Stress rose fastest for people your age.
In 2023, 31% of US adults aged 35 to 44 rated their stress 8 to 10 out of 10. That was up 10 points from 2019, the biggest rise of any age group. For all adults the figure was 24%. Work is one of the top three sources: 65% of adults named it as a significant source of stress in 2024, behind health (66%) and just ahead of money (64%). And 77% of workers said they felt work-related stress in the last month.
Work is the one on that list you face five days a week.
APA, Stress in America 2023, 3,185 adults, Harris Poll, August 2023. APA, Stress in America 2024, 3,305 adults, Harris Poll, August 2024. APA, Work in America 2023, 2,515 employed adults, Harris Poll, April 2023. APA does not publish these figures for men only.
Is work stress keeping you up at night?
In APA's 2025 survey of 2,017 workers, 54% said job insecurity was having a significant impact on their stress at work. Among workers worried about a downturn or layoffs, 42% said work stress makes it difficult to sleep. Only 35% of workers say their employer encourages breaks during the day. And fathers now spend 6.6 hours a week on primary child care, up from 2.6 hours in 1985, while their paid work week grew to 41.2 hours.
For most men reading this, the only open time is after work, at home, in the evening.
APA, Work in America 2025, 2,017 employed adults, Harris Poll, March to April 2025 (the 42% figure is only among workers worried about an economic downturn). APA, Work in America 2023. U.S. Surgeon General, Parents Under Pressure advisory, August 2024, citing US time-use data.
The stress you choose has a name: hormesis.
Heat is a physical stress. In Finnish sauna studies, heart rate goes up and the body releases stress hormones, the same response it has to other stressors. Researchers found those hormones return to normal within a couple of hours. The name for this pattern is hormesis: a short, controlled stress that the body adapts to when you repeat it. In a 2021 review, researchers wrote that "repeated sauna use acclimates the body to heat and optimizes the body's response to future exposures, likely due to the biological phenomenon known as hormesis."
You set the temperature and the timer, and you can open the door at any point. Then you cool down for about 10 minutes.
Exercise works on the same idea: a hard effort you choose, then rest.
Kukkonen-Harjula and Kauppinen, Annals of Clinical Research, 1988, PMID 3218898, review of Finnish sauna studies. Patrick and Johnson, Experimental Gerontology, 2021, PMID 34363927, review.
After the sauna, 93 people's heart rates dropped.
In a 2019 Finnish study, 93 adults with an average age of 52, who had cardiovascular risk factors, sat in a traditional sauna at 73°C (163°F) for 30 minutes. Their heart rate went up during the session. In the 30 minutes after, their resting heart rate fell to 68 beats a minute, lower than the 77 they started at, and heart rate variability rose. Higher heart rate variability is a sign the "rest" side of the nervous system is in charge.
In a 2025 study of 40 athletes, all women, a 10-minute infrared sauna at 50°C (122°F) after training raised the stress hormone cortisol the next morning in the first week. By the sixth week of regular sessions, that rise was gone. The researchers said the body had adjusted to the heat. This is the one infrared study we found that shows the stress-then-adapt pattern.
In a 2023 study of 22 women, a 20-minute traditional sauna lowered tension scores on a mood questionnaire at the lower of two temperatures. At the higher one, mood got worse and some of the women fainted. More heat was not better.
And in a 2019 survey of 482 regular sauna users, relaxation and stress reduction was the top reason people gave for using one, and 83.5% said they had sleep benefits after a session.
In all four, the heat was a set temperature for a set time, and people chose when to get out.
Laukkanen et al., Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 2019, PMID 31331560, 93 adults with cardiovascular risk factors, one traditional Finnish sauna session, no control group. Ahokas et al., Temperature, 2025, PMID 40926789, 40 female team-sport athletes, far infrared, pair-matched controlled trial. Podstawski et al., Frontiers in Public Health, 2023, PMID 38344040, 22 women, traditional sauna at 80°C and 120°C, no control group. Hussain et al., Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 2019, PMID 31126560, Global Sauna Survey, 482 self-selected regular users, self-reported, mixed sauna types.
Why Finns sit in a sauna after work.
“They want some relaxation, you know, after working all day and so on. It's like a happy to end your day and go to sauna and after that you feel more relaxed.”
Prof. Jari Laukkanen, cardiologist, University of Eastern Finland, on why Finns use the sauna. FoundMyFitness episode #37, June 15, 2017, at 00:15:55.
“Repeated sauna use acclimates the body to heat and optimizes the body's response to future exposures, likely due to the biological phenomenon known as hormesis.”
Rhonda Patrick, PhD, biomedical scientist, with Teresa Johnson. Experimental Gerontology, 2021.
“So when I was in graduate school, I was very stressed out, you know, exams and failed experiments and lots of pressure, so I was using the sauna and it noticeably improved my mood and helped me deal with stress.”
Rhonda Patrick, PhD, describing her own experience. FoundMyFitness episode #37, June 15, 2017, at 00:15:55.
“The researchers also emphasize that the very nature of the Finnish sauna is designed to reduce stress.”
Harvard Health Blog, reporting on the Finnish sauna researchers, February 25, 2015.
“Start at something like 110 degrees for five to 10 minutes... See how you feel, then build from there.”
