Your cart is currently empty
In this world, there are good stressors and bad stressors. A bad stressor would be an unhealthy relationship with an individual who is abusive, staying in a job that is a dead-end, bending over backwards just to appease an unfair boss or customer, or depriving yourself of sleep. A good stressor would be exercise, loading weights onto the muscles and bones, pumping the heart rate and working the lungs, abstaining from food for a period of time, or putting yourself through a challenge that allows you to grow and evolve.
The hot methods which have been in use for thousands of years throughout human civilization are things like:
— Saunas
— Steam rooms
— Hot yoga
— Exercising outside in the hot sun
Potential benefits of hot temperatures can include:
— Detoxification of toxins via sweating out of the skin
— Increased heart rate, blood flow, and cardiac output, promoting overall cardiovascular health
— Heat shock proteins being excreted which can accelerate protein synthesis
— Stimulation of hormone production which can also assist with maintaining better muscle mass
— Cleansing and rejuvenating to the skin
— Reducing and balancing inflammation levels
— Statistical correlation with longer life expectancy
— Increased levels of norepinephrine which creates more alertness and focus
— Promotion of self-discipline, self-confidence, and self-efficacy
— De-stressing and calming
Hot and cold are like yin and yang — the heat will naturally open up the body, whereas the cold will constrict tissues. By using heat, the body loosens up and opens up. Just to feel the body sweat out so much fluids can feel very cleansing.
The cold methods which are also engrained within ancient human cultural behavior include things like:
— Standing out in the cold air
— Cold showers
— Cold baths
— Ice baths
— Sleeping in a cold temperature
— Therapies where cold air is blown on the body
Potential benefits of cold methods can include:
— Increase of immune function
— Assistance in exercise recovery
— Naturally anti-inflammatory
— Improvement to circulation
— Increase of dopamine output
— Release of adrenaline, epinephrine and norepinephrine, stimulating the mind and body
— Acceleration of metabolism, activating thermogenesis which burns fat
— Acceleration of weight loss and fat burning
— Cold shock proteins being excreted which act beneficially towards nervous system cells
— Enhancing to mood and brain function
Using methods of cold are in a way more — much more — uncomfortable than using the heat which is more relaxing at first. It can be harder to get started in this area, and it seems to take more willpower. The cold methods go hand in hand with deep breathing methods which are also covered in another segment in greater detail.
What I have learned is that it gets easier — much easier. The hardest part is actually just getting started. Start off by taking a warm shower, and at the end, switch it to cold. Run the water first over your chest, then head, then shoulders, arms, legs, and then turn over and let the cold water run over the top of your head, down your neck and down your spine. You can start off using water that is more on the cool side, and then gradually run it colder and colder. You may find that you grow more tolerant as time goes on and can withstand colder and colder temperatures. You can also work your way up in terms of how long you can stand a cold session, going as little as 30 seconds or a minute or as long as 5 to 20 minutes. Eventually, as strange as it sounds, your body may even start to crave this.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download