Red Light Therapy and Infrared Sauna: Light, Heat and Recovery at TRIBE In Steamboat Springs
- Fawn
- Jul 19
- 6 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
In Steamboat, we ask a lot of our bodies.
We ski, hike, bike, work long days, move through changing seasons, and often keep going without creating enough time for recovery.
At TRIBE, red light therapy, near infrared light, and infrared sauna offer simple ways to support the body through warmth, light, circulation, relaxation, and intentional rest.
These therapies work beautifully alongside movement, sleep, hydration, nutrition, and other wellness practices. They give the body something many of us need more often: supportive conditions for recovery.
Redand Near Infrared Light Therapy
Red light therapy, also known as photobiomodulation, uses specific wavelengths of light to support the body’s natural cellular processes.
At TRIBE, our full body system delivers eight targeted wavelengths across amber, red, and near infrared light:
590, 630, 660, 670, 810, 830, 850, and 940 nanometers.
These wavelengths interact with the body at different depths. Amber and red wavelengths work primarily near the surface, where they may support skin health, microcirculation, collagen production, and normal tissue renewal. Near infrared wavelengths reach more deeply into areas such as muscles, connective tissues, and joints, making them especially useful for physical recovery and muscular comfort.
The system also allows us to use visible red light, near infrared light, or a combination of both. This gives us the flexibility to create a broad, full body session rather than relying on one single wavelength or light setting.
Red and near infrared light are absorbed by light sensitive structures within the cells, including the mitochondria. Mitochondria help produce ATP, the energy cells use for repair, recovery, and everyday function.
By supporting cellular energy and signaling, these wavelengths may also encourage healthy circulation, collagen and elastin activity, tissue recovery, and a balanced inflammatory response.
Unlike ultraviolet light, red and near infrared light do not tan the skin.
Benefits of Red Light Therapy
Research into photobiomodulation continues to explore how specific wavelengths of light may support the skin, muscles, joints, and natural repair processes of the body.
Potential benefits include:
• Supporting collagen and elastin production
• Encouraging healthier looking skin, texture, and tone
• Supporting microcirculation and cellular renewal
• Encouraging muscle and tissue recovery
• Supporting healthy circulation
• Helping the body manage exercise related inflammation
• Easing temporary muscle and joint discomfort
• Supporting cellular energy and repair
• Promoting relaxation and overall well being
Skin is one of the most widely studied areas of photobiomodulation. Research has explored how red and near infrared light may influence fibroblasts, the cells responsible for producing collagen and elastin. These proteins help give skin its structure, strength, and elasticity.
Near infrared wavelengths between approximately 810 and 850 nanometers are also frequently used in muscle recovery research because they can reach more deeply into the tissues. Studies have explored their use before and after physical activity to support muscle endurance, recovery, and temporary post exercise soreness.
Many people use red light as part of a consistent recovery practice after exercise, skiing, physical work, travel, or periods of increased stress.
Others simply enjoy the opportunity to lie down, receive the light, and step away from constant stimulation.
At TRIBE, Full Spectrum Light Therapy creates a comfortable, full body experience using our combined amber, red, and near infrared light system. Sessions may be paired with meditation, binaural beats, personal audio, or silence.
Infrared Sauna and the Benefits of Deep Warmth
An infrared sauna uses radiant infrared heat to warm the body.
Traditional saunas primarily heat the air around you. Infrared saunas operate at a lower air temperature while still creating a deep warming and perspiring experience.
As the body warms, circulation and skin blood flow increase. Muscles begin to relax, blood vessels expand, and the body perspires as part of its natural temperature regulation process.
The heat can feel especially supportive after skiing, hiking, exercise, physical work, travel, or long periods of sitting.
Infrared sauna use may support:
• Circulation and blood flow
• Muscular relaxation and recovery
• Joint comfort and mobility
• Healthy perspiration
• Stress reduction
• Rest and sleep quality
• Cardiovascular wellness
• Overall relaxation and well being
Sauna bathing has a long history across many cultures. Modern research continues to explore its relationship with cardiovascular health, circulation, physical recovery, pain, stress, sleep, and quality of life.
Perspiration and the Body’s Natural Cleansing Systems
Sweating is one of the body’s natural ways of regulating temperature.
During an infrared sauna session, increased warmth encourages perspiration and circulation. Many people describe feeling lighter, refreshed, and deeply relaxed afterward.
