The Holistic Handbook of Sauna Therapy

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"The Holistic Handbook of Sauna Therapy" was truly a delight to read. Ms. Sylver has a gifted ability to do comprehensive research, perceive the technical information that is available to the analytical mind, then be able to transform it into a enjoyably readable book for those of us globally minded random thinkers such as myself.

Having previously read Ms. Sylver's book "The Handbook of Rife Frequency Healing", I expected the comprehensive writing skill and outstanding layout of her quality work, but was pleasantly surprised with how much I learned about Saunas, and how important they are in Detox. Indeed, I was able to see that Saunas may be the only therapy in some cases that can do what they do in detoxing Drugs, Chemicals, and Heavy Metals, especially in the time frame that saunas can accomplish it in. Dr. Shantha, MD states that "Dr. Sylver cites research showing that 15 minutes of sauna, through sweat, eliminates the same amount of heavy metal that would take the kidneys 24 hours to excrete. Mercury loss by sweating may be even more substantial. It is my opinion that most of today's practicing physicians have become pill pushers of pharmaceutical products that are toxic to the body. They have forgotten that an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure."

Ms. Sylver begins by reviewing historically documented evidence of the long history of Sauna usage, construction, and cultural and social aspects of the Sauna. She gives a incredible detail of how and why the body produces sweat, and the positive benefits of deliberate inducement of sweating. I was reminded of the ways the Laws of Thermodynamics is put to good use in Saunas by:

1. Molecules at a higher temperature move faster than molecules at a lower temperature.
2. Heating a substance generally causes it to expand. (Since the molecules are moving faster, they tend to bump into each other more so the collision makes them ricochet out and take up more space.)
3. Heat travels from the object or area that is hot to the object or area that is cold.

As in all of Ms. Sylver's books, she goes above and beyond the subject at hand in giving a expansive education of all complementary aspects of the subject at hand. In discussing the many types of Saunas; the benefits and weaknesses of different types of sauna construction, she touches on the FIR Saunas, and gives wonderful education of the Electromagnetic Spectrum, complete with wonderful graphic charts, to make wavelengths and cycles per second theory very understandable to lay persons. What was especially interesting to me was her historical documentation of Sir Frederick William Herschel, a German musician and astronomer, who moved to England in 1757, where he and his sister built telescopes to locate and catalog planets, stars, and nebulae. Ms. Sylver records: "In 1800, he conducted his famous experiment that established the infrared radiation as part of the scientific record. Herschel never intended to discover infrared wavelengths; he was trying to ascertain the temperatures of each band (color) of visible light. First he separated sunlight into its seven colors by shining it through a prism. Next he placed a thermometer within each color to take its temperature." She goes on to discuss the heat spectrums of visible and infrared (nonvisible) spectrums of light. All this comes into play in Far Infrared Radiation (FIR) Saunas. As I've said, she puts so much more into her books than just the topic of the book, and makes it so enjoyable to learn.

One thing that was so interesting was her discussion of toxins that we all come in contact with, is how each of these are directly and indirectly responsible for allergies, syndromes, disease, and all manners of chemistry and hormonal problems that we never suspect as being responsible for our diseased states. Even nerve diseases that we think of as incurable in the medical world, she give evidence of significant measurable relief of symptoms due directly to detox of chemical and heavy metal toxicity to the extent that it is noticeable in tests of preprogram vs. post-program symptom reduction. She shows conclusively that in test subjects having CNS afflictions, as well as Auto Immune diseases, that in specified program perimeters of 50 days, Sauna gave a 99% reduction of symptoms. While we may not be able to say medically this person was "cured", we can say it sure made a measurable difference in the quality of this person's life.

Dr. Sylver discusses the importance of using Sauna therapy in Narcotics Officers who have been deliberately exposed to, and saturated with drugs like PCP. She quotes from an article "Chemical Hazards in Law Enforcement" about one officer's experience of being drenched with PCP in a drug raid. He had previously had other treatments trying to detox his body of this drug, but states "While I was in the sauna I actually began to taste the PCP in my mouth. I could also smell it about my body. After about a week things started to change; it caught me by surprise. I had been having headaches every day for a very long time and suddenly one day I realized that I didn't have a headache anymore. After that I just kept getting better and better. Toward the end of the program I felt great."

He continues " After completing the program I took another series of tests. The personality test score, IQ test score, and reaction time test score all showed my improvement." He goes on to say how even his cousin could discern a difference in him "sounding different".

I must say that I was totally impressed. As my own husband is in construction, and is constantly exposed to various chemicals both in building products, paint and thinners, etc., as well as living in an agricultural community where crop dusting goes on for days several times a year, we are constantly exposed to abnormally large amounts of chemicals. Ms. Sylver's case for how these various chemicals affect different neurological, endocrine and metabolic, hormonal systems, I was convinced that finding a Sauna soon was not just a luxury thing to experience, but a necessity for achieving a healthy life - free of toxic symptoms. She states her case most eloquently.

This book is truly a must have resource. I really enjoyed it, and learned more than I ever anticipated.

Very well done!

Jennifer Ruby