Sauna at home and Vivid Dreaming

Due to the current situation where we are all at home and most public places are now closed I've invested and bought myself a sauna.  I got a Valo 2 person sauna and it's been great so far.  I purchased it for ~A$1600 (before a price rise due to the exchange rate).  If you are reading this in early April 2020 they may still have stock here of the same model: https://www.luxoliving.com.au/Valo-2-Person-Canadian-Hemlock-Carbon-Fibre-Sauna-Cabin

I had looked at a number of sites for a sauna that would fit into my 1 bedroom apartment and more specifically on my balcony.  I briefly thought of a 1 person sauna but I'm so glad I got a bigger sauna as it's already a bit like a confinement space and to have a smaller space again I think would be a bit too claustrophobic.  Originally I had thought to buy the sauna from Appliances Online due to my previous great experiences but the delivery timeframe was too far away so I cancelled my order and ended up buying it from Luxo Living (link above) since they had stock.  It may not have had a known brand name but I'm glad I've received the sauna sooner rather than later as it's been good!

 Here are some pics of my building of the sauna:

My what big boxes you have!

And heavy 'panels' - there were 6 in total.

In tight quarters it does make it hard to get each panel out... esp when they are quire heavy and you have to do this by yourself because of Coronavirus meaning you can't get help from anyone you know.  (at least no one I wanted to risk!) 

Each of the panels is easily slotted together... once you can move them into place.

Almost there except I had to take it apart again to get the bench seat thing in.

Finally built and ready to go!  (And yes it was dark by this time)

Prior to the 'lockdown' I had been taking advantage of the Fitness Passport and using my local swimming pool and dry sauna there.  The main reason I even sauna'd in the first place was after doing a DNA consultation with Dr Anthony Jay - his analysis of my DNA suggested that I do saunas 3+ times a week.  (Hmmm looking at this again I need to make sure I read the book too about artificial estrogen chemicals).

I've also since done a further hormonal test (DUTCH test) which does indicate that while my estrogen (in this case estradiol) is in the 'normal' range, my progesterone and my testosterone is almost nil!

It's not a good thing and I'm not sure what the DUTCH test says about doing a sauna but I do find it interesting as I assume the DUTCH test would indicate I'm estrogen dominant (because I don't have the other two sex hormones at all!)

I digress.  Back to saunas.  So I'm not sure what the manifestation of my low testosterone and progesterone is although I still have other issues.  I wasn't expecting anything particular about saunas except better sleep.

I had a great experience in early 2020 when I had gone to a spa place where I did an infrared sauna, sensory deprivation float and a salt room session.  It was good but I didn't get a "aha" moment.  Then the following morning I got an amazing feeling of contentment or happiness when I woke up.  And it wasn't just one day.  It lasted for about 2 weeks!  Every morning I'd get up and have this feeling of "happiness".

Sleep, Dreams and Happiness

I wouldn't say I felt like I slept better just that I felt this amazing feeling in the morning when I woke up.  I couldn't work out which of the therapies or combination of therapies worked.  Now I know it was definitely the infrared sauna. As I've managed to replicate it with the sauna I have at home!  I'm trying to remember if I had the same feeling with the dry sauna but now I can't recall.  It's likely.  The feeling of well being is pretty amazing.  It's not something that is easily explained as I call it "happiness" but it's more a feeling of peace and wellbeing. 
My Oura ring stats do not seem to indicate my sauna gives me any better sleep than normal.  Actually I do wish my sleep stats from the Oura ring had some sort of pattern but I haven't managed to discern one yet. 

I'm also taking a lot of supplements to detox and fix my hormones so some of these could be affecting my sleep as I'm definitely not sleeping 'better' as I feel like I'm waking up more than usual. I say I'm not sleeping better but my Oura ring data isn't indicating my sleep is any worse than usual.

One thing I have noticed from a sauna is the vividness of my dreams!  I'm not sure if it's more vivid than normal but I'm remembering them.  From silly dreams that still make no sense (like rows of hedges!?) to scary ones where I wake up in the dream and see spooky signatures (mine!) all over my walls.  Thank goodness it was all a dream.  I have since Googled this and I'm consoling myself it's a symptom of detoxing. 

Skin

My skin has seen a marked improvement from using my infrared sauna and the dry sauna from weeks ago.  There was a difference that I could feel when I had the gap between the dry sauna and my sauna at home.  The main thing was the "moisture" in the skin.  I could feel that my skin felt older and more 'crepe-y' when I hadn't been in doing sauna therapy.  I also found that when I did saunas and now I just don't need moisturiser.  I know it's crazy but it's true.  My skin somehow is creating it's own level of moisturiser so I don't need to add it to my face or hands.  Not sure if this will last into our winter but I'm hoping so!

Not sure if you can tell which is the post sauna hand... but it's the bottom one which has a bit more moisture!

Also when I first started the dry sauna experience I had a pimple.  I know it doesn't sound great but I'm just going to assume it was my skin detoxing.  As you may have guessed I haven't had a pimple for decades. 

My mother also reckons my pores are not as huge as they were before and seems to think I now have better skin :).

So in conclusion I think saunas are great!  The biggest benefit is the feeling of contentment and secondly it's my skin.  If you don't feel comfortable in your skin, who will ;) 

If you get down this far into the blog post I hope you are well.  It's 9 April 2020 and Sydney, Australia is in semi (stage 3) lockdown due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19).  We can go out and shop and attend to essential services but can't meet with anymore than one other person.  But that doesn't include visiting anyone.  You can't visit anyone.  Unless they are your partner or part of your family unit (as in your close family unit).  But we're flattening the curve!  So our daily case count isn't too bad -- 85 for Australia today and a total number of known cases of 6109.