Infrared Saunas and Red Light Therapy Can Help Lower Blood Pressure!
Hello, Awaken family! If you’re here, chances are you’re looking for a way to relax, unwind, and maybe, just maybe, keep your blood pressure in a healthy range. We’ve got a double act here today: Infrared Saunas and Red Light Therapy. They’re like a dynamic duo for your health! So let’s dive into the world of warmth and light and see how infrared sauna and red light therapy can help lower your blood pressure!
Act One: Infrared Saunas—The Toasty Cozy Embrace/
Imagine this: you walk into a little room, and it’s like the warm hug you didn’t know you needed. But instead of just sweating like you’re auditioning for “Dancing with the Stars,” you’re actually doing your body a world of good. Infrared saunas use invisible light waves to gently heat up your body, deep down, from the inside out. And it’s not just any heat—it’s a warm, soothing, “Ahhh” kind of heat that makes your muscles melt like butter on toast.
Now, here’s the kicker: that deep, internal warmth causes your blood to thin a little & blood vessels to widen. When those vessels open up, blood flows better, and your heart doesn’t have to work as hard. It’s like turning your cardiovascular system into a lazy river at a waterpark. Your little inner tubes, called blood cells, just float on by!
With all this ease, your high blood pressure can drop a little, sometimes even a lot, because your blood flow becomes as smooth as a 90s r&b song from NEXT (shout out “Butta Luv” for all my Minnesota 90’s r&b babies) and for the rest of you, let’s just say it’s kind of like a Barry White song. And if your heart’s happy, honey, you’re happy. Trust me! (1)
Act Two: Onyx Light Therapy—The Warm Glow of Good Health
If you’re thinking, “But where’s the light show?” Fear not, my friends—enter Red Light Therapy! It’s like someone sprinkled a little bit of sunshine into a magic lamp, and when it shines on you, things start to happen. Red light therapy involves a low-level wavelength of red light that can penetrate the body and gets those cells of yours working like a well-trained marching band. Now we can’t forget it’s less flashy friend in our exclusive ONYX light therapy panels. The incognito, sometimes invisible, near infrared wavelengths with even deeper penetrating effects! (Don’t get too jealous red light, we know you still have depth!)
Both red light and near infrared helps your cells produce more energy, and in doing so, it reduces inflammation. And as it turns out, reducing inflammation can have a domino effect on your blood pressure. With less inflammation and a big nitric oxide boost your blood vessels can relax, your circulation improves, and there you are—your blood pressure starts to settle down like a cat in a sunbeam. (2)
Putting It All Together: Your Heart’s Night at the Spa
So what happens when you combine these two therapies? Magic. Infrared saunas and red light therapy both relax your cardiovascular system in different ways. One is like basking on a beach in Oahu, the other like laying on a blanket in gentle sunlight. Together, they can help lower blood pressure, reduce stress, and make you feel like you’ve traveled the world and discovered world peace!
But wait, there’s more! These therapies not only give your heart a break; they also give your mind one. Stress is one of blood pressure’s best friends (that toxic friend who always ruins the party). When you let go of that stress, your blood pressure doesn’t stand a chance.
There’s a teensy little footnote, a bit of fine print, a whisper of reality here. Are you ready? The benefits of Red Light Therapy and those fabulous saunas don’t just show up like Amazon Prime, alright? They take a bit of time, a bit of commitment. You can’t just step in once, give a little sizzle, and voilà—heart health! This is a long-term relationship. You gotta show up, put in the hours, make it a habit. Like a good cup of tea or cacao, it’s gotta steep, you know? (plug for our amazing Awaken Cacao Powder here BUY IT NOW! ;)
By Chris Richmond & Bethel Gessesse
Sources:
- “Hot Baths and Saunas: Beneficial for Your Heart?” Harvard Health, 1 Oct. 2020, www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/hot-baths-and-saunas-beneficial-for-your-heart.
- Salo?, Adam, et al. “Vascular Responses Following Light Therapy: A Pilot Study with Healthy Volunteers.” Journal of Clinical Medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 13 Mar. 2023, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10054429/.
