Remember to pay attention to body signals, know the danger signs, and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

Hot time: Sitting in a sauna feels great, but make sure you stay safe.

While the tragedy out in Arizona is unusual, it isn't the first instance of people dying in sweat lodges. According to the anti-New Age website, Newagefraud.org, seven people have died at sweat-lodge ceremonies since 1980, many of which took place when summer temperatures were at their peak. The case of a man who died in 2004 at a lodge in the Australian Outback was reported in the journal American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, and the authors coined the term "sweat lodge syndrome," characterized by prolonged exposure to elevated temperatures in a relatively uncontrolled environment, failure to ensure adequate hydration, failure to appreciate the significance of loss of consciousness, use of ineffective alternative methods of treatment, and delay in seeking appropriate medical care. At the time, the authors wrote, "Unfortunately, the adoption of rituals and practice from other cultures may not be a completely safe undertaking."

WHAT IT MEANS: One of the most problematic and cautionary tales of this incident could be the fact that the lodge itself wasn't approved by a local building inspector, as is required of spas and saunas, says Jeffrey Rossman, PhD, Rodale.com advisor and director of life management at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts, which does have a sauna on site. "Most saunas in America have a thermostat that can be set and monitored," he says, "so a user can know what the temperature is in the sauna. Also, the thermostat in a sauna would have a top temperature that theoretically could not be exceeded. That would not be the case in a traditionally built sweat lodge."