What's The Best Form Of Cryotherapy?
Does the idea of cold water get you shivering from the thought alone?
Despite the challenge and initial shock, many people are still braving the cold for the benefits that it provides, including reducing inflammation, improving mood and mental health, and even supporting weight loss.
But as you dive into the research on the different forms of cold exposure, also known as cryotherapy, you’ll find that there’s more than one way to face your fears.
You can turn your shower to cold and step under those icy droplets, plunge your whole body into an ice bath, or enter a cryotherapy chamber that drops the air temperature with liquid nitrogen.
What’s the best way to brave the cold?
Here are a few findings from research as well as experiences from our Flow Spa clients on what they prefer.
Rain Down On Me
Many people will start on their cold water journey by taking cold showers. It’s accessible and realistic for most of us to do, at least part of the year.
Online communities for cold water afficionados often kickoff new recruits with one month cold shower challenge. Mentally this is very challenging because you have to force yourself to turn that tap to cold and stay under the icy needle points of water as they land on you. This in and of itself is a great and powerful usage of cold water. It helps to build self-confidence and comfort in facing other challenges in your life.
But taking a cold shower isn’t likely going to work as well for the other benefits of cold water immersion as you’re not getting the whole body anti-inflammatory effect of submerging yourself up to the shoulders. So it doesn’t seem as effective for improving recovery.
Depending on where you live, cold showers are also only available for about half the year because as the water supply temperature warms up in the spring and summer, the water coming out of the tap can be above 60 F and no longer very effective for deliberate cold exposure.
Do You Get 10X The Results with a Cryotherapy Chamber?
Cryotherapy chambers are marketed as being more effective than cold water immersion but are they really?
At more than 10 times the cost of a cold water immersion set up, it isn’t feasible even upon first glance to think that a cryochamber could be that much better. And research leans far in favour of cold water immersion being superior. Over 90% of the studies done on the effects of cryotherapy have looked at cold water at the mechanism for cold exposure.
Anecdotally, from our clients who have tried both cryotherapy chambers as well as ice baths, they have found the cold water to feel much more challenging, which increases the mental toughness boost from the experience, but also have felt better from their recovery from training after the cold water.
So what makes cold water that much better?
Cold Water Immersion
All of the options we’ve discussed are cold, so what’s the biggest difference that has cold water immersion reigning supreme?
It’s likely due to the better conduction of heat away from the body when immersed in cold water. The shower doesn’t cut it because you can’t get your whole body covered in cold water enough and while the air in the cryochambers gets much colder, our body creates a warm air vapour barrier against the cold air that mitigates the effect.
So having heat drawn from our body all in one encompassing effect in the cold water helps to create that anti-inflammatory effect and the challenge is much higher mentally than the other options because our body sends out the signal that we must get out. This is what creates the spike in dopamine and norepinephrine in cold water that promotes a boost in mood and mental health as well.
But because it is so cold and challenging, it can be hard to get started in doing full cold plunges, which is why there’s one more level that’s our own secret weapon to the best and most beneficial cryo experience.
Our Pick of Plunge - Contrast Both Hot and Cold Tubs
Contrast thearpy involves alternating between extremes in heat and cold. With our setup, we like to use the infrared sauna to relax into the experience and spend some time warming up before entering into the extremes. Then alternating between hot tub and cold tub will allow you to brave the cold without as much of a problem since you can immediately transfer back into the hot tub when you need to. This allows you to spend more total time in the cold than you would otherwise, extending the benefits of the anti-inflammatory effect.
The contrast also acts like an additional pump for circulation to enhance blood flow and recovery by dilating the blood vessels in the heat and constricting in the cold.
It provides the right amount of challenge for the mental toughness benefits of the cold plunge while also generating a massive boost in feel good hormones because you accomplished something tough and pushed your body through the extremes.
Book a session for yourself or challenge a friend to come in and feel the difference with you!
What Are The Benefits of Infrared Sauna?