Melissa Young, MD, Cleveland Clinic, on infrared saunas. Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials, April 14, 2022.
Not affiliated with SaunaBox. Quoted from public sources. Laukkanen and the Harvard line are about traditional Finnish saunas.
Nobody has proven a sauna lowers everyday stress.
We searched for a randomized trial that tested whether a sauna lowers everyday stress in healthy adults. There isn't one. What exists is small before-and-after studies, surveys of people who already like saunas, and single sessions.
On cortisol, results go both ways. It went down in one 1989 study of 8 men, and up in the first week of the 2025 infrared study. A brand that says a sauna lowers cortisol is picking one result.
On heart rate variability, the gain in the Finnish study was in the 30 minutes after one session. In a 2025 randomized trial, 38 adults who added a 15-minute sauna after exercise three times a week for 8 weeks saw no extra change in heart rate variability compared with exercise alone. In the one small infrared trial we found, 10 women, infrared heat did not change heart rate variability.
showing a sauna lowers everyday stress in healthy adults.
Down in 8 men in 1989, up in week one of the 2025 infrared study.
No extra heart rate variability change beyond exercise alone.
Sauna studies in a 2018 review. Most had fewer than 40 people.
If a sauna brand promises lower cortisol or less anxiety, ask them for the study.
Kukkonen-Harjula et al., 1989, PMID 2759081, 8 men. Lee et al., Physiological Reports, 2025, PMID 40611569, 38 adults, randomized, traditional sauna after exercise. Hussain et al., Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 2022, PMID 34954348, 10 women, far infrared, randomized crossover. Hussain and Cohen, Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2018, PMID 29849692, systematic review of 40 studies.
Use it one to two hours before bed.
A 2019 review of 17 studies found that a warm bath or shower at 104 to 108.5°F, taken one to two hours before bed, was linked to better sleep quality, and as little as 10 minutes helped people fall asleep faster. That was water, not a sauna, so we don't claim the same for infrared. It is the reason many owners use theirs after dinner.
“I use like an hour or two before bed to help me unwind, and I sleep like a rock.”
Albert, Pulse PRO owner
“I do it after dinner every night and it gives me the best nights sleep.”
Crew T., Solara owner
Pick a set time after dinner and keep it.
Haghayegh et al., Sleep Medicine Reviews, 2019, PMID 31102877, systematic review and meta-analysis of warm baths and showers, not saunas. Owner quotes from verified SaunaBox reviews (Albert, Pulse PRO, July 2026; Crew T., Solara, October 2025, Yotpo, saunabox.com). A sauna does not treat insomnia or any sleep disorder.
Skip it after drinks, and when you're sick.
Harvard Health's advice: "Avoid alcohol and medications that may impair sweating and produce overheating before and after your sauna." "Stay in no more than 15–20 minutes." "Don't take a sauna when you are ill, and if you feel unwell during your sauna, head for the door."
- →Heart condition or blood pressure medication? Ask your doctor first.
- →Start lower and shorter, drink water, and stand up slowly afterwards.
- →A sauna is not a treatment for anxiety, depression or any condition. If stress is affecting your work, your sleep or your family most days, talk to a doctor.
In a 2023 study, the hotter of two sessions made mood worse and some people fainted. The Solara tops out at 158°F.
Harvard Health Publishing, Saunas and your health, May 2020. Podstawski et al., 2023, PMID 38344040.
Twenty minutes after work, four nights a week.
Turn the Solara on when you get home. Give it 15 to 30 minutes to heat, depending on the room. Drink water first, then sit for about 20 minutes with the Bluetooth speaker on or off. Cool down for 10 minutes before a shower.
A rhythm owners describe in their own words: "I have used it 3 times a week since I got it a month and a half a go." (Paul K., Solara owner). Cleveland Clinic's Dr. Melissa Young suggests starting at about 110°F for 5 to 10 minutes and building from there.
Start with 10 minutes the first week, then build to 20.
It fits a 35 by 37 inch corner.
About thirty minutes to put together. One person. No tools, nothing drilled, a regular household outlet. The Solara fits adults up to 6 foot 8 seated, and at 63 inches tall it clears a standard doorway. It has a built-in Bluetooth speaker, adjustable color lights, and a 660 and 850nm red light panel. Ultra-low EMF panels. Independently tested by Intertek.
Owners who use it after a long workday.
Solara 4.6 out of 5 from 161 reviews. Pulse PRO 4.4 out of 5 from 116 reviews.
“This is my way of relaxing and unwinding after my workouts or a long day at work.”
“I definitely sweat a ton sitting in this sauna for 20-25 minutes... I use this sauna daily and feel better by using it.”
“I have used it 3 times a week since I got it a month and a half a go... you feel the stress just melting out of you.”
“My wife and I use it every day. I use like an hour or two before bed to help me unwind, and I sleep like a rock.”
“My spring was very busy, but when Summer started, I continued using it 3 to 4 times a week.”
“I do it after dinner every night and it gives me the best nights sleep.”
“I use the sauna every morning to start my day... 20-30 minute sessions produce an intense sweat... The sauna puts me in an extreme state of relaxation.”
“Great at the end of the day before going to bed to help you sleep better.”
