Use This Simple Showering Trick to Boost Your Energy Levels:
Cold, hot and cold again showers are back in vogue after being the norm for people of the Nordic nations for thousands of years. You may smile, but in the west, we are somewhat slow in catching on to what others do as almost second nature. Recently, being discovered are the virtues of the following hydrotherapy technique.
The 90-Second Process
– Turning the “cold” lever or knob all the way, stand under the shower head each morning for about 30 seconds. Please feel free to scream if this helps any.
– Next, after the initial cold 30 seconds, turn the lever full cycle to hot or to as hot as you can stand it. Doing this opens up the capillaries, increases blood flow and provides an all-around sense of stimulation which is actually your circulation flowing rigorously.
– Now, for the 30-second ice cold finale, always finish back in the cold. And there you have it.
That being said, let us look at the five main ways that using the above mentioned practice benefits our bodies to help lessen stress, improve blood circulation, fight depression, strengthen the immune system and reeve up the metabolism.
Interestingly enough, in a nation of just five million Finns, there are more than two million saunas. A stress-reduced lifestyle is one result of using this hydrotherapy.
Furthermore, when exposed to cold water, our arteries and veins constrict. While this is great for blood circulation and cardiovascular health, some physicians express a need for caution in using this cold, hot and cold technique for improving the blood’s circulation. Those already suffering from hypertension may find adverse symptoms arising due to the sudden flow of blood at a higher pressure.
RELATED ARTICLE: 5 Stretches You Can Do in the Shower
Another benefit was found in one 2008 study indicating that cold showers serve to stimulate the sympathetic nervous system. As a result, beta-endorphin levels in the blood increase and send high levels of electrical impulses to the brain. Consequently, an anti-depressant effect results in helping fight off depression.
One further study indicated that taking daily cold showers actually increases the number of white blood cells. This action in turn quickens the body’s metabolic rate and stimulates the immune system.
The good news coming from researchers in Scandinavia is a discovery that being exposed to cold temperatures actually increases the body’s metabolic rate. Moreover, this practice produces weight loss of up to nine pounds in one year. In other unrelated studies concerning hypothyroidism, it was discovered that living in a cold climate helps those with hypothyroidism energize their metabolisms.
While there are few conclusive studies on using the 90-second cold, hot and cold again hydrotherapy technique, one thing is certain: one’s energy level will take off like a rocket–if only temporarily for a couple of hours.
