Uncover The Power Of Infrared Sauna Therapy

Introduction to Connie Zack and Sunlighten 0:00

Welcome back to this episode of the Reverse Alzheimer's Summit. I'm your host, Dr. Heather Sandison, and I'm delighted to introduce you to Connie Zack. She's the co-owner of Sunlighten, the global leader in infrared light therapy and infrared sauna manufacturing. She was at Proctor and Gamble, and she had a range of positions in very high levels. And then she switched gears after seeing how spending time in an infrared sauna transformed her brother's traumatic health issues. And so Connie and her husband have committed everything to helping others through the benefits of nature's healing and infrared light.

Connie, welcome. Thank you so much. Thank you for doing what you're doing. It's such an important topic. I'm glad I'm honored to be here. Well, we're so excited whenever we get a chance to partner with a product like yours that, you know, we believe so strongly in. First of all, sauna alone is something that I recommend to sweating. Sweating and sauna is something I recommend to all of my patients with who are struggling with cognitive decline or looking to prevent cognitive decline. And so I'm excited to dig into the nitty gritty with you about why why would I recommend that?

Why do so many doctors in my position recommend this for the betterment of health? And so can you just get into like, how does this work? Yeah. So we'll start with the very basics about what is infrared and and we'll start there and then we can kind of dove deeper into different areas. So what we specialize in is, is the spectrum of infrared. And a lot of people are confused of how is infrared different than a traditional heat source? And I always pitches the three different ways. One is the heat aspect, the heat with infrared heat, your body directly, you know, versus heating the air and the image.

I like to get people to understand what it feels like is when the clouds have been out, you go outside and it's cloudy and all of a sudden that beautiful ray of sunshine peeks through and it comes down and you feel it into the body and you just take a breath

How Infrared Sauna Therapy Works 2:23

like, Oh, I feel so good. That is infrared. And that's the feeling of infrared energy getting into the body. So you're being warm because the energy is being absorbed into your body versus the air being worn because it could be cold out. But when that sunshine comes and it you feel that when you haven't felt it, the infrared peeks through, you feel different and you feel changed, which is just the the just the start of what the energy feels like for the body. So then there's also the light aspect.

Infrared is light energy. And another visual. Our bodies are solar panels, right? I mean, we are designed to receive light. We have to have light to function and to be activated. And our body is primarily water and mitochondria and infrared activates both of those cells. So it's really it's it's it's critical. It's not only nice to have it's really critical that you have light energy into your body. And the final is infrared is a spectrum of light. It comes from the sun. It is without any of the harmful UVA rays, any of those.

It's just the healing part of the sun. There's three different parts of the spectrum and we can stay at the surface for this. We, you know, at some point, if you want to go deeper into all of them, we can because it's it's just fascinating the depth of knowledge in the science. The research has been studied on each one of them, but there's the three are far infrared, which is the longest wavelength it's absorbed into the body. It helps with detox and cardio benefits and then met infrared, which is a little bit hotter.

It's a shorter wavelength that goes into the joints and tissues and helps of inflammation. And then near which is it's so hot that you have to convert it to LEDs in order to receive the energy into the body. It's an invisible light, extremely powerful, which will, I will for sure touch on today because there's a connection between that and and Alzheimer's and taking improving cognitive function in the brain and the near infrared it you cannot feel it at all because it's coming through the LEDs. So those are the three different parts of the spectrum.

There is another part which we'll talk about, which is red, which is right next door to the invisible. If you think about the rainbow and you're looking outside red, is that outside visible light? It's right next to near, which is invisible when you're looking at the sun. So that there's, there's lots of great scientific benefits with them with red light as well. So that's a summary of infrared and what it is and how it feels and how it compares to traditional heat. And so sauna, getting into one of your sauna as you're getting the benefits of both the heat and the light.

Is that what I understand? Yes. Yes, it's it's really I mean, fascinating and transformative and so incredibly therapeutic because there's not a lot of places, not a lot of modalities that we can do in our own home that can affect our body. And so many positive ways. But we have found a way to separate that spectrum. So I just went through and explain drive the far, mid and near and red and what we have done is we've found a way to deliver each spectrum independently, isolate it out so that if you wanted to just have the Met or you just really wanted to have just the red, or you wanted to have just the near, you know, you could do that.

