Social Residence Ichigao North is now open, and is the first Oakhouse share house with a stone sauna!
You often hear about the great effects of saunas, from detox to healthy skin.... but what is it actually like?
One of our staff tried it out for herself, and we'd like to share it with you!

What is a stone sauna?

You may be wondering what a stone sauna even is. According to Dr. Tsuneaki Gomi, founder of the Gomi Clinic and known as the "master of stone sauna", it is a system when you heat up natural rocks and lay down on them directly, in a way of bathing that involves no water. However, it's not just about heating them up, but "using far-infrared minus ions". It seems the definition is pretty narrow. *1

What about the sweat in a stone sauna? Does it smell?

In a stone sauna, "the far-infrared heats not just the skin, but heats your body from the inside". Due to this, the stones do not feel that hot, but you still sweat a lot. But according to Dr. Gomi, the sweat acts like a "natural skin lotion", so it doesn't smell bad. *2

Why doesn't it smell? When we sweat in the summer, the smell comes from components like urea, ammonia, lactic acid, bacteria, and alkaline bicarbonate ions. But the sweat when using the stone sauna is closer to water. Plus, the way the rocks are heated acts as an anti-bacterial, which helps prevent bad bacteria! *3

So according to this, apparently you don't need to shower afterward...
I wonder if that's true...

What to bring and what to wear in the stone sauna

Now we head into the stone sauna! What do we need to wear, what should we bring? There are many things we don't know yet. So let's go over what we need:

【What to bring】
・Something to wear in the sauna and a change of underwear
・Bath towel (to lay on)
・Face towel (to wipe sweat)
・Drink

＜Clothes, change of underwear＞
You don't need to be nude to use the stone sauna, you can wear clothes. Because of course it is a hot rock, laying directly on it may cause burns on the skin, so a t-shirt and shorts will be fine.
You sweat a lot in a stone sauna, so you typically don't need to wear underwear.

＜Bath towel＞
In a stone sauna, you don't lay directly on the rock but instead on a bath towel. Try to bring one that's big enough to lay down on!

＜Face towel＞
You will sweat a lot so bring something to wipe your face.

＜Drink＞
You will sweat a lot so you will need to replace fluids. Try to bring at least 1 PET bottle of water.

Now we're ready to get into the stone sauna!
We will use Oakhouse staff "S" as our test subject.

How to enter the bath

First, lay either face up or face down for 10 minutes, then switch, then the sides as well. This is one set; total of 60 to 90 minutes is good.
There aren't really any big rules of what you shouldn't do. Just lie in a direction and manner that feels good and relaxing. That's the most important part!

You sweat a lot in a stone sauna, so around 1 or 2 times per week is best, maximum 3.
Don't forget to drink water! Before going in, drink around 150 to 200 ml of water, then 200 to 250 ml more when you get out. Try to drink as much fluids as you sweat out!

Breathing when using the stone sauna

Breathe slowly to increase your brain's alpha waves and warm your nerves. You are of course free to just sit there and enjoy it, but you may find it more effective to do mental imaging.
For example, if you feel stress everyday, try to imagine yourself flying through the open skies as a bird. If you want to diet, imagine yourself as a wet washcloth being wrung out. You'll be sweating before you know it!

After the sauna

Now let's talk about getting out of the sauna.
After using a regular sauna, or working out, it feels so great to take a shower... but with a stone sauna, you won't need to.
So, let your body dry naturally. However, try not to get cool with the air conditioner. You may confuse your body's natural processes into thinking that the environment is cool, and your sweat will stop. Instead, try to cool down slowly and naturally.

I hope you've learned a little about stone sauna!
Come check it out for yourself at Social Residence Ichigao North!

*This article referenced a book written but Dr. Tsuneaki Gomi. He writes a lot about stone sauna effects.

Reference:
Tsuneaki Gomi (2006) "Sweating health: the secret of the stone sauna - the surprising power of far-infrared and minus ions" Published by Heart Shuppan.
*1　p.13
*2　p.32-33
*3　p.80-81