Nicole Carlson 0:04

We use NASA research 20 some years ago, they use infrared to heal astronauts in space if they have a lead or something. And so we use that research to create which is, you know, big reason why some lightness so different. Our light therapy is so different than others on the market. But we use that research to create the heaters. And so based on that research, we were able to deliver or figure out how to deliver the far infrared at the exact wavelength that the body is able to really use all of it up.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 0:33

Welcome to the longevity blueprint podcast, I'm your host, Dr. Stephanie gray. My number one goal with the show is to help you discover your personalized plan to build your dream health and live a longer, happier, truly healthier life. You're about to hear from Nicole Carlson today she will share a passion of hers light therapy, the benefits of near mid and far infrared therapy specifically, and why sunlight and saunas are different. Some therapy has been gaining more attention each year and I want to dive into why. So let's get started. Thank you for joining me for another episode of the longevity blueprint podcast. today. My guest is Nicole Carlson. She has an extensive background in the health and wellness industry. Her passion is helping others through education, consulting and training to both heal, improve, and preserve health and wellness. She specializes in scientific based yet holistic approaches to healing and life balance. She is committed to offering cutting edge wellness services that empower clients to reach their health goals quickly through light therapy. So welcome, Nicole,

Nicole Carlson 1:36

Thank you so much for having me.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 1:38

As many of my listeners know, chapter five of my book, Your longevity blueprint is all about toxins. And within my blueprint analogy, here I'm comparing our laundry room in the home to the gallbladder and liver in our bodies. We need a great washer and dryer in our home, as well as good soap to do the job of keeping our clothes clean, so that that dirty laundry pile doesn't build up. And the same is true for our body. throughout our lives, we accumulate a large burden of toxins that can cause chronic disease. And while our bodies are constantly detoxifying. Sometimes that incoming burden can exceed our body's ability to get rid of that waste. So one way to improve our detoxification is through sweating using sauna therapy. That's just one of the benefits of sauna therapy, which we're going to get to today. And Nicole is going to help us understand why. So Nicole again, welcome to the show. Tell us your story and how you got interested in light therapy.

Nicole Carlson 2:24

Yeah, well, I have been in the wellness industry for many, many years. I won't tell you how many Excel let you know how.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 2:30

Well You look great. Yeah.

Nicole Carlson 2:31

Oh, well, thank you. Yeah, but no, in my 20s I was really I was ill had a lot of strange symptoms, nobody can really tell me what was happening, or why or you know what I needed to do or how to help. So essentially, what happened is I took it upon myself to do the research and kind of figure out what was going on. And I found through diet, exercise, supplements and all these amazing other holistic ways of healing like saunas, that it really made a huge difference. And I was able to make tremendous turnaround in my health. So I've been in the industry for quite some time. And I've been with sunlight and for a few years, they are an incredible company. We are for sure the leaders and light therapy. August is our 21st year in business, in fact, so light therapy is you know, still kind of new to some people. But definitely, it is not new to us. It has been our sole focus for those past 21 years.

Our founders are Connie and Aaron Zach and Connie's brother, Jason Jeffers was ill 25 ish years ago, and had a lot of medical problems that Western medicine was not able to help him recover from. So essentially what happened is, a friend of theirs was a dentist had just recently gone to a conference on infrared. And he said you really should try infrared. But at the time, there was just these panels, that he just kind of like spent his days, you know, rotating around, essentially. And he's alive doing amazing today changed his life. And so they just decided Jason reached out to his sister, Connie, and decided that, you know, they were going to make this into a much more easy to use form by putting it into the sauna. So that's kind of how we got our start and just been growing ever since.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 4:19

Wonderful. Well describe to the viewers what exactly infrared is. So you're sitting right now in a sauna. And we'll get to that for those who can see you. But the heaters that provide that infrared are behind you in the black, I presume? So let's talk first about infrared. So what what is that, you know, there's

Nicole Carlson 4:41

a light spectrum and infrared light is the part of the spectrum that's unseen. There are also some unseen that you don't want to like microwave like, you know, you don't want to be on those but it's much much different than that. And so it heats you differently. So I mean it is part of the sun's rays. It's what you're getting outside but it's just different. into, it gives you amazing benefits, which I know we'll get into later. But that's how it works. So it's not heating the ambient air, it's actually heating you. Internally,

Dr. Stephanie Gray 5:10

I tell my patients, it's also the the invisible part of the Sun spectrum that we feel is warmth. So when we go outside, and we feel that sun, especially when you're an air conditioned office, and you go outside, and you feel that warmth, that's infrared that you feel on your face, and you know, heating up your body. So it's created by the sun and produced by the body as heat. So there are different types of infrared, there's near mid and far. And there are difference in opinions on what is the best. So you can give me your opinion, I may or may not agree. But tell me what near mid and far are and what you feel the best are from a health benefit perspective.

