Gary Collier’s 30 Day Sauna Challenge
I have had a Sunlighten infra red sauna installed in our downstairs pool and sports area for about 5 years. I’ve used it consistently over that period and even though I can’t tell you precisely what benefits I have achieved at the same time I am certain that it has helped keep me in better condition than I would have been without it.
Last Tuesday morning I decided to attempt a one month challenge – to have a sauna every morning (or day) for at least a month. The idea is to get down there at about 7 a.m and spend at least 90 minutes in the sauna each day. After I’ve finished I jump into our pool which is pretty damn cold at this time of the year, even colder than normal because we have the solar panels on the roof turned off.
The moment of impact and then sinking into the water is a somewhat unique experience. The infra red sauna heats up my core temperature by a few degrees, I’d say the pool is about 8-9 degrees C so the contrast is significant, actually I won’t lie … it bloody well feels huge at the exact moment that my body drops to the bottom of the pool. I come out feeling tingly and energised. Refreshed and mighty clean.
There aren’t any particular biometrics that I know of that I can test but I will try to keep a daily record of my progress. The only thing that might give some idea of progress is the sleep biometric and Heart Rate Variation readings on my Oura Ring.
Today is Day 6. I’ve been able to do about 90 minutes each day. As the weather gets colder so does the water in the pool.
I’d love to also have a Tylo Sauna outside to fire up like in the old days so I could alternate between the extreme hot and cold as well as the infra red effects which are quite different.
There is also some research which points to infra red being beneficial with cancer. I have attached an article by Lawrence Wilson M.D at the end of this blogpost. I will keep adding my observations to the blog every few days.
Day 7 Monday May 10
I had a late sauna today. I’ve been starting early most mornings but this morning I had an urge to have a bath tub full of epsom salts.
By the time I got in the sauna at 5.30 p.m it was cold and dark outside and even the idea of jumping into the pool at the end wasn’t appealing.
I spent the 2 hours in the sauna today going down memory lane with the 1972 Yes album “Close To The Edge”. It’s a long story how I arrived in the land of nostalgia but needless to say, once I arrived there I couldn’t find a train that was leaving.
I had listened to the 18 plus minutes of the original album track on Spotify before I got into the hot box. This conjured up vivid memories and feelings from my hippy past in late 1972 and the early part of ’73. By this time I had met Flora. She was very young back then but so was I!
We went to see Yes perform Close To The Edge live at Festival Hall in Melbourne on March 23, 1973. What a wonderful concert that was.
Funny thing is that I never realized until tonight how much Yes influenced my taste and habits in music and also how much Roger Dean, the artist who did their album covers and designed their logo influenced my future in the world of art.
While I did my 2 hour stint in the sauna I watched a 1975 concert of the band performing Close to The Edge, then I flashed forward to them as old men in 2014 with very grey hair doing it again and then back 13 years earlier to 2001 with Jon Anderson up front again performing a very smooth symphonic version.
I must admit that I am still as impressed with Steve Howe and Chris Squire now as I was back then. Even Jon Anderson passed with flying colours. Rick Wakeman and Bill Bruford had left the band by 1975.
Who ever said prog rock was dinosaur music? ! ?
The main point of this blog post is the sauna’ing though.
I spent about 2 hours in tonight, sweated a lot, drank water full of celtic sea salt and electrolytes sweetened with stevia. This is due to the horrible cramps that I experienced throughout the night. Crippling cramps in my feet and lower leg muscles. I must have woken 3-4 times in agony.
The moral is that if you are going to sweat then you must replace the lost minerals.
At the end of the 2 hours I jumped into a very cold and dark swimming pool. Sunk to the bottom and my body went from being heated to the core to intensely cold and tingling by the time I scampered in through the back door.
Day 8, Tuesday May 11
Today’s sauna happened between 6.40 and 8.10 a.m. It was still dark outside when I entered a still cold sauna. By the time I got out 90 minutes later I was well and truly ready to jump in the still very cold pool, which I did.
The thought of doing it, taking the plunge is always so alien. I really have to psyche myself up to take the plunge. But once I’ve opened the door of the sauna there is no time for thought to procrastination. It becomes a “slow walk to destiny”.
Once my body hits the water I wonder what all the trouble was about. It feels invigorating and somehow the most logical thing to be doing at that moment in time.
Finn was still in bed when I took the plunge. he was woken by the splash and wasn’t too happy with my mad antics. Oh well. That’s his price for having a mad father.
