Why The Lights in Your House Are Actually Making You Sick | Heal Thy Self
→ SaunaSpace | For the next week, Heal Thy Self loyal listeners can get an exclusive 15% off at sauna.space with code DRG at checkout. This exclusive offer ends September 28 — after that, the discount returns to the standard 10% off.
Episode Description:
We are losing our humanity to an overstimulating and sterile lifestyle. The human nervous system is designed to spend 90% of its time in a state of being. Right now we have it completely flipped.
Brian Richards is the founder of SaunaSpace, the near infrared sauna company built around the idea that light is medicine, grounding is not optional, and stillness is one of the most healing things a human being can experience. This conversation goes far beyond detox and heat. It covers the nervous system crisis of modern life, why depression is simply anxiety taken too far, why your phone is giving your brain more stimulation in two minutes than your ancestors received in a full day, and how near infrared light works at the cellular level to do something that a traditional hot box sauna cannot.
Brian Richards' takes — in order:
Take 1: "We're losing our humanity to an overstimulating and sterile lifestyle" Brian opens with the nervous system reality most people are living inside without recognizing it. He explains why doing has replaced being almost entirely and why that flip is the root cause behind the anxiety, overwhelm, and burnout epidemic.
Take 2: "A few minutes on social media gives you more stimulation than your ancestors got in a day" It is not just the content. It is the volume and speed of incoming data that your nervous system cannot consciously process. Brian explains where all of that unprocessed information actually goes and why it shows up as irritability, restlessness, and disconnection.
Take 3: "Near infrared light penetrates your skin and charges your mitochondria directly" This is the science that separates near infrared from conventional saunas. Brian explains how near infrared photons interact with cytochrome c oxidase in the mitochondria to produce ATP, why that process also triggers melatonin production deep inside the cells, and why mitochondrial light is not the same thing as sweating in a hot room.
Take 4: "This is not just a sauna. It is an experience of being a human" After 20 minutes inside, Brian describes coming out feeling more centered, more focused, more himself. He makes the case that stillness plus light plus grounding creates something restorative that no gym sauna, no cold plunge, and no supplement can replicate.
Find SaunaSpace:
Website: https://www.saunaspace.com Use code DRG for 15% off through September 28th, then 10% off after
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saunaspace/?hl=en
Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
1:21 - Your Nervous System Is Supposed to Be in a Being State 90% of the Time — Ours Is Inverted
3:16 - Why Stillness Is Not Boredom — It's the Only Time Your Body Can Actually Integrate
4:28 - Two Minutes on TikTok Gives Your Nervous System More Stimulation Than Our Ancestors Got in a Day
6:38 - Why You're Irritable and Don't Even Know Why (The Answer Is the Phone)
7:25 - The Further We Get From Nature, the Further We Get From Health
8:44 - The First Three Things He Does Every Morning to Bring Nature Back Into His Day
10:02 - What Air Conditioning Is Actually Doing to Your Indoor Air (Beyond Temperature)
10:56 - Why He Keeps Night Shift Mode On His Phone All Day Long
11:41 - Why Homes in the UK Feel Warmer and Calmer — and What American Lighting Is Doing to Us
13:30 - The Mall Story: What Happens to Your Body Under Fluorescent Light That You Can't Unsee
17:00 - The Light Your Body Runs On That Nobody Told You About
22:00 - Sunscreen, Sunlight and the Biggest Misunderstanding in Modern Health
27:15 - Why Saunas Are No Longer a Luxury — They're a Necessity in the Toxic World We Live In
28:55 - The Chemicals Acting as Hormones in Your Body Right Now (Xeno Estrogens, Explained)
30:28 - The Only Known Natural Therapy Shown to Reduce Risk of Dying From All Non-Trauma Causes
31:18 - Why You Get Out Feeling Like More of Yourself — Not Just Sweaty and Tired
32:42 - What Makes This Sauna Different: EMF Shielded, No Blue Light, Grounding Mat Built In
34:12 - How He Uses His Own Sauna Every Morning (and Why He Never Skips It)
37:57 - It's Not Just a Sauna — It's a Sacred Time to Be Still and Hear Yourself
38:48 - Where to Find Sauna Space and How to Save on Your First Order
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