Nicole Carlson 5:49

So they're all great, they all offer benefits, different benefits. So I can't say that one is bad or one, you know, I mean, they're just they're different. So so far infrared. So as they're named far, mid and near, that's how far they travel. Essentially, that wavelength travels so far, is kind of like the daddy of them all it travels the farthest. That's the one that actually goes into the cell and heats you up on a cellular level. The mid is not going to travel obviously as far as that is what's really great for muscle recovery, injury prevention. So athletes or people who are active and want to stay active or even after surgery, things like that the mids really great for that.

And then the near is what we like to call here at sunlight. And the vanity wavelength is really great for like fine lines, wrinkles, psoriasis, but also things like acne or things that teenagers or even adults are dealing with, obviously today with all our toxin exposure. So it's really just that that skin level, the far is is what you're going which I mentioned earlier, but I didn't mention kind of the importance of it, it gives a lot of benefits, the men in the near it is going to help with some skin, it is going to help with muscle. That's the big one for detox. But the mid and the near kind of take some of the benefits of the far and almost like level them up a notch.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 7:09

If you get them all at once, like all together, you received them. Right. Okay, exactly. I'm not sure if I'm correct on this. I'm just asking based on the thought I'm having does near not make you sweat. It does not okay, I wanted to make sure I was correct on that. So the far is really helping maybe that's why I always thought far is better. Because when you're saying far travels more, I hear that as it's penetrating deeper into your tissues. And then it's causing you to sweat if it's heating up your internal core temperature. So I'm thinking the benefits would be better from a detox standpoint, with far so near has benefits, but it nears not going to make you sweat

Nicole Carlson 7:46

sounds like Exactly. It's not gonna make you sweat. You're not going to detox from that. So again, those are all amazing benefits. So yeah, if your sole purpose is to detox far is 100% the way to go? Sure. So it depends on what each person is looking for.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 7:58

Sure. Sounds like they all are useful. So let's talk a little bit about sweating, since I was just mentioning that. So sweating is one of our body's safest and natural ways to really help maintain good health. So I tell patients, if you don't sweat, you're probably toxic. You're either toxic, or you're really healthy, healthy to the point where you don't have toxins to sweat out, which is pretty rare. But I have several patients who come to me who don't sweat, they're very sick. And we get them in a sauna very slowly, and they slowly start to sweat. So to me, that's a good thing. They're slowly ramping up their detox pathways, they're able to get rid of toxins that have accumulated in their tissue. So I usually want my patients to sweat now not you know, every time you go work out, I don't want you to necessarily stink or sweat, you know, profusely, because hopefully I know I've always been a good sweater.

But the more that I worked to detox my body, actually, the less I sweat. I mean even just through the day and which was a great thing. But I do want my patients who are sick to consider utilizing sauna, helping them sweat as one means to help regain their health and help detoxify the body. So let's talk about sweating. But let's stay on this kind of toxic subject for a moment. So I'll let you add to this but symptoms of being toxic. Many times are as subtle as simple fatigue and just feel really rundown maybe you have brain fog or headaches. You could have autoimmune diseases, you could have fibromyalgia could have mental health concerns depression and anxiety could have joint pains, colds and allergies, hormone imbalances, you could feel overweight, you could have digestive disturbances. So the list goes on and on. I think many people unfortunately have symptoms that they are very toxic that need to be improved.

Nicole Carlson 9:42

Oh definitely. Yeah, and it does mean we're all bio individuals and so what that looks like toxicity looks like and each person is going to for sure be different. But yes, I mean, there's a huge variety of symptoms. I mean, it can be as simple as a headache, you know, to stomach ache, digestion, you know, all the way down to really like the militating symptoms? Sure.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 10:02

So sweating is just one way that we can eliminate toxins, right? You got to be pooping daily, you have to have you plugged the exhaust on the car one day the car would explode, right? Same is true with our bodies, you can't not poop for a day you have to be eliminating toxins. So I work with my patients to make sure they're eliminating via stool, right. But via sweat isn't a second way. So I guess Tell me a little bit about what you know can be eliminated through sweat. So what toxins can come out in the sweat?

Nicole Carlson 10:29

So I mean, I don't think there's a limitation on it. Obviously, as each person sweats it's going to be different. And what we find is when people are using our sauna, first of all, the sweat is different. It's different than say, an exercise and do sweat or a sweat from going outside on a hot day. We live in the Midwest. So it's like 100 degrees. It's like super hot right now. But when I go out, you know, especially after being at work all day, and I go out outside and I you don't feel that heat that you were talking about when I started sweating. It's totally different. So this is a thicker, a more viscous sweat. I actually was talking to one of our partners yesterday, and she lives just above Washington State in Canada, and they had a lot of forest fires there.

