From Sweat Lodges to Infrared Saunas

The basic primary principles of the sauna as both health enhancing and healing was subscribed to extensively among the North American native population. The Inuit were a notable exception due to the lack of a readily available supply of firewood. Early European explorers and traders stationed on the coast of Hudson Bay commented frequently on the use of the sweat bath by the Algonquin dwellers of the boreal forest in what is now northern Ontario.

In the 18th century James Isham, of the Hudson’s Bay Company, wrote "as for any Sickness or any Distemper Inwardly, they have no other Remedy for such then Sweating it off". He described a typical sweat lodge as about 4 feet high and made of skin. About 20 stones would be preheated in a tent and then brought into the lodge. The patients entered the lodge naked: "there they sit like monkeys upon their Birch, till they are in prodigious Sweat". They would then dash into a cold stream or roll about in the snow.

Another trader, Andrew Graham, stated that healthy persons to cleanse and lubricate themselves also used sweat lodges. He observed wryly that the Indians custom of plunging into cold water could prove fatal for a European trying it for the first time.

The practice, which, besides its practical use, also possessed spiritual and religious significance, was essentially unchanged a century later. At the beginning of the 20th century, the American anthropologist Alanson Skinner found that the Ojibwa and Cree Indians along the Albany River and the James Bay coast were still using the sweat lodge as a medical "cure all".

The sweat lodge has disappeared with the advancing Euro-Canadian culture. Perhaps with the resurgence of interest in the Finnish sauna, sweat lodges will again take their places in Indian settlements throughout the boreal forest. With the increasing practicality and popularity of infrared saunas, most individuals now have an alternative to traditional sauna or sweat lodges. Now, instead of firewood, all anyone would need in an electrical power supply.

There is a huge range of options available for residential saunas these days as opposed to the days of sweat lodges. If you are the do-it-yourself kind of person the basic components of a sauna (heater, and all the necessary construction materials) are readily available. With a search of the Internet you will find suppliers that are more than happy to ship the materials right to your door.

Infrared saunas create heat differently than traditional sweat lodges or saunas. They use Infrared waves to heat your body. The air in an Infrared sauna is not heated and most of the interior stays relatively cool when compared to the traditional saunas interior. Water is very efficiently heated with Infrared waves and we are mostly composed of water. That is why you get heated and the less moist materials around us, like the air, floor and walls stay much cooler. It is a well-established fact that Infrared heat penetrates deeper into the skin than the radiant heat of a traditional sauna. With this method of heating, warm-up time prior to taking a sauna is virtually eliminated.

Having a home sauna will improve your health, increase the value of your home and give you a little place to escape the hustle and bustle and everyday pressures. The North American natives knew a thing or two about the benefits of a good sweat. Now you can enjoy all the benefits in a more convenient package, right in your own home.

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

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