Interview: The Sauna Mistake Most Perimenopausal Women Make

Transcript

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Well, Connie, welcome to the Hello Hormones podcast. I am so excited to pick your brain about saunas today because I selfishly have one coming very soon. And there is a lot of I think there's a lot of appreciation for saunas, but then there's I've noticed lately there's a lot of weird like, "Well, that's just what longevity people do. That's just what biohackers do." And I'm like, "No, saunas have been around for a very, very long time." So, welcome to the show. Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here and to chat about, you know, everything that your audience is interested in. Well, my audience is interested all things hormones for sure. It's usually a lot of us who are perimenopausal, postmenopausal, going through the things. And you know, is how and when sauna and even cold plunge. I'm going to ask you about cold plunge stuff or going back and forth because I get that question too from women who are like, "Ooh, I get hot flashes. I don't think I can sauna." Or" Ooh, you know, I heard that sauna and cold plunge is bad for the immune system." Or or bad for women in perimenopause. And I'm like, I feel like that's a myth buster that we need to talk about. [laughter] As we get into it. But what I really I want to start is the high level. Like for somebody who is just listening to this who maybe is like kind of interested in the concept of saunaing or wants to understand more around sauna, what it's used for traditionally, currently. Let's just start up there. Like why do we love sauna? Okay, so let's start with traditional cuz everybody is familiar with a traditional sauna, right? I mean, it's been around forever. And I think there's

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been around forever. And I think there's a great statistic that says there are more saunas in Finland than cars. I believe it. So, yeah, I mean, it's really like one every other person in in Finland owns a traditional sauna. It's a way of life there. So, it is a traditional sauna has traditional heat, and you get hot because the air is hot. Okay, so temperature is a direct reflection of how it works. So, the hotter it gets inside the cabin, the hotter you will get, right? That is um what traditional heat is. Infrared is completely different. Infrared resides within the sun's light spectrum. So, it comes directly from the sun. The majority of the sun's rays are within that infrared range, the infrared spectrum. One of the things I love so much about infrared is it is a spectrum within a spectrum that is really divided. What we're going to talk about today a little bit is the entire spectrum and it's divided into two sections. Two of them, which is far and mid, that are delivered um via into your body. Your it's absorbed into the cells through heat. So, you get hotter internally, but you're not getting hotter because the air is hotter, because the energy is absorbed directly into your cells. And then the other two, which is near infrared and red light, near infrared is is invisible, red light is visible. Those two

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is visible. Those two are delivered by light. So, what's great is you get the power of both heat and light being absorbed into the body and impacting the cells in different ways. What's really important to note, because we're talking about infrared versus traditional, is one of the advantages of infrared is that light energy is so powerful for supercharging our cells. We have tons of data on this. I can share it more in detail if you want. What what's important is with infrared, you get the opportunity to receive that light at different variables, different frequencies, and your wellness outcomes are directly connected to which wavelength you use, what is is dose, and what is the delivery. And that's all within the infrared category. So, it's very complex, but extremely powerful, and it just makes such a significant difference on the body, and it's incredibly um tolerable and enjoyable when you're in there because it's not this You don't walk in and there's a this oppressive heat where you're just like, "Oh my gosh, it's so hot."because you don't feel the energy right away because it takes a minute for the energy you get in energy is absorbed. So, the feeling is similar to when you walk outside and the there's clouds, and then all of a sudden the sun peaks out underneath the clouds, and you before you see it, you almost

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and you before you see it, you almost feel it, right? Do you almost feel the sun's rays into your cells and your bodies? And it feels so good. And that feeling, capturing that essence, is what infrared is all about. So, that's what we do. That's our job here at Sunlight Saunas. We bring the sun inside and and um you know, transfer all of the healing properties and all the magical cellular supercharging properties to people so that we give them, you know, the best results that they can have so they live the fullest life. You know, it's interesting is I think you years ago I was looking into the mitochondria. You know, the mitochondria is a reminder for people we all learned it in school. It's the powerhouse of the cell. Now, it does way more than that, uh but in the production of ATP, our little battery for our cell, there is something called cytochrome c. And I remember reading this, and it's like, "Oh, it has a you know, a photoreceptor. It accepts the sun's rays. It likes red light, and it supercharges charges it up." And I was like, "That's brilliant." Like, in the grand design of if you've ever been Now, I know people some people don't like the sun, but when you're outside on a beautiful sunny day, or you know, you just feel so good after you come in, or even, you know I I know like with red light in particular one aspect of infrared and people like to sit in front of their infrared or red light panels or get exposure to red light and they're like, "Oh, I just feel so much better after the fact." And I'm like, "Well, one aspect from this little mitochondrial supercharge is so helpful." And as women in