And she was saying that her and her husband started not feeling well. So they you know, obviously start using their sauna more. And she had, I believe she had forgotten something. So she hopped out to go grab a glass of water or something came back and she could smell. She said it smelled like a fire or Wow, inside the sauna. So it's just amazing. So it's going to smell differently based on what toxins you're carrying, right? Yeah, my husband and I typically sauna together, and I sweat. But for me, it's always at about 10 to 15 minutes in. He's sweating profusely from the moment he gets in there, right. And it definitely has a different smell. Our kids use the sauna too. So if I get in there after I can tell almost which one's been in based on kind of how it smells. So So yeah, it's just it's a different sweat. It's going to smell different not to be gross, but just to be like really honest, it's it's not going to be something you're probably familiar with.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 12:10

Okay. So when we're sweating out toxins, I would echo what you said, you know, depending on what your exposure has been is going to determine what you're sweating out. So this could be chemicals like pesticides and herbicides, it could be nasty chemicals from your personal care products. Could be aluminum, you know, from the deodorant you're using, unfortunately, could be heavy metals based on vaccinations or metals in your mouth, or metals you're getting from fish. I mean, we all accumulate this different burden of toxins throughout our life. That again, thankfully, we can sweat out I've actually heard of SWOT analyses, demonstrating heavy metals coming out in the sweat. I think a lot of patients think oh, if I have heavy metal toxicity, I need you know, key elation, which some people do need correlation, but sweating is a more gentle way to start for those patients. And I do think many practitioners who use key elation in their practice. Definitely also we're recommending sauna use to help with detoxification. Yeah, those

Nicole Carlson 13:04

sweat tests are amazing. There's a lot of companies that are coming out with those now and we know that a lot of athletes are even using them professional athlete teams are using that have our saunas are also using the sweat tests to between the toxins that are coming out in there to also combo it with the foods that they're eating. So that they can you know, be at their peak performance. So there's some really fascinating studies out there about the sweat but yeah, toxins can be environmental things you're putting on your skin from your food I mean it It runs runs the gamut.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 13:38

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Now let's get back to the episode. So we spend a little bit of time talking about how important using sauna for detoxing is. But I do want to talk about other benefits of using sauna therapy. And I guess before we go on to maybe talking about circulation and immunity. I do want to point out that weight loss is one benefit because most viewers want to lose some weight. I tend to tell patients that getting chemicals out of fat cells is important for weight loss. So essentially a process called resonant absorption happens when you're when you're exposed to this far infrared. So your body It literally will store toxins in fat or your body will. So your body will create more fat or more fluid to store those toxins to preserve and protect your internal organs. So you can be packing on the pounds as a result of your toxin exposure. Because your body wants to protect again, your internal organs from those toxins. So one way to lose weight to get rid of the toxins and the fat cells should shrink. I don't know if you want to comment on weight loss before we go on to to anything else.

Nicole Carlson 15:24

So essentially, the way it works with saunas and weight loss is to use creates like a passive workout in the body. And it increases your circulation and the core body temp and, and all of that and increases the heart rate. So that's where you get the weight loss to come. Yeah. And I know, there's a study by believers, Dr. beavers did a study on like using specifically, one of our lines, which we can talk about later is and polls and it delivers farm it in near but he did a study on the impulse line sauna. And that was three months of use. After three months of use, people were definitely seeing a reduction in their waistline. So it's not just something we talked about, but something that has been proven wonderful.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 16:06

So back to athletes, and kind of circulation. So how does sauna use help promote better circulation,

Nicole Carlson 16:14

while it increases circulation, because part of it is Heat Shock proteins. So those Heat Shock proteins really do a lot of magic if your viewers are familiar, but any sort of whether it's cold therapy or hot therapy, cold therapy can also produce Heat Shock proteins, but that's what really gets your cells going and open and moving again. And it starts to heal them. And so as that happens, the circulation comes to light. And there's also studies proving that increased flexibility happens over a period of time of regular sauna use. And so it's very important to athletes to increase that circulation to help with not only flexibility, but also recovery, preventing injury, all those sorts of things.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 16:55

And then if there is an injury, decreasing inflammation and decreasing pain, you know, just improving speeding up that recovery time.

Nicole Carlson 17:01

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, pain relief is another big one.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 17:05

So what about immunity? So how can saunas help immunity.