Or what we found using lots of different studies is there are some beautiful synergistic magic that happens when you blend it all together. So we've done that as well. So you're receiving when you're inside impulse, which is the sauna behind me that you have the ability to receive four different transformative wavelengths, some delivered by heat. So some you're going to feel the heat and some you're not going to feel at all because you're getting the light energy into your body. But getting the benefits of both.

So how does a typical person, especially someone who's getting older, how would they use one of your sauna? Is it's in their house or do they go out to a gym and try to find a sunlight and sauna? Do they use it every day? What does that look like from a really practical perspective, yeah. From a practical the ideal stage would be to have one in your home and you don't need to have a massive space. That's what's so nice. I mean, we have a our smallest aspire is is less than four feet by four feet is three and a half feet by three and a half feet roughly.

So, I mean, you just kind of imagine, you know, step, you know, putting your feet and then kind of creating that space. And everybody has that amount of space, not everybody. But, you know, I mean, it's not a massive amount of space. And then you need to have a dedicated circuit. That's the most complicated part of the whole equation, is making sure that wherever you find the space that you work with your electrician to have a dedicated circuit to power it because you don't want it competing with anything else for maximum efficiency.

So that's the ideal as you have it, in the comfort of your own home.

Infrared Sauna Benefits for Cognitive Health 7:54

You know, you plug it in, you can turn it on and you can go in there and use it. As far as frequency of use, you can use it every day, which is awesome. You don't have to do it every day. And I always mention that because I feel like in this state of the world we've all put so much pressure on ourselves. And it also seems as though we don't do things. We don't start things because mentally we think we don't have enough time or we can't do it with the level of routine that we need to to receive X results, which is not true with sunlighten sauna.

It's just not true. So it's better to do once a week for 15 minutes then? Not at all, because you're going to receive 15 minutes of wonderful therapy. And the more you use it, I mean, it's, it's, it's just like exercise or walking or moving, you know, the good things that you can do for your body. You want to do them as often as you can, but if you can't and you don't have the space or you you would for whatever reason, you can't have it in your home. There are lots of wellness facilities and a day spa cause there's wellness studios that have sunlighten's impulse smart sauna inside.

And that would be, you know, another option as well. A fantastic and where do you see in the literature, in the science that shows us that this would be good for someone struggling with cognitive decline? Yeah, cause lots of well, let's first off focus on far infrared because each wavelength is absorbed differently in the body and it changes the body in different ways. So the far infrared wavelength, which is the one that is absorbed into your water molecules and helps to activate your mitochondria, you when it does all of this, it increases your core temperature and it helps to eliminate toxic load.

And so a lot of times people suffer from brain fog, you know, or memory issues because their body is loaded with toxins. We're exposed to 700,000 chemicals every single day. And our skin is our largest organ. And we're we're putting stuff on our bodies. It's being absorbed. And that trance, you know, transcends into sometimes your brain not functioning as efficiently as it should. So we know for sure there's been lots of studies. There's a study called the Body Study, which is the study that showed that infrared sauna helped to remove toxic elements such as cadmium or aluminum mercury and lead more so via infrared sauna than exercise or sweat.

So that's a powerful statement. And Sweat also was more powerful at excreting the toxins than via blood or urine. So that's just shows you the power of sweat. So that's one one way to help your your brain, you know, be healthier is through detox. Another way that that infrared helps in all of the different parts of the spectrum is decreasing inflammation far infrared actually activates one of the genes in the body that's used to control inflammation. So by stimulating that in the body or helping to slow down the inflammation, reduce it.

So that helps with brain function. One of my earliest scientific discoveries when I started this because of my brother being so sick, was I was doing research and I found all this great science in Asia on the cardiovascular system and how infrared helps to increase the endothelial function and helps to increase the blood flow that, you know, just helps to restore the lining of the heart and just essentially creating a healthy heart. And by getting that flow into the body and by getting more oxygen to the brain and more blood flow to the brain, and you're contributing to a healthier brain and healthier function.

So, you know, that is another way. And then I'll switch gears is is to to our light energy because that there's so much great research on Alzheimer's and you know, it just general brain function and that is through what we call photo bio modulation, which is a fancy term since I mean, essentially talking about light therapy, right. And just by helping the body convert light energy into chemical reactions. And whenever your body receives red light and near-infrared, it helps to stimulate brain function as well as it's a neural protector.