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is so helpful." And as women in particular, their hormones are shifting, their mitochondria take a beating. Just They estrogen plays a big role in how the mitochondria do or don't function. And so it can really impact energy levels. There There's a researcher Andrea Dansky who in part of her research over there are over 103 signs and symptoms of perimenopause. And she did survey of thousands of women and fatigue was the number one symptom. It's not hot flashes, it's not night sweats. It wasn't brain fog. It was fatigue. And I was like, I this plays at least a piece of the puzzle when we're talking about this. Yeah, absolutely. And it is I mean I'm so glad that you brought up, you know, mitochondrial theory of aging which is so connected to all of that data and the connection exactly what you talked about between, you know, how important it is to to have light energy through near infrared. It's actually more important. So here's a myth buster number one those listening. It's more important to get near infrared into into your photoreceptors and into the mitochondria in your cells and cytochrome c all of that than it is red light. So myth buster number one. Um and the the reason I'm like so connected to it is because it it really does when you think about you wake up. This is kind of always the visual I have in my head and you know, when I'm setting my intentions

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you know, when I'm setting my intentions for the next day. One of the things I always say is, "Okay, how do I want to feel when I wake up in the morning? How do I want to present myself? And um one of the the benefits of using the light therapy of near infrared and red light specifically, there's also benefits with the heat part of infrared too, which we can talk about. But it it does give you that jump in your step, right? Because it completely If you think about the mitochondria as your body battery, we know for sure that near infrared and red light are the chargers. Like they're charging your body battery. They're also communicating with your cells, which is super important because cellular, you know, regeneration is such a key to living longer and and to not only living longer, but also just how you live and how you feel and that energy. And so you're going to get It's going to be easier for you to kick those legs off the bed and jump out of bed if you consistently use near infrared and red light. And I think a lot of women request that. It like is a joke. I've seen memes like we we plug our phone in every night. You know, we plug our computer in. Where's our plug? Like Yeah, well, [laughter] this is it, guys. This is it. This is your plug. This is your charger that gives you And the great news for people listening uh cuz I am If my most important asset is my time, that is the thing that I protect and I put boundaries around at all costs cuz you can't get more. It's the one thing

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you can't get more. It's the one thing you just can't get more of. And so what's great is near infrared and red light, they can charge your battery really fast. Like it's it's like, you know, the electric cars when you think about the, you know, the superchargers versus the slow chargers. You know, it's it's supercharging your cells. Now, so with this cuz one of my later on questions, but I'm going to ask it now is like, well, what time of day should you do sauna? Like should you get this exposure? But it sounds like if you're when you have the near and red infrared exposure, you probably want it in the morning cuz you want that supercharge versus right before you go to bed or does it matter? It It doesn't matter is the quick answer. Okay. There's different impacts on the body depending on whether you do it in the morning or you do it at night. Um I find that the morning data is as far as longevity and healthy living and energy and a lot of the benefits that probably everybody's listening are looking for, that is the ideal and because it mimics the impact of exercise. So it's starting that cardiovascular conditioning, it's starting the blood flow, the circulation, getting the oxygen to the tissues, waking your brain up, really waking all of your systems up, starting to activate your detox pathways. That all happens so that by the time that you go to bed, you've really

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that you go to bed, you've really started your circadian rhythm, right? And and a great night's sleep is so dependent on a routine. And if you have a consistent routine, your body is going to know just like that we did when our babies were little, you know, I mean you have the book bed bath, you know, and you're I mean book not that on that order, but um bath bath book There you go. Let's get it Let's do it right. And that you know, then they know it's time for bed. Same thing with us. I mean we're the same as babies and toddlers as far as the how we have and that can establish our our routine and to optimize circadian rhythm. There is benefit while we're talking about time of day on doing it later in the evening, not not right before sleep. So all the data says if you're going to do it in the evening, do it at least an hour before sleep. But there is um data just showing because especially far infrared and and mid both of the heat parts of the infrared spectrum far and mid they really downshift the body from that that you know you're going and your autonomic nervous system you're in that you know sympathetic state and they just quickly move your nervous system down into the parasympathetic state so it starts to reduce your stress and you get this ultimate relaxation. So then it's really nice and it's nice to be able to you know drift off and go and start your