Nicole Carlson 17:09

So it's kind of a combination of what we talked about, I mean, it's the fact that it's detoxing. So the more you can decrease the toxic load or the toxic burden on your body, the more your immunity will build. Because if your body you know, unfortunately, we have so many toxins in our body today that a lot of our bodies and our organs, they can't focus on what they're there to do. Because they're almost, it's almost like they're overwhelmed with just trying to fight these toxins, right versus like just doing their regular, everyday functions. And so by sauna use and getting rid of those toxins, then your body can really focus and it can really begin to build the immunity and the immune system that you need and that you were born to have right? Before we started being exposed to all of these things. So immunity is great. It's not only great for preventing sickness, but also when you're ill, it decreases. Typically the time, the length, the duration that you're sick as well.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 18:05

Patients used to tell me when I'm sick, I'll go try to get a good workout in and sweat out the no sweat out the bug. And I usually say you shouldn't vigorously exercise when you're sick, because that's going to raise your cortisol, which will suppress your immune system. But I would agree that instead sitting in a sauna could be very beneficial. Can the heat from the sun itself kill off bacteria and viruses and? Or is that a stretch.

Nicole Carlson 18:26

So we do say like, for instance, in commercial locations, you know, we'll tell them that are just running all the time, and people are in and out, like leave the sauna on and the infrared, just the heat itself. Yes, will will kill some whatever's there for the next person. But really, the most important part is going to be inside the body. And you didn't mention cortisol levels, which is which is important because one of the other benefits. So it lowers the cortisol levels, which obviously is going to also help build your immunity if you're taking this stress loads off. And that's why it's great when you're sick, because you can sit there and get a decrease the relaxation that the infrared creates in your body decreases those cortisol levels. So it's really great for mental health. And with everything going on right now we've seen some of that mental health those issues rise and so it's another great tool to have in your in your bag just for everyday relaxation, or a lot of people like to go into the sun and and meditate or pray or whatever it is, you know they do, and it's really enhances those experiences.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 19:23

Sure. And obviously, you're going to have longer lasting benefit, the more you use the sauna right, using it once is helpful, but using it for consecutive weeks and months and years is even better. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I also think that using the sauna can increase your white blood cell count and T cell production, which is really important. Is that correct?

Nicole Carlson 19:42

Yes, that's correct. And really that comes from that that core body temperature so sunlight and specifically with the way we designed our heaters and the patents that we have. So we use NASA research 20 some years ago, they use infrared to heal astronauts in space if they have a lead or something So we use that research to create, which is, you know, big reason why sunlight is so different. Our light therapy is so different than others on the market. But we use that research to create the heaters. And so based on that research, we were able to deliver or figure out how to deliver the far infrared at the exact wavelength that the body is able to really use all of it up. So infrared through sunlight and sauna is 99% emissive, which means you're getting 99% of the infrared that's traveling into your body. And so that's why it's so important, where all that magic happens is that three degree rise in your core body temperature. So the far infrared actually goes into the cell with sunlight, and it increases your core body temperature by three degrees. And that's where really all the magic begins to happen and helps with those sorts of things.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 20:44

So when does that happen? like is that guaranteed, you know, after being in a certain temperature for so many minutes, or, or when does that three degree rise happen.

Nicole Carlson 20:54

So just like everything else, it's going to vary depending on the person. And depending on regular use, so you're probably not going to get that, you know, the very first time you use the sauna, because we actually will talk about kind of protocols to follow later. But you know, you're not going to be in it for 45 minutes, first time you use it. So with regular use, you're definitely going to get it every single time. But when exactly, you know is different. We do have some studies where those participants, you know, did, you know, obviously sweat at different points of time, but it did, it happened for all of them. Great. Any other major benefits you want to highlight?

Blood Pressure reduces blood pressure, we've actually been partnered with American Heart Association for a really long time. And that's because of the increased circulation, it helps kind of take the load off the heart and get things working. So that's a great thing. I mean, there honestly isn't a person I feel like on this planet that cannot benefit from the use of our light therapy. It's just so immense. So you may want to use Asana for weight loss, but then later it's to detox. And then maybe the next time it's for relaxation. So when I do it, we have some preset programs and our impulse line. And so each time I do it, I just do it based on how I'm feeling and what my need is at that moment.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 22:08

Sure. And all these benefits that were listening today have been studied, right? I mean, even if you go to your website, full disclosure, obviously, you work for sunlight. And you can find these studies on their website studies, you know, showing that the core body temperature will raise studies showing increased circulation and increased flexibility and reduced colds and sickness. And all these benefits are not, you know, Hocus Pocus, they have been well proven for years.

