Full disclosure: this one is in partnership with Nook Saunas, and there's a discount code waiting at the end if it sounds like your kind of thing.
There's a nook beside my front door, just the right size, like it had been silently waiting its whole life for a one-person infrared sauna to arrive and fill it.
The Nook Elite sauna fit perfectly. It had its Cinderella moment and was installed in under an hour by two lovely chaps in uniform while I stood there with a coffee.
The sauna faces east. Through the tempered glass door, I look out at a big old gum tree and the garden surrounding it, and when I'm in there early enough, I can watch the sun rise over the top of the trees and feel like I'm winning at life.
TBH, I Wasn't Sure I Would Actually Use It
I got aboard the sauna bandwagon knowing plenty of people swear by theirs. I have chronic pain in my back, neck and shoulders. After a long day at a desk, the stiffness that sets in is the kind that used to send me straight to the bath, because nothing else eased it.
However, I wondered whether I would be bothered with the whole sweaty sauna shebang when the said tiredness actually set in. I was worried that the novelty would wear off and it would become one of those beautiful, expensive things that does nothing but gather dust and quiet judgement.
Three months later, I can tell you: I use it constantly. More than I expected, about three times a week. More than I use almost any other wellness practice in my life right now. Because it works and it just feels sooo good.
What It's Done for My Back
The science behind this is not woo. Infrared heat penetrates tissue more deeply than a hot bath, reaching the muscles and joints rather than just warming the surface. Heat exposure activates heat shock proteins, the body's own repair crew, and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) surges during a sauna session. Studies suggest this may help calm inflammatory signalling, and some small trials have reported that infrared therapy eased pain scores in people with chronic back pain compared with control groups.
I get in, I do some gentle standing forward folds and seated yoga stretches in the warmth (the heat loosens everything so quickly, in a way that stretching cold never does) and I get out feeling like a different person. The muscle in my upper back that spends all day locked around my shoulder blade unclenches. The base of my spine, which had started to feel fused by five o'clock, moves again.
I used to say the bath was the thing I couldn't live without. The sauna is better. (That's my experience, not medical advice, and it's worth checking with your own doctor if you have a health condition.)
A Ritual That Actually Sticks
I go in at the end of the day most often, but when I'm organised and I exercise I use it in the mornings, and then jump in the pool. It's cold enough (for me at least!) to do the job of a cold plunge. The contrast is extraordinary. Your body comes alive in a way that no amount of coffee can replicate.
What I didn't anticipate was how the Nook would become a kind of sanctuary. The NookTone Bluetooth audio system means I can connect my phone without touching it once I'm inside. I listen to Enya and Deep Forest and other fun nineties chill-out.
My ayurvedic doctor at Escape Haven Retreat in Bali told me to listen to Gayatri Mantra to balance my chakras. I like the Deva Premal version. Sometimes I sit in complete silence. And yes, okay, sometimes I doom scroll or draft social posts. The point is: it's forced downtime. Even fifteen minutes at the end of a brutal day where I sit in there and breathe: it counts. Coco, my puppy, tries to join me every single time. I have to usher her out, because, no animals or children, but I respect her ambition.
It's Also Doing Something for My Skin
I didn't buy the sauna for beauty reasons, but I started noticing a few things that I can now categorically say were not from skincare.
Studies suggest infrared heat drives blood to the surface, delivering oxygen and nutrients to skin cells. Fibroblasts, the cells responsible for collagen and elastin production, are believed to respond to that increased circulation, and the heat shock proteins activated during a session may help protect skin cells from oxidative stress, one of the primary drivers of premature ageing. The deep sweating also helps clear pores of sebum and accumulated pollutants.
My skin looks clearer. It has that post-exercise glow, except I didn't have to exercise. Research suggests cortisol, the stress hormone linked to ageing, breakouts and a disrupted skin barrier, drops during a sauna session.
Research also suggests improvements in sleep can persist for a night or two after a session, and sleep is when the skin's repair work happens.
Collagen loss accelerates in women over forty. Anything that may stimulate collagen synthesis (not promise it, stimulate it) is worth knowing about.
The Nook Itself
The Nook Elite is built from 100 per cent Canadian Hemlock, which has a particular quality in the heat: warm, dry, quietly beautiful. The NookThermal Engine uses seven carbon-mica FAR infrared heaters, including a dedicated floor heater, at ultra-low EMF (0–3 mGs).
It runs at an average cost of around 70 cents an hour and plugs into a standard domestic power point.
The Nook team delivered and installed it (packaging removed, everything tested, me shown how to use it), which is not the norm in this category and should be.
It also comes with NookAura chromotherapy, colour light therapy that Nook says traces its roots to ancient Mayan civilisations and has found a very 2026 home inside infrared saunas. I usually go for the red setting in the evening, and it suits a Gayatri Mantra situation.
As for safety: Nook says its saunas are safety-tested with crowbars, blowtorches and 24-hour continuous runs. They come with a five-year parts and labour warranty and lifetime technician support. Also worth knowing: Nook says it is Australia's most-searched sauna company, with more five-star independent reviews on Trustpilot than any other Australian sauna brand. These things matter when you're putting something in your home and your body in it.
If I had my time again, I would go larger. The one-person fits my front-door nook and I love it for that. But now that I understand what this ritual is, I want to share it. Sometimes Damo and I sit practically overlapping to get a little time to ourselves. But one day in the future I might need to find a larger nook for a Nook I can share, and maybe even do some hot yoga in comfortably.
The Verdict
I got a sauna because I hoped it would help my chronic back pain. I wasn't sure I would use it. I use it about three times a week. My back feels better, my skin looks clearer, and now that nook beside my front door makes sense. The Nook Elite is available via this link (use code BEAUTICATE for $100 off!), and if you have a nook of your own sitting empty, I would start there. Or clean out your garage. It's worth it.
This article is produced in partnership with Nook Saunas.
