Just look at Captain Hook: we all know a life at sea is a crucible of adversity with potential brutal effects on both body and mind.

But what if sauna, one of the cultural secrets of one of the earliest sea-faring cultures, the Finnish Vikings, held the keys to longevity, mental, and physical wellbeing not only for battle-hacked sea-warriors, but the rest of us?

Here's The Science on sauna as the Viking's secret weapon:

1) Greater Sensitivity to Joy

It turns out the heat-discomfort of sauna is caused by the release of dynorphin, the opposite of good-feeling endorphines, which will sensitize you to future endorphin exposure by creating more mu-opiod receptors.

2) Shake Off the Blues in Dark Times

Carefully administered single-session hyperthermic (heat) treatment for 90 minutes has been shown to significantly reduce depression symptoms for more than 6 weeks.

3) Heart Health w/o the Treadmill

Whether it's a peg-leg or just achy bones, your injury doesn't prevent you from getting a simular cardiovascular workout in the sauna which triggers heart-rates ranging from 120-150 bpm as arteries also swell to accommodate additional blood volume.

4) Out-Think Your Enemies

Sauna triggers the release of heat shock proteins, which related to the FOXO3 genetic pathway, trigger a host of neuroprotective effects including reducing amyloid beta plaques in the brain which are linked to Alzheimers disease.

5) Out-Live Your Enemies

Frequent sauna use lead to a whopping 40% reduction in all-cause-mortality, that's a cutting the risk of death almost in half, was achieved by modern Finns who use their sauna 4-7 times per week compared to Finns who only use it 1 time per week.

So whether you've got an old battlefield amputation keeping you up in the long arctic night or not, sauna might be the key to a happier future.