Saunas have been used throughout history and in every part of the world to promote health. In the United States, we tend to think of home saunas or trips to the spa as luxuries. They're akin to ladies' lunches in our minds. Civilized, harmless, inarguably relaxing ... but fundamentally worthless in terms of affecting physical health. Americans think of sauna baths as being no more important or necessary than a manicure and a facial. We couldn't be further from the truth.

Saunas--Good for the Body and the Mind

Taking a sauna bath provides an incredible boost to overall health. The reasons for this are myriad, but one of the most important, and easiest to understand, is the elimination of waste. What kind of waste? The body creates and absorbs waste from the foods we eat, particularly processed junk foods. We absorb it in the air we breathe and the water we drink. We create it in our own metabolic processes, too.

Many of our organs work to help us eliminate this waste. The kidneys, the liver, the lungs, the intestines, and the skin all eliminate waste. The skin is the largest organ in the body. Surprisingly, it is an incredibly complex organ. The skin is not simply decorative. It isn't just a canvas to paint with cosmetics or scent with lotions or try to keep wrinkle- and blemish-free. The skin is powerful. Sweat production is a powerful waste-eliminator.

Saunas, of course, induce sweat. Meanwhile, while your skin is sweating up a storm in the heat of the dry sauna, your internal organs are in overdrive as well. Your blood vessels have opened up considerably, increasing the flow of blood to all internal organs. Your heart beats faster, pumping more blood. Your internal organs are in high gear, as well, because they are under the impression that your body is experiencing a fever.

Saunas and Faux Fever

This faux fever coaxes your organs into thinking it's time to excrete more waste. The increased blood flow and sweat whisk these waste products out as quickly as your lungs, liver, and kidneys can produce them. Saunas, in other words, literally clean your organs, from the inside out. When you shower, you clean your body's outside. When you sauna, you clean its inside.

We are a culture obsessed with our physical exteriors. We give little thought to our interiors, until they begin to give us trouble. Beauty is thought of as being only "skin deep." In fact, true beauty lies on the inside, in a sense rarely implied by that rather tired maxim. True beauty is pink, healthy lungs, unclogged arteries, intestines which are free of mucous and plaque, and a liver and kidneys which are neither swollen, corroded, or overburdened.

Saunas are one of the few things in life which are both truly good for you, and truly pleasurable. So many people try to relax in the worst possible ways for their health. They enjoy big meals of fatty, over-processed foods. They drink too much alcohol. They smoke cigarettes. They plunk themselves in front of the TV with a bag of chips and a two liter soda bottle. Their attempts to relax only wind up making them feel more sluggish, sick to the stomach, out-of-breath, and unwell.

Choose Your Relaxation Techniques Wisely

Saunas feel great. They are more relaxing than a bottle of wine and better for you than a box of donuts. No wonder so many other cultures value the sauna as one of the most important tools for improving and maintaining health. In Finland, Russia, Germany, traditional Native American culture, and the Mediterranean, the spa is king.