The body also relies on the liver, kidneys, lungs, skin, and digestive system to process and eliminate what it no longer needs. Sauna supports this larger system through warmth, circulation, hydration awareness, and healthy perspiration.
We see it as a supportive practice that works with the body rather than forcing it.
Why We Combine Infrared Heat and Red Light
TRIBE’s infrared sauna includes red and near infrared light, allowing you to experience heat and light within one private session.
The infrared sauna creates warmth, perspiration, and muscular relaxation.
The red and near infrared light support cellular energy, circulation, skin health, and physical recovery.
Together, they create a restorative experience for the whole body.
This combination can feel especially supportive during ski season, after physical activity, throughout the colder months, or anytime the body feels tired, tense, or in need of warmth.
You do not need to wait until you are completely depleted to make recovery a priority.
Regular care can help the body maintain balance, resilience, and momentum.
What Full Spectrum Light Means at TRIBE
The term full spectrum light can mean different things throughout the wellness industry.
At TRIBE, Full Spectrum Light Therapy is the name of our immersive, full body experience using a broad range of targeted amber, red, and near infrared wavelengths.
Our two panel system provides extended coverage across the body while allowing the balance of visible red and near infrared light to be adjusted. Depending on the session, the experience may emphasize surface level light, deeper reaching near infrared wavelengths, or a combination of both.
It is not a tanning treatment, daylight lamp, or ultraviolet light experience.
During your session, you can rest quietly or listen to binaural beats, meditation, music, or your own audio.
The light supports the physical experience, while the sound helps create a deeper sense of rest and inward focus.
This allows the session to become more than time spent beneath light panels. It becomes a complete restorative pause.
Supporting the Nervous System Through Rest
The technology is an important part of these sessions, but so is the environment surrounding it.
For a short period of time, you are not answering messages, solving problems, caring for someone else, or moving on to the next task.
Nothing is being asked of you.
You can become still.
You can breathe.
You can notice how your body feels.
You can allow yourself to receive.
That pause is part of the wellness experience.
At TRIBE, our work is centered around nervous system regulation, recovery, and helping people reconnect with their bodies.
We do not believe wellness always needs to feel complicated.
Sometimes it looks like warmth, light, quiet, and enough time for the body to soften.
Consistency Creates a Rhythm
Red light therapy and infrared sauna are often most supportive when they become part of a consistent wellness rhythm.
The effects being studied in areas such as collagen production, skin renewal, and physical recovery generally develop through repeated use rather than one isolated session.
For one person, consistency may mean a weekly sauna throughout ski season.
For someone else, it may mean using red light after exercise, before physical activity, or during a demanding stretch of life.
Others may alternate between the two depending on what their body needs.
TRIBE Flexi Minutes give you the freedom to use your purchased time toward either Full Spectrum Light Therapy or Infrared Sauna with Red Light.
This makes it easier to build recovery into your schedule without committing to only one experience.
Light and Heat Experiences at TRIBE
A private warming experience designed to support circulation, healthy perspiration, muscular relaxation, physical recovery, and deep rest.
An immersive, full body experience using eight targeted amber, red, and near infrared wavelengths. The session may support cellular energy, skin health, collagen production, circulation, physical recovery, and relaxation.
Sessions can include binaural beats, meditation, personal audio, or silence.
Using Red Light Therapy and Infrared Sauna Responsibly
Red light and infrared sauna are well tolerated by many healthy adults, but individual needs can vary.
Speak with a qualified healthcare professional before participating if you are pregnant, have cardiovascular concerns, have difficulty regulating body temperature, experience fainting, or take medications that affect blood pressure, sweating, heat tolerance, or light sensitivity.
Arrive hydrated and avoid alcohol before using the sauna. Leave the sauna if you feel dizzy, nauseous, weak, or uncomfortable.
Anyone with a light sensitive condition, photosensitizing medication, active cancer treatment, or another significant medical concern should seek medical guidance before using red or near infrared light.
These services are designed to complement your existing health and wellness care.
A Better Way to Recover
At TRIBE, light and heat are part of a larger approach to wellness.
We combine modern technology with intentional rest.
We combine physical recovery with nervous system support.
We create space for people to slow down before exhaustion becomes the only reason they stop.
Red and near infrared light may support cellular energy, circulation, collagen production, skin health, and physical recovery.
Infrared heat may support warmth, perspiration, muscular relaxation, and cardiovascular wellness.
The quiet gives you a chance to reconnect with yourself.
Recovery does not always need to be complicated.
Sometimes the body simply needs more light, more warmth, and a little more room to breathe.
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