Nicole Carlson 22:32

Absolutely. And that's one of the other differences with sunlight. And we actually have over 56, clinical third party studies. So a lot of others Infrared Sauna companies out there. They have general information, you know, just on infrared. But we have actually proven specifically relating things back to sunlight. So we really pride ourselves on the science that our products were created upon. Great, we

Dr. Stephanie Gray 22:54

love science. So let's talk a little bit about your saunas. Specifically, there are so many companies out there, and I've written blogs before telling patients do not go make your own sauna. You know, with wood from menards, because the wood is treated. I mean, there are just so many potential possibilities that you could be causing yourself more harm than good. You really want to purchase a sauna from a company that has been around been around the block for a long time that has the science that you were alluding to. So tell me a little bit about sunlight and saunas, kind of the differences in the types that you offer, what makes your experience different,

Nicole Carlson 23:31

you know, a couple things I started to mention earlier, the difference in how we created the patents that we have on the heaters that I'm sitting around. So because we have a patent on that no one else is able to deliver it essentially, there was a coating that we that we put on the actual heater panels. And that allows us to deliver the mid the near and the far at exactly those wavelengths that the body was able to receive them completely. So I mentioned, you know with sunlight, and you're actually getting 99% of those infrared waves, which is super important. That's not going to be the case and I highly, you know, recommend like check it out for yourself, like do your research, do your study, because for sure all saunas are not created equal.

The other difference is going to be just the quality and you know, you can see this word this what is not treated, we do not treat our wood. We don't recommend you treat your wood. Is it going to get you know, after lots and lots of use, you know, there may be some sweat or whatever that's on there. But you just you know, just a natural non toxic cleaner is all we use to take care for the saunas, but not just the word, you know, you got to think about glues like literally all every single component that makes up a sauna. Because essentially mean you're sitting in a box, it's heating up so you have any toxins in any of the materials you're using. It's going against what you're trying to do, right, it's just it's clashing. So that's really, really different. We take pride, we are the manufacturers and that's how we control that. We manufacture our own saunas, and that's one of the reasons is so we can control every single aspect that goes in there. I can tell you that the sauna, infrared saunas specifically on the market, they're all I won't say all 90, some percent of them are made in China.

There are a handful of Chinese manufacturers, they produce all of those other saunas. So at the end of the day, whether it's $1,000, or $5,000, they're really all the same sauna, the company that purchased them just changes, you know the label. So you don't know what you're getting, they're definitely using toxic ones even I mean, there's a list of toxic ones that you can find. They're using those toxic words, they're using the toxic glues, there's just so many things that you don't want. The other really important thing is how we deliver our mid and our near. So with other saunas, you're going to find that they use the term full spectrum. So what full spectrum means is it delivers farm it in the air, however, we have a patent on our farm it in near heater panels, so we're the only company that is eight, so on, if I was if I was to remove this cover here, you'll find three different sections of far mid and near. So they're parsed out individually. So you know the quantity and the quality of the infrared you're getting you're literally getting farmed in the air all the time.

So because we have a patent nobody can replicate that. So what they do to claim that they're delivering farm it in near which, okay, so let me reword that they are delivering farm it in the air, however, you're not receiving it. And let me tell you why. So they use ceramic heaters that they put at the front of the saunas, like by the door. And technically those do deliver farm it in near but there's a few issues with them. Number one, they don't deliver far, mid and near all at the same time. They're just delivering, like little spurts here and there. So you really have no idea, the quantity and the quality that you're taking. So it'd be like, you know, taking supplements, but you the labels, the ingredient labels blank, like you don't know what's in it, you don't know how much you're taking,

Dr. Stephanie Gray 26:57

are you saying they're pulsing near, and then posting mid, and then posting far? So they're they're cycling through the three? So you're getting the three but you don't know how many minutes of each you're getting versus getting them all at the same time? Is that what you're saying? Okay,

Nicole Carlson 27:11

exactly what I'm saying. And the other issue with them is you're not actually getting the mid in the near. Because as we spoke about earlier, the mid in the near don't travel as far these ceramic heaters get so hot, it's physically even if they were back here, right. Even if they didn't have them at the front of the sun, they're too hot for you to get that close to, to receive them in the near. Because you do have to be close, especially for the near, you have to be very close to it. So they're delivering it, but you're not receiving it because it's too hot, you can't be close enough to it. And they have him at the front. There's also a few companies that will have separated out the near and it's in the ceiling. So clearly, unless you're Spider Man or spider woman, you know and hanging off the ceiling, you're not getting those near infrared benefits.

So that's another important consideration to take when you're looking at what sauna is right for you. And really the quality I mean, if you were to line up every sun Infrared Sauna company if you had one from each company, and I can 100% attest to the fact that if you were to cover up the labels, and ask people you know which one looks like it's made better, like it's going to last the construction hands down every single person which use sunlight and there is literally at walls are so thick, the glass is so nice. Everything is so sturdy and well made these will last 2030 years. I mean, we have people that will call him like they've had a sauna for 20 years. Maybe they just now at the time at the beginning of sunlight. We only did far infrared saunas. We added them into the year so maybe they're just calling in to like add them in in the new year or something like that. But they're still using the sauna as the saunas are still working. So you know, if you're going to make an investment, you want it to last Sure.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 28:53

What is the warranty on your product.

