For a few months, I was OBSESSED with infrared sauna. I even enlisted in my local sauna studio’s unlimited monthly membership. It was a daily ritual and I LOVED it. 40 minutes to a calmer, warmer me. I spent my time drifting into the notes of the spa music emanating through the speakers as my body did all the work. My heart would race. At times, I’d wonder if I might pass out, but as the adrenaline junkie I am, would keep the temperature at it’s highest setting 165 degrees.

The spa utilized chromotherapy or color light therapy. So, there were different light colors to chose from corresponding to varying physical ailments. Depending on the day, my body chose red or green. If I was tired and needed to settle my mind: blue. And, if I needed spiritual guidance, yellow. I’d occasionally check the chromotherapy chart to see which color did what, but only after choosing. I was curious about the colors that I chose.

I loved the way that muscles I didn’t even know I was clenching, loosened after about 20 minutes. And the feeling of the heat hitting my cold body as I opened the glass doors to my own mini wood cabin was better than…well…anything.

My first sauna experience occurred in high school. This is when I learned that I didn’t sweat at my local gym sauna. To prove this, I put on three pairs of sweats and went to the sauna with a friend of mine. She wore sweats too but started stripping layers off pretty hastily only minutes in. She was dripping sweat soon after entering. I left the sauna with a bead of sweat on my forehead.

Remembering that incident, I wasn’t thrilled when my doctor recommended finding a sauna to help my body detox from all of the mold toxins or mycotoxins my body had accumulated. She explained that infrared was ideal, that I could stay in infrared longer, but that a gym sauna was fine. She advised me to stay in the sauna for only 10-15 minutes at the gym.

So, I went to my local fitness center. It reeked of mildew in the locker room. I carefully undressed as ladies, mostly older ladies, walked by me wondering why I was undressing from my street clothes into a towel.

Once in the sauna, I had deja vu…same ol’ same ‘ol. It was mildly hot. Mostly it was smelly. And the majority of women used the sauna as a place to lather on their numerous skincare products, naked, coming right out of the shower. This happened every time. Other women would turn off the sauna before entering. The switch was located on the outside of the door. I would wonder why the sauna was getting cooler the longer I stayed. Only to find, 20 minutes later, after the woman had left, that the switch was off.

I spent a grueling 10-15 minutes awkwardly sitting on a towel amidst 60-75-year-old ladies talking about their kid’s expensive divorces and son-in-law’s secret families in Dubai. And every time I came to the sauna, someone would generously spray some sort of artificial tea tree mist that smelled like minty glass cleaner…BARF. The experiences SUCKED. And, I didn’t sweat. So, finding a sauna that was private and that actually caused me to sweat was like stumbling through heaven’s gates.

I spent the past couple of weeks back at my dermatologist due to brown spots that started showing up. Once I correlated the brown spots with my daily 40-minute sauna routine, I put my membership on hold. But, my dermatologist also noted that infrared is less likely to cause any problems. He says I can sauna, just not “like a teenager,” meaning not every day for 40 minutes at the highest heat setting. His comment made me laugh. It was a very astute observation. I am prone to doing things full-out.

Take-away: Feels incredible, lovely way to relax. Use sparingly if you get dark spots easily.