So it helps to slow down the progression of of neuro diseases. So that's another aspect of helping the brain is, is getting that that light energy. It helps. I always think of it as kind of unlocking the brain is stuck. You're getting this flow. It's kind of like you're turning on a faucet. You can can't turn it on you. All of a sudden you turn it on that flow. Just that, that, that, that flow, that natural restoration of getting your body back to doing what it's supposed to be doing. The light energy helps the brain to be able to do that.

Got it. Yeah. You know, it's interesting. There's all these mechanism things with the light and the heat and the red spectrum. And I think back to my earliest memories are in Minnesota. My mom's, my grandparents are from Minnesota, which is a lot of Scandinavian influences up in northern Minnesota and sauna is around the lake are one of them. And what comes up for me is like it's family and community and spending time together. And I think historically there even though maybe the the literature doesn't point in this direction as much, but the science that that that sense of community and that instead of sitting in front of the TV in the evenings, that people in Scandinavia will go get in the sauna together, you know, that's what they do.

And they connect and they talk. I remember my mom and her cousins and me and my cousins making these memories and sharing and catching up in the sauna. And you guys have some options that I know we talked about this individual unit, right? And that's that's what I get in at my house these days, too. It's like just a super small. It's going to take the least amount of energy off the power grid. But this idea of community sauna and even signing with your partner, if you have the space for a larger sauna.

I just I love that option, too. Yes, the social yeah. The social bonding, the sense of community and also just the experience inside of sunlight and infrared is is very different than being inside like a really, really hot, you know, environment because it's really gentle and you're like I said, you're being warmed because your body is being is absorbing the energy. So it's a very radiant like a like a blanket around you so you can enjoy the experience versus being thinking, oh, my gosh, when is this over?

And that enjoyment and that really relaxed atmosphere is perfect for sharing it with someone you love it and catching up and just, you know, chatting. Like, I remember when my kids were a lot younger, they would come in and I got to have these wonderful conversations. And I mean, it's just priceless. You know, they would stand for a little bit and they would go like, that was so awesome. That was that was worth it just in itself is just, you know, and it's it's it feels really good. It's like that feeling when you see the sun, that exact feeling is, well, your body just almost craves it, you know, just like, oh, thank you.

You know, when you're done, you feel you have more energy. And that's another brain benefit is the energy aspect. You know, you literally I mean, the way it the way the infrared energy, both the light and the heat work is it is increasing your level of energy through ATP production. It's also the light I like to think of, kind of I always have this picture when I am in my near infrared and red light is that, you know, I am planting a garden and, you know, like in a greenhouse and you plant seeds and then you put the lights on it and you like watch those seeds, you know, start to grow and you see this like beautiful growth, you know, happen.

And that's exactly what the light energy does is it's it stimulates and has caused collagen to grow and reproduce and help increases your production of mitochondria. I mean, these are really important functions in your body, you know, that really help with, you know, cognitive function and can help slow down any type of inflammation that's occurring in the in the brain. So as well as just overall how you feel, you know, because they're all so connected, it may be literally in the brain,

Community, Energy, and Sauna Safety 17:18

but even if it's not, if you just are feeling fatigued and all, I just don't have any energy to do anything, then that's going to be a domino effect, you know, with the rest of your with your lifestyle. But if you can if you can change that and transform it and give yourself that little bit of energy, then you just you feel better and you feel like, oh, my gosh, I can go do this. I can go for that walk or I can go make that phone call or whatever, you know, is on your to do list. Many of our audience is women, over 65 people who are concerned about their cognition or maybe even caring for someone who is struggling with Alzheimer's.

And we're worried about safety. So how safe is it for someone to use this independently or should they always have a partner with them? What do we do to reduce any risks and what are the risks? Yeah, that's a great question. And first of all, it's extremely safe. I mean, we created this over 25 years ago, and one of the most important pillars was to create a product that was electrically safe, that was did not have, you know, chemicals, no off gassing, you know, that we just created to be a wonderful, enjoyable, therapeutic, transformative experience.

So we've created it to be exactly that. And as far as safety, there's virtually no EMF, no off gassing. All the wood, you know, is, is comes, you know, is, is very, very safe. There's no, you know, harmful chemicals. So that aspect is you can be assured as far as going in there with somebody else that's, you know, personal, you know, I mean, you can go you can of course, it's you know, I typically am by myself just because of schedules, you know. But I think we talked about socially, it would be wonderful, you know, to have, you know, people go in there together and most of the most of the saunas you can fit at least two people inside there. So yeah.