Nicole Carlson 28:55

So for just a regular it's going to be a seven year warranty. We have a great customer service team that works all the time and it's a nice seven year warranty.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 29:05

You alluded to the wood type. Actually, we didn't talk about that we talked about wood not being treated but give me the variety of woods that you use that sunlighten offers because there

Nicole Carlson 29:16

are several there are several so in our signature line which is our far infrared only, we offer the basswood basswood is a hypoallergenic wood it's not on the toxic wood list. It's a light, kind of a blonder color wood. And then we offer cedar cedar is also not created equally. It depends on where it's sourced from. But we get ours out of candidates it's really great cedar Um, so those are the two offerings in the signature line. I do want people to know we offer the cedar basically because there really is some people have an affinity to it because they think of sauna and they think of cedar right. But it can be an irritant for eyes and things like that.

That's just every cedar no matter the good quality of it. So definitely in the commercial locations. You don't recommend it. You can have sensitivities to. So we offer those two as well in our impulse line which the impulse is the format of an ear, but we also offer Eucalyptus Eucalyptus is actually my favorite. That's what I'm sitting in right now. It's what I personally own. So it's similar to the sturdiness of cedar, but without the scent, it's just kind of a nice medium color wood holds up really, really well. It's not on the toxic wood list. So it's a great, and one of the questions I'll get, I'll just throw it out there as well. I mean, I'm allergic to Eucalyptus, well, you're allergic to the oil that comes from the leaves, which is going to be different, obviously, than the wood. I mean, I would still suggest you talk to your allergist about sure. But but it is a it's a different it's a different component of the of the tree.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 30:42

I've never been in a Eucalyptus sauna. So does it smell different? It has no event no scent. Okay, great. So we talked about the different wood types, and that the wood should be untreated and about your patented technology for your heaters so that your product can offer near mid and far all at the same time. Two other questions I have. So one is what about ventilation? Do you have proper ventilation in your saunas? Is there a fan?

Nicole Carlson 31:04

There's no ventilation, there's no there's no fan? There is just a little slide at the top that you can open if you want to just like let some air out. But there is no, no ventilation really is necessary. In a sauna like this in a traditional sauna, there would be some needs depending on what type of traditional sauna, whether it's electric and its stone or whether you know the steam or if it's the hot coals but not this

Dr. Stephanie Gray 31:28

kind. Sure. And then I know we've talked about this before, but one of my more recent passions has really been to reduce my exposure to EMF electromagnetic frequencies. And so that's something that I asked of all companies that I I talked to including, you know, Sonic companies, as far as what one's individual exposure would be in your sauna? And so do you want to speak to that and the differences in the EMF exposure with your different lines?

Nicole Carlson 31:51

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, in general saunas or low EMF, it doesn't really matter the company, although there are companies that speak to it, and I'll tell you why here in a second. It's really a non issue and our signature line, and we have had it professionally third party tested, it's less than one partly detected at all. The signature line is a basic operating system, it's on off temperature timer. And that is what it is. And it's the far infrared turn poles is the far the mid and the near. But the operating system is a little more robust. It is a tablet, and it has six preset wellness programs on it. So I think I mentioned this earlier, but like detox pain relief, relaxation, cardio, those sorts of things. So it has a tablet in it. So as you can imagine, if you have a device like that, the EMF on it is a little higher. And so other companies will say, Oh, sunlights emf is so high.

Well, no, no other company offers a tablet in their sauna. So if you're comparing it to theirs, yes, the impulse line would be higher. But if you're really worried about the signature is low, I will tell you, this is a special tablet, it's not your regular tablet, and you have to consider most people are bringing their tablets, their phones, like all the things into their Asana anyway, but this is low, depending on how many apps it's also there's some pre loaded apps on so depending on how much you have running, it's maybe somewhere between 10 to 15. But as you know, phones tablets, it's way way, way, way lower than a regular phone or tablet or anything like that. It's rated for the heat.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 33:13

So it can the battery is not going to be drained by the heat. So the tablet is going to operate the sauna. But can you put the tablet outside the sauna? When you're using the sauna?

Nicole Carlson 33:21

You cannot? It is built in. Okay. Yeah, it's built in. So you cannot put it outside the sauna?

Dr. Stephanie Gray 33:27

Sure, I'm just thinking of another maybe silly question. But so with them with the near infrared, if you want in your face to get those benefits. You're sitting facing me, right? I mean, do you need to get your face up to the closer to the heaters? Are you?

