Customer Reviews

Sauna Therapy for Detoxification and Healing

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I came across [...]Dr. Lawrence Wilson's </a>book through an article titled: <a href="http://www.teslatech.info/ttmagazine/v1n3/v1n3toc.htm">"Light Saunas and Tesla" in the ExtraOrdinary Technology magazine</a> some time back and was very impressed with his no nonsense approach to Sauna therapy. The article highlighted a case history where, a strict dietary regiment, and the light Sauna stopped the progression of bone cancer!

One sensed that Dr. Wilson's primary goal above all was to first help us improve our health. I, could not help but, admire his efforts to self empower his patients and others with one of the most profound tools. His unique approach and ability to cut through the mumbo jumbo on Sauna therapy and provide an highly effective, if not the most effective, Sauna design and it's associated methodology readily into everyone's hand is exactly the kind of data that is central to the theme of my <a href="http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris">Share the Wealth site</a>.

The beauty of the Sauna is that it off loads the liver and the kidneys from their endless duty of detoxification, this then allows them to rest and rebuild. This is particularly important if the kidneys and the liver are not working optimally. In addition there are certain substances, discussed in the book, that are excreted better in sweat. Light Sauna is the only way to repair ionizing radiation damage (such as <a href="http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2003/08/25/xrays_and_cancers.htm">X-Rays </a>and nuclear etc.)

"To be most effective the sauna needs to use red infrared heat lamps, not conventional electric heaters or the newer zirconium ceramic elements that produce mainly far-infrared energy. The wide spectrum of the red infrared heat lamps includes the entire infrared spectrum, not just far infrared, and light frequencies of red, orange and yellow. It also includes ultrasound and radio frequencies, both short and long wave. It also includes some audible sound frequencies. Every one of these components has healing properties which" are explained in the book.

The problem with Sauna therapy has been the expense and the associated space required for one. Dr. Wilson, multifaceted approach, has not only resolved this but may have provided one of the most effective design to boot.

Infrared electric light sauna therapy is one of the least costly, safest and most powerful ways to eliminate toxic metals, toxic chemicals and chronic infections. The benefits include:

* Skin rejuvenation
* Exercise benefits
* Decongesting the internal organs
* Fever therapy (hyperthermia) for infections.
* Tumors, radiation poisoning and mutated cells

While I am not treating myself for any particular ailment, my goal is to develop a lifelong method for detoxifying. Safe and clean - good nutrition (the building blocks), air, and water are rapidly disappearing hence detoxification is essential for all, no matter how healthy we maybe or think we are.... and Dr. Wilson's plans, for a light Sauna that anyone can build at home so cost effectively, fit the bill exactly!

All components are off the shelf, low cost, and easily available. I was able to build my own for $150 Canadian, strangely it took me a day and a half to round up the all the components and only an afternoon to construct it!

Dr. Wilson is also an expert hair analyst. Hence, he first tested the efficacy the Sauna on himself thorough the use of hair analysis, the striking results of which are in the book, and subsequently used it on his patients. It was this work that inspired him to recommend sauna therapy for all clients.

[...]His site contains the basics including the plans. The book is far more comprehensive and contains the following chapters

1. Introduction to Saunas
2. Physiology of Saunas
3. Heat Shock Proteins
4. Sauna Protocol
5. Detoxification
6. Other Aspects Of Sauna Therapy
7. A Total Health Program
8. Effects On Health Conditions
9. Saunas And Infectious Disease
10. Saunas and Cancer
11. Healing Reactions
12. Sauna Design
13. Light Sauna Considerations
14. Personal Experience With An Electric Light Sauna
15. Sauna Research
16. Review and Conclusion
Appendix A. Saunas and Hair Mineral Analysis
[...]
Appendix D. Notes For Practitioners
References
Index

[...]

This book is a godsent to the population at large, most of whom would be at least moderately interested in maintaining and improving their health.
The "old" Finnish Sauna has been around for so long and its healing properties are somewhat understood by many but actual use of the Sauna is limited to a small section of the population in the Western world.
Women do not feel comfortable in the Finnish Sauna as temperatures run at about 100º C (212 Fahrenheit) and the extra padding of subcutaneous fat in the female means that a woman cannot deal with the external thermal stress as well as a man, making the Sauna a less than enjoyable experience.

Enter the Infrared Sauna. Lower temperature, much more detoxification through sweating and excretion of fat-soluble toxins and a feeling of comfort, like a nice warm summer day, plus the reduced technical requirements make this the Sauna of choice.

The author does an excellent job of explaining all there is to know, including simple, inexpensive ways to create your own Sauna from readily available materials, the book is a real treasury of factual, relevant information and I highly recommend it.
Following the book's instructions, I built my own infrared Sauna for very little money, it works well and my wife is amazed how clever I am.

I purchased Sauna Therapy in preparation for building my first sauna. This surprising little book contains a trove of information from the basic science behind saunas to practical considerations on how to choose among the variety that now exist, or even how to build them.

