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How an icy blast can do you great!
As human beings we seem naturally to gravitate towards warmth and heat: we like warm jets in Jacuzzis, steam bath, saunas, main heating. In the UK & & USA, we’re simply not very good at putting our bodies through sensation cold, and when we become aware of people subjecting themselves to morning swims in the freezing sea, it sends a shiver down our spinal columns!
In continental Europe however, they are more advanced in having actually acknowledged the advantages of cold. Think of tearing yourself from a warm bath then leaping into an ice cold plunge pool. It’s invigorating– you take deep breaths, it’s oxygenating! You leave the cold swimming pool feeling alive! This is not some form of abuse however a boost to the body immune system and a strengthening treatment.
In the hair salon – LaStone treatment
In LaStone treatment, which I practise, I use rotating heated and cooled stones; hot stones at 50ºC+ and marble stones from the fridge (or freezer depending upon the strength of the client). Rotating these temperatures has a wonderful rejuvenating result on the body and, even if it appears frightening at first, it’s incredibly relaxing, without leaving you listless or lethargic at the end. Think of a hot sauna and how you soon wish for a cool breeze, marble floor on your feet, anything but the heat.
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The cold stones have the result of at first speeding up breathing and moving blood from the surface of the skin, but once the body has actually ended up being used to the temperature level, the muscles unwind and blood returns to the skin leaving it glowing. This treatment is terrific for removing toxins from the body, particularly the draining sequence of a facial massage with the marble stones.
In your home
There are, naturally, cold water treatments you can try for yourself in your home – cold showers are not simply for Eastern European professional athletes! If you do not have a shower, or removable shower head, a bowl of water will do.
Make certain you’ve bathed/showered with warm water which your body is warm. Taking the shower head, turn the water to cold and direct it at one foot and up the front of that leg til you reach the hip. Then start again at the foot and direct the water up the opposite of the leg. Repeat on the other leg. Continue the jet of water up the whole front of the body and last but not least the back when you’re feeling stronger. For the first few goes it’s great to go just reach the tops of your legs.
The normal rule of alternating temperature treatments is that you generally begin warming the body, then cooling it and duplicate this twice more. However, this is not always practical and, I think utilizes excessive water, so I usually simply start with hot and surface with a cold rinse.
Still not encouraged?
If the concept of getting cold still holds no appeal, ask yourself why athletes and dancers are encouraged to immerse their limbs in buckets of knee- deep ice cold water. Answer – it prevents injury and lowers swelling even prior to it’s evident. After every treatment I offer, specifically after massage, I immerse my hands and arms in cold water – it seems like ice-cream on a hot day. My cold rinse at the end of every shower leaves me feeling alive and zinging.
Offer some cold water treatment a try – your body will thank you for it!
About the Author
Doreen has actually had a passion for massage given that she was 15 years old. She still has that passion, and uses massage, professional facials and other beauty treatments in her home-based beauty salon in Surrey. With any energy left over she will devour all the charm pages of all the magazines she can lay her hands on!Doreen’s homepage: Bellessence