other types of therapies you can do to get a little bit of the benefits that we discussed, most importantly is to walk outside and, and expose your body and your cells to the sunshine. One of the best things you could do especially, especially if you can do it at sunrise or sunset because when you do it at those times the sky and the sun is changed so you're getting more exposure to the maximum light therapy. You, you'll notice in the morning or at night you're starting to see the colored lights, right? So you're getting exposure to near infrared and red light which is so important for your cells. And that's what's going to give you the, and the change in mood that you need when you're going through perimenopause or other types of hormone changes. So sunshine would be a number one thing. Hydration. I, I, I really, I can't express the importance of, of hydration. And then walking is a great thing to get started with because it gives you, you know, the mobility and the movement and it's non stressful in the body. It also connects you to the sun, it connects you to nature, it helps you to, you know, change your breathing, it helps to decrease your stress. So those are things that can help with your mood change as well.
- [65:56]
B
We also have a deal for you with Sunlighten. If you're interested in exploring some of their products, I highly recommend. I have a Sunlighten. I use it almost daily. You can head over to get.sunlighten.com forward/doctors Stephanie, that's my name. And then you can use Dr. Stephanie at checkouts if people are looking for. I know that there's a lot of different. You mentioned the portable sauna, which I love because, you know, for, for those of you who have the, you know, the, the space in your home always, I would, I would say, you know, a, a physical sauna that doesn't move is, is a great option. Or you can have the, you can have a portable one. If maybe you live in an apartment or you just don't have the space or whatever, you can still get it done and it just folds up and you could just kind of go in the closet or what have you. So if people want to find out more about Sunlight and saunas, tell us where we can direct everybody.
- [66:47]
A
Everybody can go to sunlighten.com and we have four different collections on there. The Sunlight and Solo System, the Signature Collection, Amplify and Impulse, which has the Pulse IQ intelligent platform. So lots of choices. The Solo System. I'm just going to like double down on what you said because it's such a great product and it's so easy. I mean, it is, it is effortless. It is so easy to use. It's extremely effective. It is the sauna that was used in the UMKC trial that showed a significant reduction in blood pressure and increased quality of life scores. So you have extra peace of mind that you're getting exactly what you're looking for, especially if you're looking for cardiovascular benefits. I mean, that's, that's, that is, that is enough. You do not need to max out. That's. You just get the Solo system and call it a day and, and start, you know, habit stacking and, and move on. So you can go to sunlight.com you can call us at, at 877-292-0020. You can follow us on social. You know, we're all over on social media. You know, you can always, you know, reach out to me. I'm on social. There's many different ways to get in, in touch with us. And we have a very passionate team here that is dedicated and, and has strong intentions to help make the right fit for people. So it's all about understanding what you're looking for. What's going on in your life right now and what's the best fit and best solution? It's not all about just, you know, forcing a particular collection.
- [68:26]
B
Fantastic. Thank you so much.
- [68:28]
A
Thank you. Oh.
- [68:31]
B
All right, friends, welcome to the after party where I give you the dish on what I really thought of this episode. And I want to say that I love my infrared sunlight and sauna. I use it all the time. It's been one of the best investments that I've made in my health and I really, obviously, speaking to the co founder of the company is such an honor because this is something that has really fundamentally changed my health and my, the way that I sleep, my health practices, you know, my skin. I can, you know, I can count to my, you know, hair thickness and skin because of the consistent use of my infrared sauna, my mood, my stress and all of that. I think one of the things that a lot of like infrared saunas in general, the biggest criticism that they are often, that's often levied on them is that, oh, well, they're. That's not a traditional Finnish sauna. It's not a traditional hot sauna. And saunas, infrared saunas cannot get as hot as a traditional sauna can. You know, typical Finnish saunas, you're looking at probably like 180 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. My sunlighten gets to like 155. So it's still pretty hot. Yes. Is that technically not 180? Of course it's not, but I can stay in the sunlight and I can stay in the sauna longer. And then you can make the argument that my, the benefits that I'm going to extract from the light, like the, the wavelength therapy and the heat that's in the sauna are also going to be augmented there as well. So I don't, while I understand and agree with obviously the, the existing literature that's out there, like hot is really great for hormesis and heat shock proteins and all that. I also think that there is a weakness in completely, I mean, people don't completely disregard infrared saunas, but I have heard a lot of, you know, prominent people in the health space say, well, I would never do an infrared sauna because it's not hot enough. And I think that that is a relatively weak argument. It's like you're just hanging on the literature without actually having any clinical experience to sort of back it up. So that's what I would say about the. That's one of the more common arguments we'll say around why not to get an infrared sauna? And I think that for me, the heat combined with the light therapy is the sweet spot. So, you know, speaking to Connie, I think that her emphasis and her preference is to talk about some of the wavelengths, which, of course, like far and mid and near and red or infrared light and then red light. Those are all very important. And I really like the way that she explained. You know, the far infrared is for the water molecules. The mid is for muscle and tissues. The near is invisible to the eye, but it's great for the mitochondria. And then the red light's really great for cellular health. Skin, hair, nails, all that. I love that. And I also really love the heat benefits as well. So I sort of straddle both worlds and I. I found myself trying to, like, get her to talk more about heat. And I think she just loves the wavelength piece of it so much. So that would be my only addition, is that, yes, it's not as hot as a finished sauna, let's say, but it still gets pretty darn hot. So that would be my. That would be my comment there. I also think that I've mentioned this before too, some. I. It's harder for. I think I said this on the show. It's harder for me to get into cardio in the way that I want. Like, I was like the. The cardio bunny, right? I was like the step queen. I was a Taebo Hilo, all the things. I don't enjoy that as much anymore. I still enjoy a really good step class, I will say. And I love to sprint. Like, sprinting is my absolute love. But I don't enjoy cardio in the way that I enjoy lifting. Like, lifting for me is just much more full body experience cardio. It's. I need to go through more mental gymnastics to do it. And I think a sauna is a really nice way for me to get my cardio in because it has all the cardiovascular benefits. It sort of mimics cardio, right? So you have your increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, you're sweating, you know, heart rate. All the things, all the things. Just like a cardio session start to change. So I like to look at sauna as passive cardio. So I'll go in there for like 30 minutes, 45 minutes, if I can, if I can, if I can find it. And then it's just like I'm sweating. It's like I did a really big session, but all I did was lie there in peace and quiet. So those are my favorite, favorite things about Asana and I really, you know, I loved the contrast therapy conversation that we talked about. I also really like the low barrier to entry.
- [73:01]
A
Right.
- [73:01]
B
It's like 15 minutes, three to four times a week. You don't have to heat up the sauna if you don't want to. But I really love to combine, I love to combine the heat with the, with the light therapy. So I would love to hear about what you think of the episode. He we also have a deal for you with Sunlight and if you're interested in exploring some of their products, I highly recommend I have a Sunlight and I use it almost daily. You can head over to get.sunlighten.com forward/drstephanie and then you can use Dr. Stephanie at checkouts. That's D R S T E P H A N I E. As always, let us know what you thought of the episode and until next time, bid you adieu. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. And now I must give you the obligatory legal and medical disclaimer. This podcast, Better with Dr. Stephanie, is for general information only. The advice and recommendations we discuss do not replace medical, chiropractic or any other primary healthcare provider's advice, treatment or care in the consumption of this podcast. There is no doctor patient relationship and the use and implementation of the information discussed are at the sole discretion of the listener. Please take this information to your primary healthcare provider to make the best choice for you. Remember, I am a doctor, but I am not your doctor, and these episodes are meant for educational purposes only.