And then there's, there's, you can see like the bench is ergonomic, so it's comfortable, but you can also get cushions if you want more, you know, you know, just more padding and there to make it more comfortable. There's also backrests that are in there. The the the back wear that you would lean up against, though, has this wonderful salient fiber that's pliable. And so it's not like hard and rigid and it's comfortable. So we've we've really done everything we can to create a really comfortable, enjoyable experience because the goal is you go in there and you stay in there.

Right? I mean, that's the goal is we want you to stay in there, you know, for at least 30 minutes, if you can. 40 minutes is the ideal time. So there's a big difference between 30 and 40 is kind of like a zone, a tipping point. And so I would encourage people. That happens there. It's just this. So, you know, the because it's energy that is being absorbed into the body or if it's the invisible, it's being you know, penetrated. It takes the body some time, especially with the far infrared, you know, to to do its carnival biochem, a cascade of events.

It just doesn't happen like, you know, in 2 seconds. And especially for those people that are not haven't had that experience with infrared energy before. And especially like there's a lot of people today, you know, especially people who are older that aren't getting outside. You know, I think of my parents, they're just not getting that that just natural exposure to sunlight. That helps to give you the vitamin D and it just helps with the whole solar panel effect. Right. It helps, you know. So if you're not getting light energy, you know, and into your body through the natural, you need to find a way to to do it.

Yeah. That's what they do in the winter. Right. I would imagine. Right. Yeah. It's really, it's, it's, it's critical to, to, to have that, that exposure. And it provides, like I said, so many different benefits. It's not just the literal ones, which it does do as far as the brain, but then you have all of the others with with the, you know, the blood flow and the heart health and, you know, detox and boosting the immune system. So it's helping, you know, to make your bodies stronger. And gosh, I mean, you think about as you age, you know, that's one of the things that you really want is to have strong, strong body, strong cells, strong mind.

You want to do everything you can for strength. And this does that naturally, you know, by making you know, your your mitochondria are stronger. I always use the visual of those those cells in those powerhouse cells are, you know when they receive the energy they start putting on their armors and they're just like, okay, you know, the longer you're in there, they get stronger and stronger. They're like, I'm ready, I'm ready to fight. I'm going to fight these viruses. I'm going to fight these diseases.

And then it also helps with I talked about reducing inflammation and which that's one of the number one, while it is the number one cause of aging is, you know, inflammation. So it's another way to slow down the aging process and to help you live a higher quality life is through the absorption of the energy. So for my patients, I recommend that they see super hydrated because you are going to sweat a bit. And and so I typically say, you know, you can take some water in there with you. And I see you drinking water as we're having this conversation.

So I know you're well aware of staying hydrated and then to replace electrolytes because you can sweat out not just toxins, but some salts. And so you want to make sure your body has a chance to recoup those. And I also recommend going straight into the shower and rinsing off. And I think a little bit of contrast is good. Having some cool water, maybe even cold if you're ready to go there, because that will close the pores so that you're not reabsorb toxins and also to keep some of that heat in so even though it sounds a little counterintuitive rinsing with cool will wash that those toxins away that will get them off of you so that they go down the drain and can be fully eliminated and then also it'll make sure that you don't reabsorb.

Additionally, you know, you were talking about just how much you guys have put into making sure that this is a really high quality sauna and I want to just share with everyone that not all Woodson is are created equal and some somehow are made of woods that have volatile saps that come out, some have glues or other other building materials that are incorporated into them that off gas as well. And so you want it that is part of why we chose to partner with you guys is because you have a very high standard for making sure that people aren't getting in the sun and being exposed to more toxins.

Is there any way where it is kind of porous? So if I'm sweating on the word, how do how do we prevent that from being something that then just goes into the air the next time I use the sauna? Yeah. So just using like, you know, water and vinegar, you know, and and cleaning it. Well, we have I'm glad you brought up the whole wood aspect because it you know, I've been doing this so long, I forget, you know, back in the day when we first started that we had problems with because we were at the time when we first started.

I mean, there's obviously a way that we couldn't do everything ourselves. We were just getting started. And so we work with the manufacturer and manufacturers would would tell us, oh, here's this wood that's hypoallergenic. But what we learned is it wasn't and we learned it the hard way is because people would use it and they would call us like, Oh, my eyes are itchy or my throat hurts. So this and oh my goodness, it was horrible.