Using an infrared sauna has many benefits, including improved circulation, reduced stress, and a deeper, more restful sleep. When the weather is cold and you want to stay cozy and warm, there’s nothing better than relaxing with the penetrating heat of an infrared sauna. And there are a lot more benefits that come from using the sauna that you might not know about.
Improving Circulation
Using an infrared sauna can be incredibly beneficial for your health and well-being! Its ability to increase circulation helps reduce pain, inflammation, and fatigue and improves overall skin health by delivering oxygen and nutrients to the skin cells. On top of this, regular infrared sauna use can help clear toxins from the body and reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines for a glowing complexion. Plus, infrared heat can help to boost your immune system - keeping you feeling strong and healthy.
Reduces Stress
Using an infrared sauna can provide numerous benefits and help reduce stress and anxiety levels. This is because infrared saunas can increase dopamine levels in the body, which is the chemical associated with mood regulation.
In addition to this, infrared saunas can help the body to stimulate endorphins, which are the hormones responsible for the feeling of happiness and well-being.
Regular use of an infrared sauna can also promote relaxation of the muscles and joints, helping to reduce tension and stress in the body Incorporating an infrared sauna into a regular wellness routine can have a positive impact on physical and mental health.
Sleep Quality
Using an infrared sauna can help improve the quality of sleep by providing a gentle, relaxing heat. The sauna's warmth helps relax tight muscles, reduce tension and stress, and can even help relieve common aches and pains. By promoting the body to relax, an infrared sauna can bring a deeper, more restful sleep, allowing the body to restore and rejuvenate itself. One of the factors that signal our bodies to fall asleep fast is a drop in body temperature which can be enhanced by relaxing in a sauna in the evening to trigger deeper sleep. With regular use, an infrared sauna can help improve the quality of sleep and help provide a more restful night's sleep.
Experience The Benefits For Yourself
Using an infrared sauna has many benefits, such as improved circulation, reduced stress, and a deeper, more restful sleep. At Flow Spa, we offer sessions for individuals and 2-person sauna sessions, as well as packages for anyone looking to make sauna a regular part of their wellness routine.
You can find out more about the options we have available here:
How To Do An Annual Review
As the last few days of the year trickle into view, it’s a time when we naturally think about what has gone on in the past year and review the time that we have spent. Has it been used wisely or are there things you wish you'd done differently?
Why Do A Year-End Review?
We are all driven by a sense of progress. If you’re anything like me, the end of the year becomes a time when you get the urge to reflect back on the year that has passed and look towards what the future holds in the New Year. Sure, we can just as readily set new goals on December 1 as we can on January 1, but this crossing of the threshold as we start a new year holds archetypal significance for us and the journey we follow throughout our life.
To make sense of the bigger picture of our life story, we need to delineate chapters which is why the year-end review can help with this process.
What gets included in a year-end review is up to you based on your priorities. But if you're trying to get started with doing an annual review for the first time or find something better that works for you, here are some recommended starting points that I find most useful.
Deep Health Review
While there are many ways to evaluate our life, one of the most impactful to me is to look through the deep health lens to get a clear picture of what our overall health and the different aspects looked like and how they have changed in the past year.
Because our health is multi-faceted, it really makes a difference to look at a deep health framework to understand what is going well in your life and what needs more work and focus to get back on track.
Doing your Deep Health review with the Deep Heath Questionnaire doesn’t just have to be done once per year. It’s also helpful to use whenever you face changes or set new goals during the year.
Complete a deep health questionnaire and compare it to past scores. Click this link to download a copy.
What Areas Make Up Your Life?
If you listen to any self-help guru out there, they will have their own framework for the different dimensions of your life. Like the Deep Health complete picture, these are the slices of the pie of life that we consider when evaluating the current moment of our life and the time frame we have been through.
Some systems will give you 10 sections, others 6, or maybe as little as 4. However you want to evaluate your experiences, I think somewhere between 6-8 is ideal so that you can get a full picture of things like work satisfaction, relationships, finances, and experiences, as well as deep health components like spiritual health and mental health.
