The sauna craze is growing more each year in the United States. In fact, there are now more than a million saunas nationwide! Yet, many Americans still don’t know exactly how to make the most of their sauna session. We’d like to offer some tips.

• Shower first. Get your body ready for detoxifying by cleansing your body of hair gels, deodorant, cologne, perfume, and make up. A shower will also help increase your circulation a bit to get your body ready for the session ahead.

• Absorbent towels. Bring an absorbent towel to sit on the bench during your session, or a sauna seat cover. It will be great to sit on, but also great to help absorb sweat to minimize bench staining and keep ongoing maintenance easy.

• Water for hydration! Be sure to bring water into the sauna in something insulated that won’t become hot to the touch.

• Start at the top. Traditional steam saunas have an upper and lower bench on purpose. Sitting on the top bench maximizes your exposure to the heat rising from the sauna heater and gets your sweat on sooner. You’ll get your circulation going and start expelling toxins sooner.

• Essential oils for your sauna water. Our favorite is Eucalyptus. Some drops of it in your sauna water will really energize your respiratory system and help open up your sinuses when you douse the sauna rocks with water and breathe in that fragrant steam.

• Get a good sweat going. This can take at least 5-10 minutes. Once you do so, step out of the sauna and spend a few minutes cooling down. (Great time to also hydrate.)

• Employ a brush, birch or a loofah. Once you start a sweat, a sauna brush or birch branches are excellent to stimulate your skin and rid your body of dry dead skin cells. Do this with each sauna session and you’ll be stunned with the appearance of your skin over time! It will absolutely look healthier and have a much more youthful look. If you don’t have a sauna brush or birch, a loofah is a good substitute.

• Round two! Once you’ve had a cool down period, head back inside the sauna for the next inning. If you’re tolerating the heat well, start on the top bench again, and move to the lower bench once you begin to really heat up. It will allow you to stay in the sauna a bit longer for the second round.

• Once you’re done… Another nice lukewarm shower to help your body begin cooling down. Give your body a chance to cool down before getting dressed, and continue to replenish your body with water or another refreshing post-sauna beverage.

There you have it! These tips will help you enjoy your sauna sessions to their fullest, and really give you some outstanding results.