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This article is part of a special collaboration between House Beautiful, Women’s Health, and Men’s Health, looking at all the ways our home spaces can help us recover smarter, move more, and live better. See the full collection here.
PRACTICING WHAT YOU preach is the basic foundation for pretty much everyone with a platform to dole out advice, and Richard Dorment, editorial director of Men's Health and Women's Health, is no exception. "I realized that I had worked at Men's Health for eight years and have preached the gospel of investing time, money, and attention into taking care of yourself, and, of course, I didn't do any of those things in my private life," Dorment jokes. So last year, he transformed an unused bedroom in his home just outside New York City into a home gym and finished it off with a much-needed rest area. "As a complement to the gym, we did a recovery zone, which includes a cold plunge, a muscle gunning station, and a sauna."
The sauna, a high-tech infrared masterpiece from Sunlighten, isn't just a place to sweat after a cardio or strength session; it brings with it a myriad of health benefits. According to Cleveland Clinic, infrared saunas can improve heart health, soothe sore muscles, aid in pain relief, fight off illness, invite better sleep, and more. "I love infrared saunas because there are many more health benefits you get from them beyond just a sweat," Dorment adds. Both he and his wife are regular sauna users in their New York home.
Luckily, neither of them get bored in their Sunlighten because there's a lot to do in there, courtesy of the tablet. "Once you get settled, you can check your email, watch Netflix, and play music on the speakers. You aren't just sitting there counting the seconds. It's actually really easy to lose track of time in there," he admits.
Let's back up, though: The whole process started where most big decisions do: online. Dorment went to Sunlighten over other brands because he knew it had one of the best reputations in this specific type of wellness space. Next, he perused the options and made his pick: The mPulse Aspire model. "We've covered Sunlighten for years, and they have a great reputation, so when we started discussing the process of incorporating a sauna into our home, I knew this was the only brand I'd consider."
Of course, no home improvement project goes perfectly seamlessly, and this one did come with some bumps. "It's a major piece of equipment," Dorment insists. "It's not something you order online and install day-of by yourself." The lead time was nearly a month between clicking "order" and delivery.
What's more, "It weighs a couple of hundred pounds, and you need at least two people to put it together," Dorment says. "There's also a lot of circuitry between the tablet, the speakers, and the LED panels, and you definitely need to make sure that you're comfortable with that level of installation." He, admittedly, was not, so he opted for the brand's white-glove delivery to ensure the safest and most effective installation—and, even then, it took pretty much the entire day to get up and running.
Logistics aside, Dorment has no regrets. In fact, he says his whole family is enjoying it even more than he anticipated. "This whole thing was a really fun process, and it was fun collaborating with my family. Everyone—not just myself—can use it."
Jessica Cherner is House Beautiful’s Associate Shopping Editor, a role she’s honed since joining the editorial team in September 2022. Since then, she’s been testing and reviewing viral products, carefully curating timely gift guides, and tapping her vast network of interior designers to weigh in on decorating debates that often have the Internet divided. Though most of her day-to-day is product-focused, every now and then, she manages to publish a few home tours, which are the types of features she has written over the course of her eight-year career and in previous roles at 1stDibs and Architectural Digest. In her current role as a shopping editor, Jess has mastered the art of swapping decor in and out of her own New York City apartment to fulfill her seemingly never-ending quest for the perfectly styled space.
