Imagine, if you would please, a substance that would:
- Relax you
- De-stress you
- Prevent you from getting sick
- Heal you from tension, soreness, and pain
- Stimulate your immune system
- Detoxify your body
- Rejuvenate your body, mind, and soul
- Increase your health
- Heal your work or athletic stress
- Help you sleep
- Transition you from “work stress” to home life mode
What would say to discover that you have that very substance right in your own home? This substance is available to all of us, but sadly has been so misused by our culture that we don’t receive the very benefits listed above. In fact, all these benefits are running right down the drain in your shower every day.
The substance is simply water, adjusted to any temperature you select. Soaking, up to your chin, in hot water that is maintained at a constantly steady temperature, leads to all these benefits listed above and more. The secret that many are now learning is how you use it makes all the difference in the world.You need a system to keep the water hot and clean and chemical free, that allows you to sit upright and be submerged right up to your chin in healing, clean, hot water.
Hot soaking tubs for health maintenance are finally here! I have studied this substance (water) for 35 years while working in the hot tub industry. We know now that water is medicinal, and is the one constant healing medium on the Earth. It is so important that an equation for life could literally be No Water = No Life. A hot soak is the most underestimated positive experience ever!
Water itself is a healing medium. As I soak in hot water, the water delivers the heat deep into my bones. Water gives life, so it has to be good to surround your body with life giving water. The natural heat delivery system starts as soon as you enter the tub. You feel the heat immediately and directly but you may not understand everything that happens as a result.
First let’s discuss the actual experience of immersion into the hot soaking tub to better explain the health benefits of the experience. Upon immersion, the skin immediately warms. The skin has 2.3 million sweat glands with tails that descend into the interstitial fluid or “body water”. The body water has salt and other minerals dissolved within it. The sweat glands naturally remove toxins from the body when activated.
The function and natural behavior of our skin has been cause for it to be called our third excretory system. As the largest organ in the human body, it is not hard to imagine the role that our skin therefore plays in the removal of toxins and waste.
After about 3 minutes in the tub the heat descends into the muscles and initiates deep muscle relaxation. At the same time, the heat opens and expands blood vessels and allows more blood flow to sore muscles, which reduces any pains. Simply 3 minutes produces incredible feelings of tension release.
While soaking, you will also likely feel that your joints move more freely as a result of the heat. I believe that this is a preventative effect of the hot water soak. In fact, the Arthritis Foundation recommends daily use of a spa to increase range of motion and reduce pain.
Increasing your body temperature by soaking bears a lot of health benefits. I have seen a temperature of 103.2 under my tongue after 7 minutes in the soaker. Hippocrates said, “give me a fever and I can cure any disease.” Because of the increase in your body heat, your body creates a temporary “fever” which removes additional toxins, and increases circulation, improving the nourishment of your cells with oxygen. Your system also stirs up the “pond” when you soak, allowing your kidneys, liver, lymph system and sweat glands to remove more toxins.
There is also an impact on your actual bones as well. After just a few minutes, the bones get warm, and as they do, the bone marrow temperature goes up ever so slightly. This temperature increase causes a production of white corpuscles for your blood system. This is the basis for your immune system. When you are sick, your body generates heat (fever) for this exact purpose, to help you heal, by creating more white corpuscles to fight disease.
As the heat enters your body, your body’s cooling mechanism kicks in, which includes the sweat system. Heat rises inside your body and moves up through the thoracic cage, through the neck and out your head. In the best tubs, you even detoxify your head, that area of your skin closest to your most important organ, your brain.
We’ve discussed the mechanics of the body, the importance of detoxification and even touched on circulation. Let’s now talk about one other primary and important benefit of hot water soaks - stress reduction.
It’s not an understatement to say that stress kills. It’s a truth that’s recognized by virtually all of us, including the medical community. Stress initiates all kinds of chain reactions within the body, from the release of cortisol and subsequent hormones to combat it, to adrenaline. Stress affects not only your immune system, but also a host of other body systems including your nervous system and your brain. We have now progressed far enough in our knowledge of stress and its impact on the human body to know that stress literally can kill us. Daily hot water soaks can not only be enjoyable and beneficial for us physically, they can become a primary part of our health maintenance programs. Relax…hot water works.
There are many options on the market and even your own bathtub that can provide at least some measure of benefit. However, as an expert in this field, I can without reservation say that the best products I’ve seen come from the ancient healing methods of Japan, the Japanese Hot Bath, located in almost every house and apartment in Japan, and many public places like the Onsen, and many mineral baths.
In direct alignment with the quality and level of benefits you’ll receive are your choice of tub and the quality of the water you use. A good soaking tub should clean the water 24 hours a day with nature’s own sanitizer, Ozone. Ozone is important because it sanitizes by exploding cell membranes of virus and bacteria, not by poisoning them with chemicals. This yields chemical free water for you to absorb all the above health benefits, without further toxic chemicals known to be in use in regular hot tubs, and none that are commonly added to municipal water systems.
These types of systems allow for the water to be chemical-free and purified, using a low wattage circulation pump to filter. As a result, the systems are very energy efficient as individuals often find that bathing habits with showers and regular baths change. Because the water is rejuvated every day, it can be used daily for 6 months to 2 years or more.
I’ve been soaking and studying this field for 35 years now and have excellent health. One of what I believe to be the most critically important aspects of a soak is a restorative rest period of 10 or 15 minutes. Reducing stress, increasing circulation, improving respiratory health, and detoxifying while you relax provides a great time to slowly reflect on your life and your intent.
Obviously there is a cost involved with getting a high quality soaking tub that can provide you with the best health benefits but the impact to your health and your life can’t be understated. A good soaking tub works on 110 household electrical and should not greatly increase your energy costs. Well-insulated soaking tubs should cost about $10 per month to use everyday even outside.
Are you entering the New Year hanging onto stress from the holidays? Do you carry a lot of stress naturally? Do you suffer from arthritis, back pain, or other aches and pains? Do you wish you had an easy way to be more relaxed without having to leave home? The benefits of a good soaking tub may be just what you’re looking for.