Consider where you're currently at with these slices of your life. Looking at where you’ve come from over the past year will help you to appreciate the progress that you have made.
Review Your Calendar and Notes
If you don’t keep track of at least some of the ways you spend your time in your calendar or note-taking in a journal, now is a good time to start.
By having the thoughts and experiences of your life captured in the moment, you are keeping a much more permanent record of the stories you are creating. Anytime I feel like I haven’t had enough fun experiences or accomplished enough for myself, I scroll back through my calendar and the notes I’ve captured and can see more clearly the progress there. And so it helps you to look back through all these moments to get that overview of your year as you review it.
What were the highlight moments or experiences?
What were some of the best things you accomplished?
What challenges did you face?
All of these questions that you can review when looking back through your notes will help you to hold yourself accountable when you think about what the next year looks like for you.
More things to take note of as you review your notes from each month this year:
What new places did you visit?
Who did you meet and what relationships did you build?
What new skills did you acquire?
Books You’ve Read
Another category I use when reviewing my year is to see what books I read. I used to do this out of competitiveness to see how many books I read which is why I stopped using GoodReads as consistently to track books. But GoodReads makes it so simple to rate and record any books I've read and gives me a glance at the timeline in books for the year.
Books are an important category to review because along with any notes you’ve taken in journals or just what you’ve written down as lessons you’ve learned through the years, books tell you more about what you were curious about and wanted to learn in the past year. This is particularly true if you do read non-fiction and are trying to learn and acquire new skills with the books you choose to read.
Progress For What Comes Next.
No matter what you review and how you evaluate your annual review, it’s important to look at each year as a stepping stone and progress forward toward bigger goals. We will always encounter obstacles and setbacks along the way.
So as you take the time to close out the year this weekend, look back on what has happened for you in the last twelve months so that you can better prepare for where your journey takes you next.
Managing Holiday Stress To Enjoy More This Season
Making the holidays less stressful
The holiday season is upon us once more and with it comes much holiday cheer but also many challenges.
I want to help make life as stress-free as possible so that you can rise to the challenge of those experiences that you actually want to be able to have.
Managing stress successfully is all about recognizing your own situation but there are a few considerations that'll help us all with the stress that tends to come at us around the holidays.
Watch this as a video here, or continue reading below.
Make a basic plan for the holidays
I know everyone doesn’t love being a planner and having everything in their life mapped out but a little preparation can go a long way when entering a more stressful season.
Financial Stress
Look at your gift list and space those purchases out over the next four weeks if that helps you to experience less financial strain. By planning ahead and spacing gifts out over multiple paycheques it won’t put as much pressure on you.
I go so far as automatically scheduling a savings account to drip deposits throughout the whole year so I really don’t have to think about it by the time Christmas comes around. I just look at what I have saved and create a budget for all the gifts I’m wanting to give.
Social Stress
Plan your social engagements for the holidays if you are more introverted and find that all of the interaction drains you.
While attending holiday parties may not be as negotiable, you can look ahead to incorporate more me time or recovery time in there to balance it out. Take care of yourself as well with a little more me time and attention to your deep health. With that being said, this time of year is extra special for getting together with friends and family so look at the upside of those get-togethers and cherish them.
It seems like those gatherings are becoming less frequent. And we can all use them, especially after the last few years of experiencing more social isolation.
Planning To Get More From Your Vacation
If you have a vacation coming up, taking time to plan it out for yourself or with whoever you’re travelling with can enhance the experience that you have.
Humans are funny and often don’t even take the time to appreciate the rewards of our hard efforts.
When you are sitting on the beach basking in the sun and listening to the ocean waves and you catch yourself thinking about the next thing instead of appreciating where you are at here and now, it's a part of human nature.
The lesson we can take from this is to actively plan your vacation, think about it, and talk about it so that you also get the positive feelings of something to look forward to as you make that last push at work before the holidays.
Avoid Burning Out At Work
This is a stressful time of year at work for most of us too, and to enjoy this holiday season beating burnout is important.
