Enjoy These Benefits From the Comfort of Your Backyard
For thousands of years, Scandinavians have been relaxing amidst the beauty of nature in hot springs and rivers. The hot-cold contrast of their bathing routine provides several health benefits and total relaxation.
Their traditional hot-cold-relaxation circuit is now commonly known as the Nordic bath circuit or Nordic spa treatment, gaining popularity around the world, including Canada. These Nordic spas are located in forests, along rivers, and by mountains, providing spectacular views of nature while guests complete the invigorating and relaxing circuit.
This Nordic circuit starts with heating the body by working up a sweat in a sauna, spa, hot tub, or steam room. Next comes the cold of plunging into a cold river or outdoor pool. Finally, to bring the body back to its regular state, the last part of the circuit involves relaxation in a spa, steam bath, or wrapped in a bathrobe enjoying the serene natural environment.
To get the full benefits of this Nordic spa treatment, spas recommend completing three circuits in one visit. These treatments have many physical health benefits and also help with mental health and well-being by reducing stress.
During the cycle, you step away from the distractions of your hectic life and have an excuse to relax and do nothing for a while. You can daydream, read, jot in your journal, or close your eyes and listen to the soothing sounds of water and nature. Spas, pools, and saunas provide excellent private retreats to enjoy with friends and family.
Everyone needs to unwind, but many of us don’t take the time to do so. And stress can take a toll on one’s overall health, body, and mind.
But instead of trying to find the time in your busy schedule to escape to a Nordic spa, you can bring the spa to you. With the help of pool builders, you can enjoy the many benefits of hydrotherapy any time with your own backyard pool and spa.
With your very own Nordic spa circuit, you can:
1- Boost Your Immune System
The shock of the cold water on your heated body causes an increase in blood pressure, contraction of blood vessels, and a jumpstart to the immune system. This physiological response will encourage the immune system to produce white blood cells, making your body stronger, healthier, and energized, and more capable of fighting off bacteria and viruses, such as colds and influenza.
2 – Soothe Sore Joints and Muscles
The heat from steam baths, saunas, and spas helps relax muscles and relieve joint and muscle pain. While working up a sweat, your body will release endorphins which are a natural painkiller. And the increased blood circulation will trigger the body’s healing process, which speeds up healing and also reduces pain.
Thermotherapy is an excellent form of pain relief for those who overwork their muscles, whether from training or labour-intensive work. It reduces muscle tension, lactic acid, and other toxins that cause muscles to ache after a workout.
It’s also great for relieving pain for those with degenerative joint diseases such as arthritis, rheumatism, and osteoarthritis.
Even if you don’t suffer from joint and muscle pain, you will still benefit from relaxed muscles. The muscle relaxation reduces the negative effects of stress on your health, body, and mind, and helps you sleep better.
3 – Detoxify Your Body
Sweating is an important part of maintaining overall health. But many of us don’t sweat enough. If you don’t exercise and sweat regularly, you’re missing out on the detoxifying effects of sweating, especially deep sweating.
Deep sweating occurs when your core body temperature rises, as it would in a sauna, spa, or hot tub. As your body deep sweats, the sweat flushes out toxins from your body that are commonly picked up in our environments, such as chemicals and heavy metals like lead, zinc, copper, nickel, and mercury.
4 – Clean and Tighten Your Skin
Instead of going to a spa to clean your skin, you can do so at home with your own spa. Along with making your body healthier, sweating toxins from your body will also help clean and improve the health of your skin.
The heat and steam will open your pores, allowing you to sweat out toxins from your skin and replace dead skin cells. Sweat cleanses bacteria from your sweat ducts and epidermis. The heat also improves circulation in the capillaries, which brings more nutrients to the skin and improves collagen structure.
Flushing out toxins from your skin helps restore your skin’s youthful glow, tone, and elasticity.
5 – Improve Your Circulation and Metabolism
A Nordic spa circuit will increase your heart rate and blood pressure, leading to better blood circulation and a more efficient metabolism. The effects of hydrotherapy are similar to those of aerobic exercise and cardio workouts since you work up a sweat and get your heart pumping faster, improving your cardiovascular health.
6 – Feel Relaxed and Refreshed
The Nordic spa treatment forces you to sit back, relax, and improve your mental well-being. It will make you feel very relaxed and refreshed. And it also helps your body release endorphins (like it would with aerobic exercise), making you feel happy and improving your overall well-being.
Endorphins also help reduce your perception of pain and improve your physical condition so you will feel restored, energized, and focused to take on both physical and mental challenges in life.
7 – Sleep Better
Thermotherapy will help you have a deeper sleep. The utter relaxation of your body and mind—along with the release of endorphins that act as a natural tranquilizer—will help ease your mind, so you’re more likely to go to bed relaxed and without stresses keeping you up at night.
Also, raising your body temperature in the evening with a soak in the spa will cause your body temperature to drop at bedtime, which encourages your body to fall asleep.
8 – Improve Your Digestion
Stress takes its toll on the stomach and digestive tract. Common digestion problems that can be triggered by stress include indigestion, heartburn, stomach aches, gas, and irritable bowel syndrome. Digestion problems affect your health, and the pain only adds to your stress levels, causing a vicious cycle of stress and pain.
But by reducing your overall stress, relaxing your muscles and body, and increasing your blood circulation, the Nordic spa treatment can relieve painful symptoms of digestion problems and improve your digestion and nutrient absorption.
9 – Support Your Athletic Performance
Athletes will use thermal cycles to improve their endurance and recover from injury and overworked muscles faster. Since thermotherapy triggers an increase in the number of red blood cells that carry oxygen in the bloodstream, this cycle also helps improve lung and cardiovascular capacity for athletes.
10 – Improve Your Breathing and Respiration
Since thermotherapy helps your blood carry more oxygen to your lungs and improve lung capacity, you can improve your breathing and respiratory system. This means you can have an easier time breathing in general and when you exert yourself, so you won’t have to worry about running out of breath as easily when climbing a flight of stairs or hiking in the woods.
Improved lung capacity also makes it easier to engage in regular physical activities, which in turn improves your endurance even more.
Even if you can’t make it to the closest Nordic spa when you need to unwind and boost your health, pool builders can help you create your very own spa in your backyard. Whether you combine your spa with a pool for the ultimate Nordic treatment, or you opt for a spa on its own, you can enjoy these many health benefits of hydrotherapy and thermotherapy any time with your own backyard spa.
Bert Minor has been a part of the landscaping business for nearly twenty years and has gained an excellent reputation as an innovative and creative designer. In fact, several of his designs and projects have been featured in industry supplier magazines. An active and contributing member of the industry, Bert sat on various boards including the Ottawa Chapter of Landscape Ontario and the Landscape Ontario Provincial Construction Committee. Bert also contributed technical articles published in the Canadian National Landscape Association magazine. With a relentless pursuit of knowledge, Bert has attained several industry certificates in landscape design, landscape construction and with the PHTCC—Pool and Hot Tub Council Canada. Prior to joining the landscaping industry, Bert spent several years in management in the services sector primarily in a customer advocate role. His honesty and integrity and his ability to build and develop strong relationships with clients reflects that.