OK, so our Naturapath recommended saunas for detoxification, and I set out to learn what I could about them. I purchased both this book and The Holistic Handbook of Sauna Therapy by Nenah Sylver, both of which I would recommend to anyone considering saunas for detox. They both have a lot of good information about detoxification, including other modalities that might be done in combination with saunas.

The major difference is that Dr. Wilson advocates for building Near Infrared Sauna with heat lamps, and Nenah Sylver promotes instead the Far Infrared Sauna type, which is much more common commercially. After reading both I was pretty confused, so I decided to try a sauna at our local spa type place. They had a readily available expensive and aggressively marketed Far Infrared Sauna, which both my teen daughter and I tried for about 20 minutes, to see if regular treatments there or purchasing such a sauna would make sense.

Well we got our answer - No! I brought a Tri-Field meter with us to measure the EMF pollution, as Dr. Wilson states that these types of sauna tend to be very bad in terms of EMF pollution. Well he was right, the meter read like we were standing right under a high tension power line, which just can't be good for detoxing. About an hour after the sauna my daughter and I both started feeling sick, even thought we had been careful to hydrate and replace electrolytes. She feel worse and worse and had to cancel her evening plans, and we both felt awful all the next day. I know some detox things are supposed to create a "healing crisis" that one ultimately benefits from, but this did not seem to be the case, we could not see any benefit at all and were discouraged.

Therefor I am quite skeptical now about the possible benefits of Far Infrared, which Dr. Wilson thinks will always have high EMF pollution. However in Nenah Sylver's website she mentions that she personally uses the Saunex sauna, which apparently is manufactured so as to produce very low EMFs. I would be interested in trying this sauna, however they cost over $3,000 and were not available anyway do to a manufacturing issue (Spring 2011). If they really do have the low EMF down it might be a great sauna though.

Next we tried the Near Infrared. This was a bit difficult to get started on a initially as I was intimidated by doing the electronics myself, which he give excellent plans for doing. If you are up for this up could really make yourself a very low cost sauna! He also on his website lists some very small companies that will make is type of sauna for you, in a variety of different set ups. But then I realized I did not really need to wire the heat bulbs together, I just needed to get 3-4 suitable heat lamps, a way to arrange them and plug them into a power strip. This was actually pretty easy. (He makes it clear that you do need to be careful to have some way to prevent contact with the bulbs, they do get hot enough to burn if touched.)

First I tried the sitting on a stool and rotating arrangement that he suggests, but that did not work great for me, I found it rather tiring. I found instead that a horizontal arrangement with the lamps on one side and turning over frequently in a lying down position worked much better for me. I got out the Tri-Field meter again and found just as he said that there is no EMF pollution with these lamps, great! And it is very easy to adjust the overall temperature by changing the area of enclosed space. Also, we have found it very lovey to play relaxation type of CD during the sauna (Musical Acupuncture by Janalea Hoffman is great!).

But the huge surprise has been how truly Wonderful these lamps feel. Right away I had a sense that the lamps were "feeding" my cells or something! It sounds crazy I know, but it really is the best feeling. My daughter has been feeling ill for some time, her first time in the sauna (low heat), I could barely get her out! She smiled and said, "This is the first time I have felt good in so long..." It is not just a mater of the heat, something about the quality of the light/heat is deeply nourishing. It does matter what kind of lamp you get, and I can't explain why, but having tried a variety of brands, some really are better, but my daughter and I quickly developed favorites. So experiment if you are so inclined, they are not that expensive. Dr. Wilson says something about how newer models some brands have the wrong kind for filament or something, on his website he says which ones he likes.

So now I love my morning sauna time, and am very grateful to this book for making such a low cost healing modality possible for us. We never feel sick after time with these wonderful lamps, but instead feel nurtured. In fact I was curious about what on earth could make it feel so great and found these studies on the benefits on Near Infrared light for mitochondrial energy level and wound healing and more. They were using light made by LEDs, which would not produce much heat I would think, but somehow this light really does "feed" us. Wish there were more studies on this, but these are really interesting.
[...][...][...]

So if you are thinking that saunas might be helpful, get this book and enjoy!

This book provided a great overview of sauna therapy for a newcomer to the practice. The author clearly knows his topic. His book covers practical information on use as well as the author's and others' personal experiences going through a prolonged sauna therapy process. The author does not disguise his advocacy of sauna therapy, but allows that some people do not have positive sauna therapy experiences. As a reader, I felt I'd gotten an honestly presented opinion of the benefits and practice of sauna therapy, but hadn't been given a "hard sell". I appreciated the inclusion of the diagram and description of how to build your own sauna at home, and safety tips for use. I would have appreciated a little bit more information on Northern European use of saunas. The author's inclusion of references to those countries' historic use of saunas for relaxation and wellness helped me alter my perception of sauna therapy as an "edgy new-agey treatment" (about which I had initial reservations) to that of an effective wellness practice. My investigation grew out of research on how to support a friend's opioid drug detox process, the recommendations of two detox M.D.s and other associated literature. I am now tempted to try sauna therapy myself, as a general wellness practice, but I have not yet put the author's suggestions and claims to a practical test.