Join me on this free lunchtime webinar hosted by the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce on how to beat burnout in the workplace.
Does Athletic Taping Work For Recovery?
The world of sports is something amusing. Different athletes from around the world get paid millions of dollars to play competitively, and in order to do that they must prevent themselves from getting injured. From LeBron James to Lionel Messi, these athletes train and do whatever it takes to improve their performance and body.
Unfortunately, some things in life are inevitable, whether it be bruises, burns or even major injuries like dislocations or fractures, everyone at some point in their lives has gotten injured or has at least felt some type of pain before. Sports competitors usually try to prevent injuries from occurring or from getting worse by applying athletic taping. NBA players, soccer stars or volleyball athletes tend to use these special types of taping to improve their workout, rehabilitate and avoid injuries.
What is Athletic Taping:
Athletic taping is the process of applying tape directly to the skin in order to decrease swelling and pain by helping increase the amount of blood flow to the injured area.
Kinesio-type tape (KT) adjusts to the skin and accommodates movements. As you can see, there are different kinds of taping, people can use, it really just depends on what they prefer. We have all seen athletes on the court, field or pool wearing stripes of coloured tape that are not even wrapped around the limbs or muscles like an elastic support bandage.
Instead, it is a long tape is applied to the skin and sticks on, so what type of athletic taping do athletes use?
As we are talking about athletes, the taping that would be best for them is Kinesio-type taping. Physical therapists use it to treat pain from sports injuries and boost athletic performance, among other things. Sports and Medical Orthopaedists Dominic King, DO explain how KT tape is different than the others, by saying “It’s different than your standard athletic tape, which is used to immobilize a joint. Elastic therapeutic taping has the benefit of being stretchy. When you apply it to a joint, it helps to act almost like a rubber band, supporting muscles and tendons, and taking a little stress off the joints. It also can help relieve swelling in certain areas”. Most notably basketball star James Harden, who is known as a great scorer and known for staying healthy. He is always seen regularly with a sporting KT tape on his right shoulder, and even though he is not injured, he is taking the right measure to make sure that his muscles and joints are behaving the way they should.
Houston Rockets’ Head Athletic Trainer Jason Biles commented “I’ve been in the NBA now eight years, and I’ve been using it probably seven or eight years, right when I came in. I like the KT Tape specifically because it promotes a sort of natural healing response, helping with swelling reduction, encouraging optimal movement and proper movement, and the appropriate alignment of the joints. It gives the athlete great feedback of where their body is in space — we want them to be aware of if they’re in a vulnerable position, or if they’re in the proper position they can move optimally from… So, it’s the tape that we use for those things and also just to sort of encourage the movement that we would like. So, if a joint tends to want to, say, become maligned, then we can apply some tape to encourage the proper movement to achieve what the athlete needs on the court”.
James Harden uses it mostly as injury prevention and having the tape placed on his shoulders says it has helped him mentally as well “Whenever I’m sore, whether it’s my knee or my shoulder, putting the KT Tape on gets the blood flowing and circulating around my body… I’m able to go out there and play free, not really thinking about injuries. It just gives me that confidence. It gives me the confidence to go out there and not worry about getting injured. If you’re playing free and you’re confident, great things are going to happen on the court”.
Additionally, this method can help keep muscles or bones in a certain position in order to prevent an injury from occurring. For this to happen, athletes must put the athletic taping near the joints like the ankles, wrists, and hands for added support due to the elasticity of the athletic tape. It naturally returns to its original position, which alleviates some of the athlete’s muscle strain, which is one of the benefits of the tape; however, Dr. King explains that people report feeling a little more comfortable with the tape, and it seems as if it gives them some added support, and with backed up research, it also shows that people experience short-term benefit from using the tape. “For the short term it actually can help with some joints that might be painful, for a couple of hours or maybe for a day; but it doesn’t really have that type of long-term relief, where this is going to be the only thing, you’re going to need in order to take away all of your joint pain,” he says” Dr. King explains, as research indicates that Kinesio tape may help alleviate pain for individuals who suffer from persistent musculoskeletal pain, it is in no way superior to other treatments. In addition, he asserts that there is no scientific evidence that Kinesio tape can lessen disability among people who suffer from chronic pain.
