Breathing, without so much as a second thought, is one of the most crucial processes we automate every day for our survival. But did you know that taking conscious control of your breath, even just for several minutes a day, can significantly impact your mental, physical, and emotional health? Combining this with another relaxing treatment, such as infrared saunas, can enhance the experience and benefits you receive. Given their accessibility, these two practices can be a great addition for anyone looking to expand their day to day care regimen.
In this blog, join our team at Sun Stream Saunas AUS in discovering how the combination of infrared saunas and breathwork can provide comprehensive benefits for both your mind and body.
What Can Breathwork Do?
Breathwork, specifically conscious breathing practices such as diaphragmatic or deep belly breathing, can activate the parasympathetic nervous system. This leads to various benefits, including reduced heart rate and blood pressure, improved digestion, and reduced stress.
The practice also helps increase oxygenation in the body. When you breathe deeply, you intake more oxygen, which is absorbed into the bloodstream and distributed to the body’s tissues and organs. This is excellent for cell health maintenance, leading to improved energy levels and overall vitality.
Apart from physical benefits, breathwork also has a powerful effect on your mind and emotions. By focusing on your breath during the practice, you’re able to hone in on your awareness and mindfulness by lending your mind physically repetitious, low-effort practices in which to anchor your otherwise noisy headspace. These two practices have been proven to help decrease anxiety and stress.
The Benefits of Combining Infrared Saunas and Breathwork
Infrared saunas have gained prominence for their therapeutic effects, and when combined with breathwork, their ability to support respiratory health and stress management becomes powerfully synergistic. Here’s how:
Enhancing Lung Capacity
Unlike traditional saunas, infrared saunas directly heat the body rather than the surrounding air. This causes the body to enter a controlled state of hyperthermia, which prompts a range of physiological responses. One of the most crucial of these responses is the vasodilation or the dilation of blood vessels, which prompts a higher rate of circulation.
For the lungs, this means a more efficient gas exchange. Oxygen is better absorbed into the bloodstream, and carbon dioxide is expelled more efficiently.
Additionally, the heat from the sauna produces an effect that shares some physiological symptoms as moderate cardiovascular exercise, forcing the respiratory system, most especially, the lungs to work harder.
These factors effectively help set the stage for breathwork in infrared saunas. The heated environment allows the body’s muscles, ribs, and diaphragm to become more pliable. This increased range of movement and fibre recruitment makes it easier to expand the lungs, allowing maximum oxygen intake in every breath. As the practice is repeated, your lung capacity increases, leading to better endurance, improved stamina, and enhanced respiratory health.
Stress Reduction
Combining these two practices can amplify their stress reduction effects. While infrared saunas reduce cortisol levels, the body’s primary stress hormone, breathwork activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which counteracts the effects of chronic stress. Together, these effects help slow the heart rate, calm the mind, and even regulate emotions, reducing stress levels.
Breathwork Techniques for Infrared Sauna Sessions
There are various breathwork techniques out there, and the right one should be chosen based on your goals – whether that’s enhancing lung function or relieving stress. Here are some of the most common practices you can perform inside an infrared sauna.
1. Diaphragmatic Breathing (Belly Breathing)
This breathing technique fully engages the diaphragm to maximise oxygen intake. In an infrared sauna, the muscles are relieved of tension, allowing for increased oxygen saturation in the blood.
To perform this, sit upright and inhale deeply through your nose until you can’t take in any more air. Feel the air filling your abdomen and sides, with your chest staying relatively still. Then, hold it for 2 seconds before lightly pursing your lips and slowly exhaling through your mouth. Repeat this several times within 10 – 15 minutes.
2. Box Breathing
Box breathing is a rhythmic breathing technique that helps balance your nervous system. As its name implies, equal timing is applied on each phase of breathing. Inhale while slowly counting to 4 – hold for 4 seconds, then slowly exhale through your mouth for another 4.
3. 4-7-8 Breathing
This type of breathing is a form of pranayama, the practice of breath regulation. Anecdotal evidence suggests that it is relaxing and can help ease people into sleep.
To practise this, breathe in quietly through the nose for 4 seconds, and hold that breath for 7 seconds. Afterward, exhale forcefully through the mouth, pursing the lips and creating a “whoosh” sound for 8 seconds.
4. Alternate Nostril Breathing
Alternate nostril breathing, or ‘nadi shodhana pranayama’ in Sanskrit, is a subtle energy clearing breathing technique. It offers benefits such as focused awareness and stress management.
Begin by fully exhaling before closing the right nostril. Inhale through the left, close it, then open your right and exhale there. Then, inhale through the right, close it, open the left, and exhale via the right. This is one cycle. Repeat for about 5 minutes.
Key Takeaway
Among all the wellness and relaxation techniques out there, breathwork and infrared sauna sessions are highly accessible and easy practices to follow. This makes them some of the easiest to maintain in the long run. However, to maximise the benefits of these practices, it’s essential to invest in a high-quality infrared sauna.
At Sun Stream Saunas AUS, we offer high-quality and certified infrared saunas designed for promoting long-term health. They offer the perfect environment for you to gain maximum benefits from breathwork and infrared saunas. Explore our products, or contact us for more inquiries now!