I'd recommend this book very highly to anyone with M.E. or any other severe chronic disease. It is essential for anyone trying sauna therapy also, whether FIR or near-infrared as Wilson recommends. (I've gone for the FIR, not the NIR for various reasons, but even so, this book is very useful.)

You can also read a lot (maybe 1/3 to 1/2) of the information in the book on Lawrence Wilson's excellent website, which I would also highly recommend. It also has a lot of good information on diet and enemas for detoxification and treating the cause of diseases rather than just treating symptoms etc. To find it just google his name and the word 'sauna' and you should find it.

In his must-read article 'Deep Healing Versus Symptom Removal' Dr Lawrence Wilson writes,

"Deep healing is quite different from symptom removal. Symptom removal is the type of doctoring offered by the medical profession and by most holistic doctors as well. Symptoms are the focus, by and large, and the goal is to make them go away. The problem is that symptoms often point to deeper imbalances that are not usually not addressed.

Deep healing is a much more profound process. It has to do with restoring the body to its former state of health. This means restoring its energy production system, its oxidation rate, its minerals ratios and much more. Symptom removal occurs as a "side effect" of these programs.

Healing therefore usually takes longer and involves lifestyle changes as well. It is more work for both the client and the practitioner. Lifestyle, in fact, is always central and this is a good way to tell if your doctor is focused on symptoms or on deeper healing. In the long run, however, it saves time and lots of money, and may save your life as well."

In his excellent article 'Deep Healing Versus Symptom Removal' Dr Lawrence Wilson explains that symptomatic approaches are so popular because:

"1. They appear simple. This means they are largely superficial and easily understood by doctors and patients alike. Balancing methods are much more difficult to comprehend and to practice, as well.

2. Doctors, drug companies and hospitals love them. This is sadly the case because the patients never really get well. They always come back with the next symptom or problem, so it is good for business. Even the socialized medical systems of Europe, Canada and elsewhere continue this stupid and costly methods of drug medicine. Most holistic physicians are still recommending symptomatic treatments, in my estimation. Many are still interested in having the patient come back many times. Many feel they simply cannot stay in business if they truly healed people. Therefore, no matter what they profess, they are less interested in deeper balancing methods that actually heal the patient at deep levels. However, overall they are much better than conventional medical doctors I have met.

3. Symptomatic approaches ask very little of the patient in most cases. The person is allowed to keep eating junk food, skip adequate rest and sleep and ignore the problems in their lives. "

If you only read one article of Dr Wilson's make it this one!

I wish so much I had had this book many years ago. It's excellent. This book and 'Detoxify or Die' are great read together and together tell you just about all you need to know about infrared sauna therapy.

Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for M.E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis)

The book was very informative in a subject that is not well studied. I'm following a daily sauna therapy and so far (after 3 months) the only benefit I have received is stress relieve. In other words, I have not experienced any of the benefits mentioned in the book.

One of the things that I disagree with the book is in the recommendation of stop doing any type of exercise for the duration of the therapy. I guess the jury is still out on the health benefits mentioned in the book.

Everyone will have a sauna one day in their homes for health. I got this book and acquired an infrared sauna that I use every day for 30 minutes. It's a great adjunct to a nutritonal program and hair mineral analysis. Look at this book as part of a complete program for yourself to help prevent disease and as a road to wellness, not just the absence of symptoms.
At the very least it makes your skin so much better. One throws off toxins and you feel better using it.
Read the book and decide for yourself!

This book is a must for any person wanting to be at their optimum health. I have always been healthy, I fast, do colonics 3 times a week, taken out my mercury fillings, eat all organic, and yet I know from what this book tells me, I still have more toxins and heavy metals that will easily be removed by sauna therapy. Money well spent and am excited to have a chance to reverse the aging process. Sherry

Before embarking on either sauna treatment for heavy metal detoxification or long term daily sauna treatment ponder a couple of clinical facts.

1. True, heavy metals do get excreted in sweat, however, the amounts will be IMMATERIAL. For example, the concentration of lead in sweat is similar to that of urine, which means you really have to kid yourself to use it as a sensible therapy.

2. Apart from heavy metals, there's a whole range of other VERY IMPORTANT trace and major minerals which you loose in sweat. So if you decided it's a good idea to spend 15 minutes in the sauna daily think again. For example, you are likely to loose much of your iodine body storage within a matter of the first week. If you keep visiting sauna for weeks or months you will notice a remarkable degradation in your long-term memory and concentration. I have a couple of sad examples in my personal circle. Not to mention those thyroid specialists who are itching to see you helping them repay their mansion mortgages.

So do yourself a favor - even if you do believe in miracles of alternative advice, at least try not to harm yourself in pursuing your health quests. Everything is good only in moderation.