A Sauna is a small room designed to make the occupants experience wet or dry heat sessions. Sauna is an ancient Finnish method of relaxing and rejuvenating the body by subjecting the body to steam bath in a closed room. Sauna bath has for several years been known to induce a felling of well being and relaxation in people. Today many public sports centers, swimming pools and gyms have sauna facilities. It is a public affair with many participants enjoying the Sauna bath together. Sauna rooms have relatively low humidity level and high temperature to induce sweating. A Sauna session does not last for more than twenty minutes to half an hour.

Sauna bath has many beneficial effects on your body and mind. It works by opening up the pores of the skin. This helps in removing toxins, foreign particles and impurities from the blood stream. We know that Sauna is effective by the simple fact that during a sauna bath session, your heart beat rate rises to almost double the normal rate. The higher heart beat rate causes the blood vessels to swell and blood circulation to increase and move towards the skin. Once you have had a sauna bath you feel fresh and healthy. It soothes your mind and body and induces a feeling of well being and relaxation. The excessive sweating cleanses the body and the warmth helps in relieving contracted muscles. The warm steam and increased blood flow is also useful in relieving joint pains.

Would you like to have your own sauna installed in your house?  Put off by the high cost of hiring a contractor?  You can save more than half the cost by installing a kit or prebuilt sauna yourself. Installing a sauna kit or a prebuilt sauna in your home is easier than you may think.  If you have basic tool skills you should be able to handle this job without difficulty.  Prebuilt saunas are much easier than kits - they fit together in a few minutes using just a simple Allen key.

What's the Difference? A sauna kit is a package containing all the precut pieces necessary to build a sauna.  Assembling a kit is usually straightforward and can be accomplished with a few simple tools.  A prebuilt sauna is even easier -- it has already been assembled into two or three large pieces that simply need to be connected together.

One of the nice things to having your own sauna is the relatively little maintenance involved.  It's true that people are sweating heavily in a sauna, and this can cause discoloration over time.  But the high heat of the sauna pretty well guarantees that any moisture buildup will have evaporated by the time the sauna cools down.

Regular sauna maintenance is very similar to maintaining any other room in your house.  Sweeping or vacuuming every couple of days will keep it free from dust and hair, and gentle washing with soap and water will keep the seats and walls looking good.  The one thing to avoid in a sauna are harsh chemical cleaners.  The residues may be released when the sauna is heated causing unpleasant smells or even breathing difficulties.

Taking a sauna is a simple affair without many rules.  It's simply a matter of getting in the sauna and enjoying the sensation. That said, there are a few established procedures that are wise to follow - especially in a public sauna.  Respecting your fellow bathers is always important, and there are basic things you must observe to get the most out of your sauna experience.

If you are using a public sauna you must abide by their regulations.  Some prohibit the use of bathing suits while others require them.  If bathing suits are not allowed and you don't feel comfortable being nude, you can wrap a towel around yourself.  In any case, you should bring a towel into the sauna to sit on.

Nothing could be simpler than a sauna.  After all, it's only heat and water.  No special equipment, no extra gear, and no clothes!  Despite the simplicity, though, there are a few sauna accessories that can make your sauna experience even more enjoyable.

One of the appealing things about saunas is their natural beauty.  The wood lined walls, ceilings and floor are as attractive as they are functional.  When choosing accessories for your sauna try to find objects that will complement this natural beauty.  Wooden accessories fit in very well, as well as other natural materials like copper and cotton.

Saunas On-The-Go  - Taking a Look at Portable Saunas. There is no doubt about the health benefits of saunas.  They are good for the circulation, keep the skin soft and supple, and promote relaxation.  Are there any drawbacks?  Yes!  They are not accessible enough!  To use a sauna you either have to go to a health club or have one installed in your home. There's an alternative, though.  Portable saunas allow you to take a sauna almost anywhere in your home, on business trips, on vacations, even in your office!

Portable saunas come in two basic styles.  The first, which is truly portable, is a folding box-like structure that one person can sit in.  There are also portable saunas that look like traditional saunas they are wood-lined and have doors and benches.  This second type is portable in the sense that a bed is portable you can take it with you when you move, but you wouldn't want to take it on a weekend excursion.

The heart of any sauna is the sauna heater.  Sauna heaters must be specially designed to be able to produce a consistent high temperature.  There are several types of heaters available, but the most common are electric heaters.  Wood-burning heaters are popular in rural areas, and oil and gas heaters are also sometimes used but don't use sauna imediately after eye surgery. The sauna heater has two basic functions -- creating heat and creating steam.  There are stones piled on the heater which retain the heat and also produce steam when water is poured over them.