Some other short-term benefits that KT taping provides are that it helps with stabilizing ankles, supporting knees, solidifying shoulders, opening elbows, supporting weak or injured muscles, improving muscle contraction, and preventing overuse.
Finally, King goes on to mention that the tape should only be used as part of a program that also includes physical therapy to treat muscle soreness as a last resort, nor are there any long-term benefits from Kinesio taping.
Why is Athletic Taping Important?
Taping makes life easier for athletes as it can be effective for rehabilitation. Even though athletic tape can help prevent injuries brought on by exercise, accidents do still happen as it is expected to happen. Athletic tape might be the solution you need when they do. When limiting the range of motion for particular joints and muscles with conventional athletic tape, the body may heal more quickly than if the movement were unrestricted. It can also be used as a splint for sprained joints, which expedites the healing process. Traditional athletic tape can help reduce swelling by compressing the muscle, which can reduce pain and prevent further injury.
The reasons for using elastic therapeutic tape are the same but in different ways. Athletic tape reduces swelling and reduces pain by helping to increase blood flow to the injured area. The elasticity of the athletic tape can also provide the affected muscles with support. It naturally returns to its initial position, alleviating some of the athlete's muscle strain. The tape can help protect the previously injured area from re-injury and reduce pain when the athlete is well enough to resume their sport or activity.
Additionally, the athletic tape can assist in correcting any form of issues caused by injury or other conditions. A trainer can do a runner's analysis to apply the tape in the best position for their injury, which will help them fix their form and stop them from hurting themselves again. Again, Athletic Taping is more beneficial short-term than long term and shouldn’t be depended on without addressing injuries.
How can athletic taping help you?
Whether you’re a competitive athlete or just want to stay healthy, KT taping can help you to reduce injuries and feel your best.
And we offer sports taping at Flow Spa.
Flow Spa is the premier float therapy and sports recovery centre in Peterborough, Ontario.
Our centre focuses on helping people deal with stress and pain so that they can recover and feel better.
We ensure that we make our customer’s experience better than any other float centres. As a team, we provide the customer’s needs and wants and deliver phenomenal services.
Our mission is to provide the ultimate relaxing and rejuvenating experience to help you ease your stress and pain.
Flow Spa has the best tools and treatment options available: float therapy, massage therapy, reflexology, reiki, infrared saunas, cold plunges, contrast therapy, Normatec compression therapy, and health coaching.
KT Taping can be included as part of your massage therapy session. Book your appointment online and mention you want taping done or give us a call at 705-230-8575.
Practicing Self-Compassion Is Hard
Why is it that people are fundamentally better at being compassionate and caring towards others than they are towards themselves?
What is it about self-compassion that makes most of us not very good at practicing it?
In this article we will dive into:
The underlying scripts from society - how we’ve learned to value other people’s opinions and compare ourselves.
There’s a misconception that self-compassion means complacency. We find meaning in progress because we are hard-wired that way
Self-compassion feels soft and vulnerable and most people avoid that.
Self-compassion is an important part of having a growth mindset and learning how to develop into your best self. But most people suck at practicing it. Why is it that we push ourselves relentlessly or tell ourselves that we could have done better with our efforts?
When was the last time that you actually let yourself feel a sense of accomplishment at something you did? And I’m not talking about a 5-second pause before starting up the next project on your list.
The skill of self-compassion is made up of three elements:
Self-kindness
Common humanity
Mindfulness
Self-kindness is about being generous and decent to yourself.
Common humanity is recognizing that you are a part of a greater whole of humanity. You’re not isolated in your suffering and problems.
Mindfulness is also a part of self-compassion as you need to work on being non-judgemental and consciously aware of what you’re doing, thinking, feeling, and experiencing.
This is a hard skill to develop in yourself. There’s a lot going against you that makes practicing self-compassion so hard.