Choosing Safe Woods and Sauna Materials 25:18

I mean, and so then we had, we went on this, this massive due diligence process to say, okay, we need to understand you're exactly right, although it is not the same. It's not you can't there's there's actually the toxic wood chart. I mean, there's an organization that that looks at wood and make sure that it lists all the adverse events that are that are associated with the wood. And then you think about that's just the wood. Then you hit it right. And so then there can be it can amplify, you know, that adverse event.

And so we have really dedicated I mean, we went through so many different woods and we just when we didn't know what we didn't know and the manufacturer would say, Oh, no, this is good, this is what everybody uses. And I still I see a lot of those out there today, and I just it just makes my back. Like, I'm just like, oh, my gosh, I can't believe people are still using some of these these these words. You know what. Wood did you land on? What's the best? Yeah. So I will. We have two. Well we have three but so we have a bass wood which is we landed on.

That was the first wood that we found that was amazing. It's completely hypoallergenic and we found it because it is the wood that beekeepers use and we we source it from, gosh, the most amazing place in Wisconsin. And they are just the best family. And they and they care so much about renewable sources and everything that they do. Somewhere on our website, we have a video. You should have reason to watch it. It's so great because it really highlights them and their company and we've been working with them forever and they're they're just they're so wonderful.

So that's bass wood and that's hypoallergenic and that's it's blond in color. There's no fragrance, there's no off gassing. It's completely safe. And there's another wood that we found a couple of years later that I love as well, which is the eucalyptus. And it does not be met any oils. So it's confusing and it's counterintuitive and but it's darker and a lot of people like Cedar, but they don't want to deal with the fragrance of cedar. And so they want but they like the color like that darker color, which that's what is lighter.

So the eucalyptus is is equally as wonderful and completely safe and and all of like all of our materials. I'm so glad you brought this up, because it's I forget because everything we do is say, like, I don't I forget about the process that we've gone through over the past 20 years and just making sure that we use magnets inside our asanas so that we don't have to have so many adhesives. And the magnets are there. Help with the backrest mean that everything we do is intentional to provide the most therapeutic, most effective, most efficient and safest product on the market.

And and it is you can't you can't get a product that's more effective or safer. And so you mentioned Cedar. That's a really common thing that you hear asanas are made out of. Are those safe? Yeah. So cedar is a little bit. It gets a bad rap, especially in our field and we work with cedar. And Cedar is one of those that it has great antibacterial properties. I mean, everybody's heard of, you know, Cedar Clauses, but it just depends on your own personal interaction with it. People typically know if they have any sensitivity to Cedar.

And so when people when they come to sunlight and then they ask, you know, which word I always explain, it's a personal preference. First of all, you know, do you have any sensitivities that you know of? And if they don't know, I'm like, Well, it is best to stick with either the eucalyptus or the basswood because I don't want you to find out that you do, you know, you don't know. So and then when it comes down to that, then it's it's really it's a color preference, in my opinion. It's do you want the, you know, lighter color or do you want the darker color?

That's what is a little bit softer. And Eucalyptus has a little more green to it. So they're just like a little, you know, look, look different. But cedar is completely fine. There's a ton of Cedar fans. And so I, you know, I would never knock it if you can if you like it and you can, you know, if you. Already have one, don't worry. Yeah, right, right. Yeah, no worry. It's you know, if you're not, you're not allergic to it, then it's a great it's a great wood. Wonderful, wonderful. Yeah. What's your sort of routine these days?

Yeah. I love my sauna so much. So I stack everything. I've I've found a benefit to doing a bunch of stuff like right after. So I will workout, I'll do cardio and then I may do some stretching or sometimes I'll do cardio and then do stretching as I my son I always son is always my, my last thing of my morning wellness routine. I'll always do my hot water with lemon, you know, inside my sauna because it's warm and it's heated and I'm stacking the heat therapy. So and then I also do a little bit of mobility stretching, maybe a little bit some yoga poses inside there.

Sometimes I don't do anything like that, and I just do some, you know, intention settings and visualization, you know, meditation. My newest, favorite thing is doing breathwork inside of the sauna. I just feel like a million bucks hanging out. I mean, I feel so clear and so much energy

Personal Sauna Routine and Program Options 31:08

and so creative and so strong. Yeah. And it's just it's just it's a game changer. I mean, and here's the great thing is it's really easy. I mean, like, it really is. It's not this complicated thing that you got to figure out. You go in, press a button. We have six different programs in the impulse, so you just pick your program, cardio, pain relief, detox, anti-aging, weight loss or relaxation? What a difference. The differences between them is that the spectrums of light and the ratios of those are what's going on.