Nicole Carlson 33:42

Yeah, that's a good question. We have a free person. So there's, you know, even more heaters, but I sit to the side like this. And I usually do have and I'll sit all the way back here. And then I'll rotate and I'll sit all the way back here. Okay, halfway through. So that's, that's how I do it. And then you've got your legs, you know, one half of your body is really getting all and then you move and the other half gets much smarter.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 34:05

Yes. You answer my other question because I was going to ask if you and your husband sauna together. My husband and I tried that once and Asana was too small, and we said that isn't gonna work. I was gonna ask what size you use, but it sounds like the 3% for two people is more comfortable.

Nicole Carlson 34:20

Yeah, you know, overall, just in a sauna industry. For whatever reason, a two person is probably more one person, three person is probably more 2%. So we have a three person I'm like five, three, he's like six three, like twice my bodyweight. So it works for us. And we kind of Yeah, we just kind of rotate like that we can both have our have our legs up. But if we were in a two person we would you know, we would be sitting, we would not be sprawling out by any means. Every person works really well for us.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 34:47

So you already gave one tip to kind of rotate your position, you know, halfway through your Asana experience. So let's talk about for the sauna experience for a new person. How do you recommend they get started? time and temperature and Yeah, tips. Perfect.

Nicole Carlson 35:02

So slow is better. So you want to start slow. I know people often are excited and they want to like dive right in. That's not the best thing to do you want to start slowly, I would say honestly, like 15 minutes or so. And not every day at first. So the goal is to every day for 4045 minutes, right? Like,

Dr. Stephanie Gray 35:20

that's your goal.

Nicole Carlson 35:20

I wish I had time. We have four children, and I wish I had time to sign every day. I don't. So for me the goal, I feel good every other day.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 35:28

That's usually what I advise anyways, for patients to just take a little break.

Nicole Carlson 35:32

Yeah, yeah, just take a little break. So slow, start with like, 1520 minutes, and then just kind of like, gradually, you know, if you're feeling good, I mean, pay attention your body, you know, not everyone's in tune with their body, I think that's important to really try to understand and take note of how your body's feeling. You want to use your body as the judge again, what we talked to earlier, depending on how many toxins you have in your body, and what's going on elsewise health wise within you will kind of dictate that. But you know, usually if you're doing it regularly, I'd say you know, within two or three weeks, you can probably get up to, you know, full speed, it shouldn't take a ton of time,

Dr. Stephanie Gray 36:05

and at what temperature should someone start.

Nicole Carlson 36:08

So hotter doesn't always mean better. A lot of the sun is out there run like 165 170, that's definitely way too hot to start, for sure. Our saunas, you can obviously adjust the temperature, the programs that we do run anywhere from 135 to 145. But overall, our saunas aren't gonna get over like 150. And that's just because you know, it's working from the inside. So honestly, you can start at the higher temperatures, it's all about how you feel, the more important thing is just don't do it for 45 minutes at 150.

The first time you do it, right, you know, you're going to want to do 10 or 15 minutes, if you're doing full. Most people I find from what people I've spoken to, most people don't want to start at the full. So like, for instance, when I started, you know, I started at like 125. My husband, he started full force, right. So I think it just depends on the individual. My personal recommendation, I'll have the science behind this is you know, probably start 125. But you're not gonna like hurt yourself. If it's higher. Maybe we haven't ever heard that before. It's just more about, you wouldn't want to do that super hot heat for 45 minutes first time that would probably not go over? Well,

Dr. Stephanie Gray 37:17

sure. I know. I listened to Joe Rogan's podcast and you know, he talks about being in there 275 degrees for long periods of time. And that's great job. But that's not what most of my patients can tolerate. So many of my patients are so sick, you know, they would never tolerate that they're not immune, they're not that kind of machine. So they're worried they're not going to see the benefit if they started 110 degrees or 115. That might be all they can tolerate for 10 minutes, I follow Ben Lynch as well. And he tells a story many times about how when he first started using the sauna, he could barely sit there for 10 minutes, like he was gonna pass out. I mean, he had to kick the door open because he was so sick. And so he was detoxing too quick. so gentle can be better, it really comes down to that person, how they tolerate the heat. Some people just don't tolerate heat very well.

What I love about these saunas are that they have dry heat, right? This isn't like, I'm also from the Midwest, Iowa, we have very humid summers. So so this is dry heat, it's a little different. So you probably can tolerate more than you think. But it's okay to start at 100 or 110 115, and then work up to 125 131 35. So that that's what I recommend to my patients. Some people like you said, Get on a sweat right away. And they're, you know, they're they're detoxing and the minute they step in others, it takes 1015 minutes to get sweating. And that's okay too. So what we need to always advise patients to do is to replete lost electrolytes. So, you know, don't carry in a plastic water bottle into a hot sauna, but take something that can withstand the heat in there. If you want to drink while you're in the sauna, or in the hot sauna, or, or just replete with some electrolytes before or after sauna use. That's so important. We want you sweating out bad things, but you're also going to spit out good electrolytes. So