But self-compassion will positively change your life and so you owe it to yourself to put in the effort to rewrite some of these invisible scripts that you tell yourself about self-compassion so that you can go further while also being appreciative of where you are at now.
Underlying scripts from society
How we’ve learned to value other peoples’ opinions and compare ourselves.
Fear of other people’s opinions or FOPO holds us back from being self-compassionate. When you’re hurting and need a day off from the gym, you find yourself watching Navy SEALS on Instagram waking up before the sun to run 100 miles and you think about how if they can do that, you shouldn’t be taking a day off.
Or when your eyes are bugging out of your head from working at a computer all day but you think about that entrepreneur online who appears to be hustling hard 24/7 and so you just keep on working through the exhaustion and digging a deeper hole for yourself.
Comparison, undoubtedly, is the thief of joy.
These underlying scripts tell us that we will be judged and criticized for doing what we feel in our hearts we need at the moment to recharge or just take care of ourselves.
We only get the picture of what people want to share of their life online though and this is why is can be such a harmful image when it seems like all go and taking no days off.
Self-compassion and complacency.
The misconception about self-compassion means complacency.
We find meaning in progress because we are hard-wired that way. Our brains are constantly seeking out the next step on our journey.
Recognizing that we are driven by dopamine is an important part of having more self-compassion. By knowing this, we can identify when we are feeling unease at sitting still or seemingly not making enough progress. And once we can recognize this, we can accept and embrace that progress looks different for everyone and sometimes the best progress comes from taking a break to recover and recharge. Or that it means pivoting to something new when what we’ve been attempting is no longer working for us.
Self-compassion feels soft and vulnerable.
Most people want to avoid vulnerability at all costs. They keep their secrets held close and don’t open up about anything to anyone.
While there are many thought leaders expressing themselves out in the world and sharing the importance of vulnerability, this is still not the default for most of us.
Have you ever been on a car ride with someone where the silence was deafening? You know that something is up with them but they’d rather stare out the window with lips held tight instead of having a conversation. You can sense it because our ability to read a situation goes far beyond just language.
One of the reasons we like to follow people like Brene Brown and Russell Brand and all those influencers online who have expressed a part of their story to the world is that it’s brave and we have a strong desire to feel the same way.
Being self-compassionate does not mean you are soft although it often means opening yourself up, at least to yourself, so that you can correctly understand what and how you are feeling.
Only through practice will you come to understand how to express yourself.
So then, with the three elements that makeup self-compassion, self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness, think about what you can do to work a little of these into your day.
When Will I Notice A Difference With Floating?
When will I notice a difference from float therapy?
Right away, although 3 is the sweet spot for most people to really see a difference.
Like anything new, the first float is filled with excitement and anticipation.
You wonder what the experience is going to be like. Especially because it’s so hard to describe an experience that’s like no other.
There’s also the anticipation. How will you feel after?
Research on floating and from our own experience here at Flow Spa, you’ll feel very relaxed after just your first float, and most people really start to notice they can relax deeper And fully experience the benefits of floating after 3 floats.
The research-backed benefits for reducing anxiety, decreasing stress hormones and relieving back pain comes from just one 60-minute float session. And they improve even further with subsequent treatments.
This 60-minute length of time is important to point out because people often wonder how long they should do for their first float and we like to encourage people to relax into and get used to floating for an hour with their first visit.
30 minutes is possible and also very relaxing, but because of the newness of the float experience, it takes time to get settled in and situated.
Letting the music gradually fade out, even for longer than our suggested 10 minutes at the start can help in the first float, but many people are ready to completely let go and escape.
And because 3 floats is an ideal starting point to see if floating is a therapy that works best for your needs for stress management, relaxation, and recovery, we do offer a 3-float package which is $195 - new customers can get it for $165.
You can find that package available in our online store, or talk to the front desk at the spa
4 Ways To Keep Your Immune System Healthy This Fall
The concerns around COVID-19 are not done yet and the fall flu season is upon us.
