I first stepped into an infrared sauna during a trip to Australia, when a friend took me to a place called City Cave. I’d used traditional saunas numerous times and always loved the feeling of deep warmth and sweating, but I could never stay in one for more than 10 minutes or so before I’d start feeling overwhelmed by the heat. But at City Cave, I stayed in for a full 40-minute session, wrapped in a towel and listening to relaxing music while beads of sweat trickled down my skin. 

Although I was warm and perspiring the entire time, I was surprised to find that not once did I feel so hot that I needed to take a break. As I sat there, I could feel my muscles—tight and twisted thanks to 24-plus hours of airplane travel—begin to soften and relax, and my breaths became deeper and slower. I slept well that night and was able to fight off jet lag, and I decided that when I returned to Sarasota, I would see if I could find anything similar here. My search led me to Perspire Sauna Studio.

“Infrared saunas are different from traditional Finnish-style saunas, which are more like a heated box that you go in,” says Franciska Bray, who co-owns Perspire’s two Sarasota locations with her husband Gavin. “Instead of heating up the air around your body, an infrared sauna heats up your body from the inside.”

To understand how this works, it helps to know what exactly infrared heat is. “Infrared” refers to a type of electromagnetic radiation that falls just beyond the red end of the visible light spectrum, making it invisible to the human eye, but felt as heat. The heat is emitted in the form of light waves, whose longer wavelengths can penetrate the surface of objects, including the human body. Unlike ultraviolet rays, which fall at the opposite end of the spectrum and have shorter wavelengths that can damage the skin, infrared radiation is a safe and beneficial means of generating warmth from within without drastically raising the surrounding air temperature.

“Infrared heat elevates the body’s core temperature 2 to 4 degrees,” says Bray, “so it creates a ‘false fever’ effect, which, like a true fever, is designed to decrease inflammation in the body and strengthen its immune response. The heat also stimulates the sweat glands and causes perspiration.”

Until fairly recently, medical research to back up the health claims about infrared sauna benefits had been limited. A 2009 Canadian study found some evidence that infrared sauna use could help with normalizing blood pressure and reducing chronic pain. More recently, a 2021 study in the International Journal of Hyperthermia supports the use of infrared saunas to alleviate symptoms of depression, and participants in a 2019 study in Complementary Therapies in Medicine reported improved sleep and stress relief from regular use. Clinical research has also found some proof that utilizing infrared heat may help in the treatment of other conditions, such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, type 2 diabetes and arthritis.

According to Bray, an infrared sauna session is “fantastic for cardiovascular health, because it elevates the heart rate and opens up the blood vessels, increasing circulation and sending fresh oxygen into the bloodstream. This makes it really good for recovery after a workout or surgery or any kind of injury.” As the heart works harder to pump blood at a higher rate, the body’s metabolism increases. “Basically, as you are relaxing in the sauna, your body is doing cardio exercise,” Bray says. “It’s equal to doing a cycling, running or jogging exercise, and you can potentially burn about 400 calories being in the sauna for a 40-minute session.” (Of course, infrared saunas aren’t for everyone, including pregnant or breastfeeding women. “We always recommend checking with your doctor first if you have a specific disease or condition,” Bray says.)

Bray grew up in Hungary, which has a big spa culture due to the Turkish baths built there during the Ottoman Empire. Spending time at baths—going in and out of water of varying temperatures, from hot to very cold—was a regular part of Bray’s family life. She met Gavin, an American, in Hungary, and they ended up moving to California, where she became involved with yoga and the health and wellness industry. That’s when she found Perspire, and began going regularly. The company was founded in 2010 by a man named Lee Braun and has since grown to 65 locations in the U.S., with 23 more in the coming-soon stage. “It’s a fast-growing industry,” Bray says.

The Brays relocated to Sarasota during the Covid-19 pandemic, and in August 2022, the couple opened their first Perspire in Lakewood Ranch, near the University Town Center mall. “We jumped in headfirst, and we really believed in the location,” Bray says. “That studio actually became the No. 1 Perspire studio in the country based on membership and number of visits. This whole area is really health-oriented, and people understand that it’s a great investment to spend money on their health.” The couple opened a second location in The Landings last July.

The private suites at Perspire each have an individual sauna, which has plenty of room for one person to stretch out comfortably, or for two to sit side-by-side if a session is shared. Guests can set the temperature to their comfort level, though Bray says most benefits are experienced between 120 and 170 degrees Fahrenheit. The lights inside the sauna can be adjusted to various colors if guests would like to experience the benefits of chromotherapy, which Bray describes as “letting different colors have different effects on your brain and mood.”

Bray believes that as more research emerges, even more of the health advantages of infrared sauna use will be proven. “But beyond all the amazing physical benefits,” she says, “just carving out those 40 minutes for yourself is such a rejuvenation for the mind, the body and the spirit at the same time. I love seeing clients come out of the sauna with that beautiful, refreshed feeling. It’s changing their quality of life.”

Perspire Sauna Studio has two locations: 309 N. Cattlemen Road, Unit 2, Sarasota, (941) 413-3331, and 4924 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, (941) 413-1174; perspiresaunastudio.com. Other infrared therapy options can be found at Purify: The Sweat and Chill Lounge, which has multiple area locations (purifylounge.com) and Fusion Therapy, 7069 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, (941) 921-7900, fusiontherapysarasota.com.