Yeah, no, that's a great question. Yeah. Based on science, there's there's different exactly what you said. It's called pulse because there's different pulsations, different quantities and intervals in which the wavelengths are introduced in the program. And so some day it will be like full throttle, like cardio, full throttle upfront, like very, very intense. And then others they'll be like like weight loss will be a little bit of a different interval and then it'll back off the intensity and then it'll come back and then anti-aging is completely different because that's focusing on only the far infrared wavelength to purify the body from the inside out.

So the skin's going to look incredible and decrease inflammation and then has the near-infrared, which is great for restoring the skin and increasing collagen and elastin. So it's going to make the skin look from the great from the outside. So you combine those two and there's no mid-infrared in that one at all because men in reds a little bit hotter and for the skin, it's really great to have the cooler temperatures and just purify the body. So all five or six of them are complete different experiences.

And what I like is depending on, you know, what's going on in my day, you know, that day or what's going on, you know, for the rest of the week or what my goals are, then that's that's the program that I use. You know, you and I both are kind of you have a prevention out, Alzheimer's, preventative or maybe anti-aging. Our goal is to age gracefully and a lot of our listeners are dealing with someone or know someone. Maybe they are experiencing cognitive decline already and don't have a long history of exercise.

I'm like you. I get on my rower and then I get in the sauna and I can. I swear I sweat extra. I can sweat faster because I've gotten that cardio first and some strength training and but many people are new to exercise and that feels really overwhelming. And Asana is almost a shortcut to that. You're going to get the benefits of circulation, of more blood flow to the brain, of detox, of hormones and so many things, but without having to do a lot of the work and it's like it's kind of like a step in that direction to get your heart rate up, to get blood flow going.

And so I love how accessible this is, but I agree, like stacking em is the ultimate direction you want to go in and if you can only do one, doing this on it is a great is a great go for a walk and then getting us on it. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And you don't I mean, you know, stacking is ideal, but my goodness, like you don't have to do that. And, and mind you, that's been an evolution for me. I didn't used to do that. I mean, I used to alter, you know, this has been a process, you know, for four years.

And I've learned how my body reacts and everything. And if you can just do one thing, getting inside, you know, your infrared sauna is, is it's an exercise mimetic. So you know what that means? Is it it it copies, you know, the benefits of exercise. You're getting a passive cardiovascular session, right. Without having to move. And and you will feel so much better. And you you will feel as though you have gone for a walk because you'll get that blood like your your head is clear and your brain, you feel like that fog has been lifted.

You have more energy, you feel lighter. That's another one of my favorite. But feeling benefits is just that. Sometimes you just feel heavy and it's just not. It it's heavy leads to fatigue, you know it it can lead to depression and that having, you know, 30 to 40 minutes inside of the sauna just lifts all of that, you know, and you you you can get other stuff done while you're in there for, you know, people who are, you know, like want to do multiple things. There's there's really not a lot that's really efficient.

Yeah. Yeah. You can get your list and, you know, you can talk to somebody, you can make a phone call. You know, there's so many different things that you can do while you're in there. You know, as we're having this conversation, I'm thinking about a few of my patients who they want to exercise, but they're immobilized for whatever reason. Maybe they're awaiting a surgery or, you know, they've got an arthritis that keeps them from getting the type of exercise that they really would ideally be getting.

And so this again, it's like another level of accessibility to get some of those benefits, not to mention, of course, the photo bio modulation and the infrared and you know that. But that visual I love that you describe in the clouds part and getting that that red sun and that warmth, that that is so beneficial in and of itself. But the blood flow in the cardiovascular piece to that exercise and the medic is there for you, especially when you can't get exercise for whatever reason. Exactly. I remember my first one of my first letters from somebody from a customer or was she had she had really really really bad arthritis and she was extremely overweight.

And so she had no mobility and she couldn't she could not exercise. And she got a sauna and she got in there. And I mean, it was it was game changing. It was life changing for her because she started to the arthritis changed and decreased. And so the inflammation went down. So she wasn't in pain, you know, because she wasn't in pain. She could start to increase her mobility very, very slowly. Like she you know, she kept in contact. I'll never forget her because eventually she lost the weight in her knees, you know, or healed.