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know drift off and go and start your your evening routine routine. I I pair mine many times with exercise post exercise. I find the best benefit for that. So I like to always do it in the morning. Okay. So you exercise first and then do sauna or sauna first and then exercise? Exercise first and then sauna. On the days I don't do um cardio then I may do like strength Mhm. and then sauna and then there's days where I don't do the traditional exercise cardio or strength and then I'll do you know sauna and then I'll do a walk Okay. later in the evening. Okay. Now obviously a lot of people have panels right? They'll have a panel like I have oh I have a red light panel that has near and red but now we layer the heat on it in particular with the sauna. What's the difference between you need like do the entire sauna versus oh well I just have a panel and that's good enough. Yeah it that's a great question and every aspect of the infrared spectrum it's light energy and if you just my my great analogy for that is if you think about a prism or you think about the rainbow right? Like each part of the rainbow is a different has a different color. And it it impacts, you know, the every it impacts your your view and everything differently. It's it's separated. And that's what infrared energy is designed to be is separated out into

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designed to be is separated out into independent wavelengths so that you can get the benefits of each wavelength because each wavelength of light impacts your cells and your bodies at different levels. Far is absorbed the the deepest, mid is not absorbed, mid is the joints and tissues. Near penetrates directly into deep into the skin. It penetrates the deepest. That's why it's the most powerful between near and red, and then red is more superficial. So, why it matters to have ideally all four of them is because you're getting more absorption into your water molecules in your cells, and you're starting to increase your core temperature, and have that activation of your heat shock proteins, you know, which helps to strengthen your immune system and also start to activate all your detox pathways, and remove, you know, any toxic buildup, which is so connected to hormone problems. Incredibly close connection, right? There's also that gut-brain connection. So, we want to fix our gut first. So, one of the best ways to fix our gut is through detoxification through far infrared and mid-infrared heat. So, the light therapy is not going to detox your body. Just the heat aspect. Okay, let's actually get into that because I think this is super important. When I talk about hormones, people will often say like, "Oh, yes, like sauna. Like I go to the sauna in my gym. Like I'm detoxing hormones." I'm like, "No. As far as we know, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, that's out through the kidney, out

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that's out through the kidney, out through the intestines, but you can but sweating is still a key part of detoxification, and then having an infrared spectrum activates other aspects of your detox pathways. So, just as you said, that impacts intestines and kidneys. So, let's go right into detox cuz I think that's a key one for a lot of people given the environment that we've got going on around us. [snorts] Yeah, the detox process starts immediately when you get in, and I want people to think about infrared as a switch, right? Because the infrared spectrum has four We're talking about four parts of the light infrared light spectrum, you know, far, mid, near, and red light, right? And it's more like a switch versus something that needs to be heated up to a certain level to get any benefits. So, the reason I bring that up is because as soon as you get in and you turn the switch and you turn it on, right? That energy starts to travel and be absorbed into our cells and our water molecules. And what happens literally is your molecules inside start to move around and start to vibrate, and it doesn't break any bonds. They just start to like as Dr. Bland always calls it, they start to dance around and have this like really gentle movement. It's And I just I love that visual cuz I just think, "Oh, my body's getting happy." Doing happy dances. Happy dances inside. So, it starts to make all that that flow