I mentioned that I took salt and electrolytes yesterday. I’m pleased to report that they worked. The cramps were non existent last night and my HRV balance was optimal according to my Oura Ring. Deep sleep was 1 hr and 32 mins and REM a bit less last night at 1 hr and 17 mins. My overall Oura sleep score was 90.
I took 60 mg of melatonon last night.
Another thing I did this morning after leaving home was to go to Dr Eng’s practise and have my blood taken for the follow up Onco Test to check out the CTC (circulating tumour cells). The first test came up at 3.5, my new goal is to get it down to 1.5. If I can achieve that target I will be more than happy. Beyond satisfied.
Day 9, Wednesday May 12
I was surprised too see that my deep sleep was almost non existent last night at 6 minutes! Changes? Firstly I went to bed feeling a bit stressed. I had eaten too many blueberries plus about 2/3 of a block of 90% cocoa Lindt Dark Chocolate. Not a lot of carbs but not what you would call nutritious.
I don’t feel tired this morning but quite a bit of tweaking is called for today.
This mornings Sauna was about 90 minutes long. I started at around 8 a.m. Pool was freezing but I came out feeling fabulous.
I was constipated this morning. It’s not that it’s not coming out but overall the faeces is far too dry. I ended up having to do an enema which was intense but highly successful.
My HRV was a bit lower this morning as well. 41 ms. Another thing I did last night was take 120 mg of melatonin.
So as you can see, things got a bit sloppy yesterday but I’m off to a good start this morning full of the best of intentions and rearing to have a great day.
I’ve started doing a bit of research in relation to infrared saunas and cancer but don’t have anything really concrete yet.
Day 10, Thursday May 13
I’m writing this a day late. I did my morning stint in the sauna and jump in the pool. Nothing out of the ordinary to report.
Day 11, Friday May 14
After a shorter than usual but very peaceful sleep I finally got into the sauna at about 7.15 a.m
The morning was cold and as our sauna is infrared and doesn’t have the same high temperatures that the Tylo style saunas are capable of it took longer to work up a sweat and get my core temperature up to the point where jumping in the pool was feasible. Finally I felt the time was right and I just walked out the door for my walk of destiny. Bloody cold isn’t a strong enough statement but as usual the temporary discomfort was well worth the feeling of wellness that accompanies the contrast between hot and cold.
So far, so good. 19 days to go of uninterrupted daily sauna’ing still lies ahead. I’m sure it’s doing something positive. The Oura Ring biometrics are very positive.
Day 14, Monday May 17
I’ve skipped 3 days of writing but I have not skipped 3 days of sauna. The simple fact of doing this challenge has been enough to get me in the sauna each day for at least 90 minutes plus apart from yesterday I have followed the sauna with a splash into the outdoor winter cooled pool.
I’m in touch with a guy in Tasmania in regard to a Tylo Sauna which he has available. Why? I may have said this before in other posts but I need the intense heat go the dry sauna to really get into the hot/cold therapy aspect of what I am doing. The infrared sauna is fabulous but the therapeutic aspects of it are very different from a hot rock sauna that is fired up on steam.
It is a so far so good scenario. I am around half way there in regard to the current challenge. I feel good. I’m not certain whether it is helping with the cancer but it’s got to be having some sort of positive effect on my overall health and inflammation levels.
If I were to single out one method to combat cancer, it is the sauna. It assists removal of chemical toxins and heavy metals, increases oxygenation, enhances the immune system, and reduces the radiation burden in the body.
Lawrence Wilson, MD, Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, 2014
Day 29, Wednesday June 2
I reckon it’s Day 29.
It is supposed to take an alcoholic 28 days to get past the dangerous period. My problem now (and isn’t been for a long time) is whether I am addicted to saunas and jumping into a freezing cold pool. Apart from the obvious benefits of the infra-red, the heat, the sweating I quite enjoy the solitary 90 minutes that I spend in my sauna. I always get to the end and try to push past the urge not to jump in the pool.
It’s dark by now and it doesn’t seem very inviting. In fact it seems like absolute insanity. But, I always manage to do what I call “the walk of destiny”. It is a non stop walk out the back doos and across the deck. I can’t stop. I can’t think. I just have to keep going and then throw myself in. I feel like I am suspended over the water for seconds but that’s just a hallucination.
Then I hit the water and sink to the bottom and that’s where I once again understand why I do it.