And she was restored to a healthy and vital life. And yeah, but it just started as you know, is the picture of her way back then, you know, 20 years ago is nothing like the picture of her today. But she took that first step. And you know, it really it really changed her. You know, in this summit, it's like drinking from the fire hose. And even my patients who come in when they leave, they live with this long list of 12.5 things to do with supplements to take and stuff to do. In fact, I want to double click on supplements that you might partner with a sauna session, but you know, you don't have to do it all, just start somewhere.

Practical Tips, Supplements, and Closing 38:18

And I think, you know, for one person, it's going to be going in the direction of a ketogenic diet. For another person, it's going to be starting an exercise for somebody else. It's going to be getting that sleep apnea test and the sleep study done. And for someone else, it's going to be getting in the sauna and that is going to create this momentum where just like you describe this patient you described, where, okay, now my pain is down and now I have better energy and now I'm sleeping better at night.

And so now I can make the dietary changes, now I can make those exercise changes that are really going to lead to that transformation where you look back and you go, Oh my gosh, when I first heard about this on a I was in this spot. And now years later, just like you're the person that you're referring to like this picture of me looks younger than I looked years ago. Right? I've aged in reverse and that's what we want. And I think sauna that's part of what I love so much about it is this accessibility.

I sound like a broken record, but is that it's it's such a great starting point that can lead to a very transformational change. Mm hmm. I completely agree. That's fine. I do. But do is the people. I mean, our promise is that people can do more, feel better, and live fully and, you know, my personal contact statement is, I want you to be able to do more of what you love to do with the people you love to do it with as a result of what I do every day. That's incredible. But we're totally aligned with you on that.

Connie, how can people find out more about Sunlighten? Yeah. So go to sunlighten.com and then also I want before I forget I want to make sure that I mentioned that we are offering a discount for anyone. You just have to mention the summit and make sure that's that's if you don't remember anything else today because I know you're like drink around the fire remembering events in the summit because that's that's that's important that's how you activate our up to $600 discount. So it's significant and we want to do it for to support, you know, everybody that's participating in the summit so sunlighten.com I can also share that phone number if you want.

It's 8772920020. And and there are you can follow us on Instagram. And you there's so many different ways to get in touch. But those are the two easy, easy ways to call or to go to the website. Thank you. That's a really generous discount. So if you guys are considering the sauna the sunlighten is a Connie's your girl. They've got you covered. You'll get a really good, high quality sauna and an amazing discount. So I did want to go back to supplement sometimes people will ask me about using niacin and getting the niacin flush while they're in the sauna, about using binders or other things to kind of stimulate more elimination and using liver support or using glutathione to provoke the elimination of toxins.

Is there anything that you guys at sunlighten have seen works really well when paired with a sauna session? You know, all of that is so it's such a personal, you know, question because everybody is so different. But I mean, I have heard all of those, you know, good advice, you know, using binders. I mean, the only thing I would call out specifically that I really feel is really important is what you've already mentioned. But worth repeating again, is just making sure that you are taking some electrolytes either just a natural, you know, coconut water and salt and, you know, some honey, I mean, just something that's natural or there's lots of there's lots of electrolyte, you know, drinks and and powders to choose from.

I'm not you know, I'm not representing any of them specifically. I mean, the only thing I'm passionate about is as little sugar as possible. So just getting the natural, you know, electrolytes. But yeah, supplements. I would really lean on you to like if you have, if you have heard different ones. Just because I've seen that, I mean, I've heard so many stories in so many different think charcoal, you know, I mean, this is not a supplement that I do know for sure. I will mention it. I know for sure the benefits of dry brushing, you know, like you're inside a sauna that's.

Getting the lymphatics moving. Yes. Yeah. And movement, you know. Yes. Pairing the movement you mentioned doing some stretching and then pairing the meditation. I think there's just so many great ways to stack this therapy so that you're optimizing the benefits that you get from it and then get creative. I think this is so fun and talk to others, get feedback from others, talk to your providers, make sure it's safe. But using a sauna is one of the therapies regularly in your routine, I think is just so, so, so beneficial and kind of I'm so grateful to you for the work that you've done to create this wonderful product and also your time and expertize and sharing with us today here.

Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure. And I'm like I said, I'm honored to be here. And however, sunlighten can help now as everybody is going through the summit and getting all of this amazing information, however, we can play a role in helping, you know, everybody that's participating live a healthier life. If they have questions or want, whatever we are, we are here to support. And so don't hesitate to reach out. Amazing, Connie. Thank you so much. Of course.