Nicole Carlson 38:56

you have to repeat those. Exactly. And you know, the other thing that you don't think about is what you're wearing. I mean we do clothes have flammable retardants on them, I mean, you want to kind of think about that. And if it's in your home, then you know you can go without obviously if you're comfortable, but right even like a swimsuit or something like that, or swim trunks is good. Or if you have towels that you know are, you know, non toxic. They do sell some towels and covers and body wraps and things that help with that. But you really want to think about what you're also wearing, because again, that's another component that's going to heat up when you're

Dr. Stephanie Gray 39:29

totally Yeah, good point. Thank you. Thank you for pointing that out. So in an ideal world, you'd sign in without any clothes on and you'd get out of the sauna and you go rinse off right away, right? So you're gonna sweat out all these toxins, but then you need to be rinsing them off so they don't just get reabsorbed back into your skin. And we have a sauna here at our clinic and there's no shower here. So when staff or when patients use it, I just highly, highly recommend they have towels so that they can pat off the sweat right? They get a good sweat on but then we want them to rub that sweat off before it gets reabsorbed. Do you want to comment?

Nicole Carlson 40:01

Yeah, the wiping off is great, we actually don't want you to shower immediately, because you're still detoxing show in that study with the core body temperature. Again, it varies, but we found it takes most people another 30 minutes to an hour to really come down from that. So while that core body is still, you know, it's that false fever.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 40:20

Good to know.

Nicole Carlson 40:21

So I don't ever shower immediately, I would say a good rule of thumb is Yeah, definitely like wipe yourself off. Because that's when the most sweat is going to be a parent is when you're done, you know, at the end of session, but maybe just pat it off, and then wait, I would say about 30 minutes until to an hour. So you know that like, Okay, my body temperature is back down now. So I'm no longer detoxing, because we want to continue to Yeah, that makes sense to detox.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 40:46

I've heard different opinions on that. And that, that makes sense. Some people will want to go from extremes, right, from hot to cold, and they want for other reasons. Also, so but we won't go off on that. Yeah. So these are great tips. Are there any other major tips for a beginner that you you think we left out that they need to know?

Nicole Carlson 41:06

Yeah, and that's I can think of, I think we've covered them all.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 41:10

Well, thank you so much for coming on the show today. I know that you and sunlighten have a special promotion for our guests. So can you please share that?

Nicole Carlson 41:16

Yeah, absolutely. We are going to offer $200 off any of our cabin units 100 off our so low, which I didn't really talk about. But that's our portable unit that's really, you know, collapses and kind of about the size of a laundry hamper, so $100 off that. And then we're also going to do free shipping. And that's a huge discount they're shipping on our cabins is typically, they're obviously very heavy. And come in many, you know, two or three boxes, depending on the size. So shipping on our cabins is usually about $600. And on the solos is about 250. So we're going to offer free shipping on either cabins or solos as well. Make sure that you mentioned where you heard about sunlighten that's how you're going to be able to get that discount.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 41:59

Yeah, that that's significant. So you can use my name Stephanie gray, or the practice name, Integrative Health and hormone clinic through sunlighten. And you can receive a discount. So that's substantial. And like you said, there. I really don't think there's anyone that could not benefit from sauna use for many reasons.

Nicole Carlson 42:15

Yeah, absolutely.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 42:16

So thank you, Nicole, for coming on the show today and sharing the benefits of sauna therapy. Why we need it. I look forward to using my sauna soon. Yeah, awesome.

Nicole Carlson 42:25

Thanks for having me.

Dr. Stephanie Gray 42:26

Thanks again. I'm sure after hearing all of that, you know now that all saunas are not created equally. While I highly encourage you to incorporate sauna use into your lifestyle for many benefits. Please make sure you're using a high quality sauna again, use my name for upwards of $800 savings through sunlighten you can visit their website@sunlighten.com that's su n Li gh t n calm. Thanks for listening. Now, I'm going to go heat up my sauna. Be sure to check out my book your longevity blueprint. And if you aren't much of a reader, you're in luck, you can now take my course online where I walk you through each chapter in the book.

Plus for a limited time, not only is the course 50% off, but you also get your first consult with me for free. Check this offer out at your longevity blueprint.com and click the course tab. One of the biggest things you can do to support the show and help us reach more listeners is to subscribe to the show. And leave us a rating and review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen. I read all the reviews and would truly love to hear your suggestions for show topics, guests or how you're applying what you've learned on the show to create your own longevity blueprint. The podcast is produced by the team at counterweight creative. As always, thanks so much for listening and remember, wellness is waiting.

The information provided in this podcast is educational. No information provided should be considered to be used as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult with your personal medical authority.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai