User Guide

Everything you need to get started with SaunaMind and make the most of every session.

In this guide
Introduction Getting Started How SaunaMind Works Tracking Sessions Understanding Zones Heart Rate Monitors Subscriptions Troubleshooting

Introduction

SaunaMind helps you track training, sauna, cold exposure, hydration, and recovery as one connected wellness session. Instead of relying only on the clock, SaunaMind uses available heart-rate and session data to show wellness estimates such as Sauna Load, heat zones, cold recovery, training zones, hydration context, and readiness.

The zone system is informed by general sauna and exercise research, but it is not a medical measurement. SaunaMind estimates your session context; it does not confirm that any specific biological outcome is occurring.

Getting Started

1

Download & Sign Up

SaunaMind is currently in TestFlight. Join the waitlist and you'll get an early-access invite when founding-member spots open.

2

Choose Your Sauna Type

Select your primary sauna: Traditional/Finnish, Infrared, or Steam. This helps calibrate the estimation model because different sauna types can produce different heart-rate and heat-comfort responses.

3

Set Your Goals

Tell us what you're after — cardiovascular health, recovery, longevity, stress relief, or general wellness. This helps the AI coach surface relevant general educational content. The coach does not provide personalised medical advice.

4

Connect a Heart Rate Monitor (Optional)

For richer session context, pair a Bluetooth heart-rate strap (Polar, Wahoo, Garmin, CooSpo, or any standard HR monitor). Without one, SaunaMind can still log the session with the data you enter.

How SaunaMind Works

Sauna Load and Heat Zones

SaunaMind turns available heart-rate and session data into a 0-100 Sauna Load score and simple heat-zone labels. These are proprietary wellness estimates, not clinical measurements.

heart-rate effort + time in zone = Sauna Load Consumer wellness score, not a medical reading

Traditional, infrared, and steam saunas can feel different, so your sauna preference helps the app present the session in the right context.

Heart-rate responses vary based on hydration, fitness, acclimatisation, caffeine, medication, and environmental conditions. SaunaMind is not a medical device and should not be used for medical decisions.

Why Not Just Use a Timer?

Two people in the same sauna for the same duration can show very different heart-rate responses. Fitness level, hydration, acclimatisation, and body composition all affect heat tolerance. SaunaMind estimates your session response instead of relying only on elapsed time.

Tracking Sessions

Starting a Session

The intended session flow starts from the Session tab. SaunaMind is being designed around three session phases:

  • Training — Pre-sauna exercise. Tracks heart rate and exercise zones.
  • Sauna — The main event. Tracks Sauna Load and heat zones in real time.
  • Cold Plunge — Post-sauna cold exposure. Tracks HR recovery.

You can use any combination of these phases in a single session.

During Your Session

The main screen shows Sauna Load, active heat zone, heart rate, hydration context, and elapsed time. If you leave the app, your session continues in the background and picks up where you left off.

Session History

Every session is saved automatically. The History tab shows all past sessions with filters for sauna, cold plunge, contrast (sauna + cold), and training sessions. Tap any session for a detailed view including session metrics, zone context, hydration, and recovery information.

Understanding Zones

SaunaMind maps heat-session effort to five research-informed wellness zones. The descriptions below summarise general sauna and heat-adaptation context; they are not claims that SaunaMind measures, delivers, or verifies any biological outcome.

SaunaMind is a general wellness application. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, prevent, or monitor any disease or medical condition. If you feel unwell, exit the sauna and seek appropriate help.

Warm-Up early effort

A low estimated heat-response range. Sauna physiology reviews describe thermoregulatory changes such as increased skin blood flow during heat exposure, but SaunaMind does not measure vasodilation or verify any clinical outcome.

Building Heat building effort

A sustained baseline range. Heat-acclimation literature discusses progressive cardiovascular and thermoregulatory adaptation over repeated exposure; SaunaMind shows an estimated session zone, not confirmed adaptation.

Peak Heat high effort

A higher estimated heat-response range. Cellular stress-response pathways are discussed in heat-adaptation research, but SaunaMind does not measure heat shock proteins or confirm cellular changes.

Extreme Heat upper effort

A high estimated heat-response range. Research describes associations between heat stress and multiple biological pathways; individual responses vary and the app reports only an estimated wellness zone.

Time to Cool cool down

A safety-focused high estimate. Exit the sauna, cool down, and seek medical help if you feel faint, confused, short of breath, or unwell.

Cold Therapy

SaunaMind is being designed around the idea that heat and cold can belong in one recovery session. Every plunge, shower, ice bath, or cryo session can be logged with heart-rate context, and contrast sessions are saved as a single connected flow with round-by-round data.

The 3-Phase Cold Model

Cold exposure often follows a recognisable pattern. SaunaMind maps your session to three observational phases using live heart-rate data when available:

  • Entry Shock (0–30 seconds) — a common early response to cold exposure, where breathing and heart rate may change quickly.
  • Adaptation (30 seconds–3 minutes) — heart rate may stabilise as you settle into the exposure. Søberg et al. (2021) studied habitual winter swimmers and reported thermogenic differences versus controls; SaunaMind does not claim to reproduce or verify those findings.
  • Recovery (post-exit) — heart rate drifts back toward resting. SaunaMind shows this as a recovery percentage: the portion of your cold-induced HR elevation that has returned to baseline.

Live RMSSD

During the Recovery phase, SaunaMind can calculate RMSSD — the root mean square of successive differences between heartbeats — from a BLE chest strap's beat-to-beat data. Shaffer & Ginsberg (2017) describe RMSSD as a short-window HRV measure associated with parasympathetic activity. In SaunaMind, RMSSD is a wellness estimate of recovery, not a clinical HRV assessment.

Contrast Therapy

Hot-cold cycling is tracked as a single contrast session with round counts. Each round logs entry HR, exit HR, cold recovery percentage, and time in each modality. Research on contrast formats in sports recovery literature describes mixed results — the app presents your data observationally rather than prescriptively.

This is general wellness information. Consult your doctor for personal health guidance.

Heart Rate Monitors

Supported Devices

SaunaMind works with any Bluetooth Low Energy heart rate monitor that uses the standard Heart Rate Service. Tested and verified devices include:

  • Polar H10, H9, OH1, Verity Sense
  • Wahoo TICKR, TICKR X, TICKR FIT
  • Garmin HRM-Pro, HRM-Dual
  • CooSpo H808S, H6
  • Magene H303, H64
  • Scosche Rhythm+, Rhythm24

Connecting Your Monitor

Wet the sensor pads, put on your strap, then open SaunaMind. The app scans for nearby HR monitors automatically. Tap your device in the list to connect. Once paired, it reconnects automatically in future sessions.

Oura Ring

Connect your Oura Ring via the Profile tab for daily readiness metrics, sleep data, and HRV tracking. Oura session HR data is also used to backfill heart rate for sessions where a BLE strap wasn't available.

Subscriptions

Tiers

SaunaMind offers three annual subscription tiers. No feature gates — every tier gets every feature. Early supporters pay less and keep that price for life.

  • Founding Member — $19.99/year for the first 1,000 members, retained while the subscription remains continuously active and the service is offered through the App Store
  • Early Adopter — $39.99/year
  • Pro — $79.99/year

See the pricing section on the homepage for current details.

What's Included

  • Unlimited session tracking with full zone analysis
  • AI Coach — general wellness explanations and app-screen context powered by leading AI models; not medical advice and not instructions
  • Advanced session history and trend analysis
  • Wearable integrations (Oura, Garmin, Whoop)
  • PDF session reports

SaunaMind is pre-launch and not yet taking payments. Once early access opens, subscriptions will be managed through the App Store — cancellable or adjustable at any time from iPhone Settings > Subscriptions.

Troubleshooting

My heart rate monitor won't connect
Make sure the strap sensor pads are wet, Bluetooth is enabled on your iPhone, and no other app is connected to the monitor. Restart the monitor by removing and re-attaching it, then try again.
My zone estimate seems too low
Without a heart rate monitor, the time-based model may underestimate your response, especially if you're well-acclimatised. Connecting an HR strap gives more reliable estimates. Also check that your sauna type is set correctly in your profile.
My session disappeared after closing the app
SaunaMind is being designed so sessions persist in the background. When early access opens, a resume banner will appear if you reopen mid-session — Background App Refresh should be enabled in iPhone Settings for SaunaMind.
The AI Coach isn't responding
The AI Coach is being built around a live internet connection. When early access opens, if the coach does not respond, the recommended first step will be to check connectivity and relaunch the app.
How do I cancel my subscription?
Go to iPhone Settings > your name > Subscriptions > SaunaMind. You can cancel or change your plan there. Your access continues until the end of the current billing period.

Still need help? Contact our support team

Ready to try SaunaMind?

SaunaMind is in TestFlight now. Join the waitlist to hear first when founding-member access opens — $19.99/yr for the first 1,000 members while the subscription remains continuously active.

Join the Waitlist