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So, it starts to make all that that flow and and the benefit the scientific benefits, so back to your question with detox, is when you start to have all that movement and that flow you activate all of your different detox pathways, and you activate all of your your systems. You know, I always say that it sets off this biochemical cascade that literally from your brain to your feet, you know, is is activated by your entire body as soon as you're exposed to the energy. Um now, it matters the quantity and the quality, all that kind of stuff All that stuff matters, which we can talk about, but Yeah. for the sake of this discussion, let's just say we're we're referring to a Sunlighten sauna, which has, you know, the highest quality and quantity of all the different parts of the infrared spectrum. And so, by the time that you start sweating, that's really the last system to be activated. I did not know that. Yeah. The other ones start right away. You know, so it's it's you know, by the I mean, if if you get in now that there's a um framework to that, that statement is true if you get in when you turn it on. Uh-huh. Now, if you turn it on and you wait everything, you'll probably start sweating a lot faster. Mhm. And um I've I've done that recently. I forgot and I turned it on and I actually had a presentation and I got in and I was like, "Oh, no. It's so hot." Like uh um so, I had to make adjustments. But, the the detox art, I mean, that's how we started in the first place is because my brother was extremely ill and had heavy metal toxicity as a result of the mercury fillings in his body and his

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the mercury fillings in his body and his dentist said, "Hey, you know, you need to investigate infrared and specifically infrared sauna so you can sweat out the mercury cuz I've heard that it can help detoxify the body." And that's what he did. It changed his life and then I changed mine. Um and so, but that's that that is literally how we started the company. So, I am very connected to how the detox pathways work and the quality of infrared and what matters in order to achieve that wellness outcome and how detox is so important to impact those other wellness comes you're looking for such as you know, mood changes and and um hormone control and stress. I mean, so it's all connected. Yeah, but infrared can help with all aspects. You just have to make sure you have the right wavelength, the right dose, and the right delivery. This is amazing. I'm I'm First of all, thank you so much for coming on today. I much for having me. Well, I have so many like I said, I was I've sauna has come up, thankfully, so much so recently of course with longevity and biohacking but just as you said like I've been to Scandinavia. I've been to Finland. I've been to you know, Sweden and and Denmark and it is sauna is life. Sauna is culture, you know, and I I didn't realize that. We don't grow up with that in the United States. So we don't get a lot of that exposure and now I think it's so important as women are getting into perimenopause and menopause and just dealing with the stress and their blood pressure is going up and it's a toxic world and and they're not happy and their brain is not functioning well and they're like what

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functioning well and they're like what what's what can I what what can I do? How do I recharge myself if I recharge my phone? And I just love being able to pick your brain because you've been doing it for a long time and are the OG in the escape of the landscape of saunas. So thank you for coming on today. Where should people go if they're like, I'm ready, sign me up. I want to learn more about sunlight and saunas. Where should they go and we'll make sure to put the link in the show notes. So they should go to sunlighten. com and or they can call us, you know, and we can put the phone number in the notes but it's 877-292 - 0020. Um they can search us on social, you know, and they can there's you know, we're all over the place but the easiest place is you know, sunlighten. com or give us a call and we have a trained team here that's very passionate about making sure we help find the right fit cuz we do have four different collections and our goal is to not have you spend it you know, die more than you need to. So if we can get you in want to get you into the right product for you based on your wellness goals and what's going on in your life. And um and then we also have you know, a special deal special discount for your listeners so we do. So anybody who is listening the key to unlock the deal is you have to mention Dr. Carrie Jones, and you're going to get up to $ 2, 100 off. Huge.

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Huge. amount. Yes. Um, and you will get free shipping. So, it's a good time to be listening to Dr. Carrie Jones. [laughter] And you're going to get a a good deal and um, I always as well, if people are still confused cuz we covered so much. Oh my gosh, so much in in actually in a small amount of time, you can always you know, reach out. You can go on social and you know, I'm on social, so you can you know, access me and I'm happy to answer your questions and um, or you can reach out directly to, you know, to you and we we can filter answers back through you and you know, we can do this again. Yeah, I most definitely. Well, like I I have lots of colleagues that have a Sunlighten sauna. That's I always I look at my own research online and then, you know, I go to the friend group and I'm like, okay, what sauna does everybody have? And I I have a my Impulse is coming next week and well, hopefully hopefully the end of this week, maybe next week and um, I'm very excited. So, I so appreciate you coming on today, taking the time and really just going deep into all things just sauna in general, but like how infrared and then Sunlighten is just different. Well, thanks for having me. I really enjoyed it and love the rapid-fire and you know, um, excited for you to get your sauna and I'm excited for the audience to you know, hear everything and um, they can reach out or contact us at if they want to take another step. Amazing.