Now is the time to make sure you’re doing everything you can to keep your immune system healthy so that you don’t get sick.
Think about these 4 Ss when it comes to helping your immune system: Sleep, Stress, Shock, and Support.
Read on to learn more about each strategy and how it’ll help you.
Sleep
Sleep is like the Batman of recovery: the hero you don’t want, but the hero that you need.
It’s unrivalled in its importance in promoting recovery, including keeping your immune system healthy, keeping your brain sharp, and your body functioning well.
Sleep is also challenging to try to tackle because we all have preconceived notions of how good or bad our sleep is and why we just have to accept it as it is. Trying to deal with it as a “bad sleeper” is not a good time, as everything else in your life gets affected.
But I'm not suggesting that you try to completely overhaul your sleep routine with what the latest health guru is saying you need to do every hour of the day to prepare yourself for sleep. There are things that can help, but what helps the most is to start with what you're comfortable doing. If that means just maintaining what you're already doing, that's great.
If you have a change in mind that you want to make and you think it'll help your sleep, try that out and notice how it helps your sleep and how rested you feel. Notice the difference it makes and if it doesn’t seem to be doing much, try to add on something else you feel ready to do.
Stress - Manage It Your Best
We all experience stress in many different ways. Stress is as unique to our life as our fingerprint. Managing stress well becomes not just a practice in following a few steps from a template but to understand and explore your own stressors.
By recognizing our own triggers and reactions to stress, we can better come to respect our need for balance and when it's most essential for us. Whether due to life transitions or unexpected events in your life, we can’t go off of a pre-made plan for managing stress better, unless we’ve thought about it ourselves and created it or shaped it to fit our own needs.
So stress management becomes as much about the give and take as a Jiu-Jitsu match. React to everything you experience so that you can keep pushing toward your ultimate goal of getting everything managed as best as you can.
This is exactly what we do in my stress management success course where I teach you how to apply the steps of making changes in your life and creating an action plan for becoming unstressable.
The next cohort for the course is starting soon and you can join the waitlist here: www.flowacademy.ca/stress
Shock
Use deliberate heat or cold exposure to give your immune system a boost.
Sitting in a sauna feels really good but on top of that, it carries with it some powerful health benefits, including being able to strengthen your immune system and reduce the stress hormone cortisol.
When our bodies are exposed to extreme heat or cold, we are giving it a healthy, acute dose of stress. This triggers many of the systems in our body to be stimulated, including our immune system which builds up under this process.
The same happens to us with cold exposure, like doing a cold plunge. This can be harder for people to want to initiate but it certainly feels invigorating after you’ve done it. And the cold creates a great anti-inflammatory effect to reduce pain and promote healing while also turning up the dial on our immune system.
Research suggests that the best practice for this is doing 3-4 sessions per week for a total of 57 minutes of heat exposure above 80 degrees Celsius and 11 minutes total of cold exposure below 10 degrees Celsius. These numbers may be optimal, but certainly, any amount of shock, even one session per week, is going to make a difference that will help you to stay healthier.
Support
Support yourself and your immune system. During cold and flu season, it’s important to turn to our friends and family for support when it’s needed as a way to feel a strong sense of connection that will help to keep stress levels down. It’s also often needed when we do feel the sniffles coming on and need to be proactive to not get sick any further by letting others lend a hand where we need it.
Furthermore, you can support your immune system and your health through supplements. While these aren’t the first step in good nutrition, there are some nutrients that are important for the immune system that become harder to access through our diet as the colder weather approaches, most notably, colourful fruits and veggies and vitamin D. Supplementing with a greens powder can help to cover a lot of micronutrients that we need to stay healthy and keep our immune system strong, and getting vitamin D through supplementation are virtually essential for Canadians once the summer is over and we’re getting less direct sunlight. This one is extremely important for our immune system so I highly recommend it.
Look to supplement with a scoop of a high-quality greens powder, like Genuine Health’s greens+ every day and 2,000 IUs of Vitamin D3.
What to do next:
Look at what you can do to support your sleep and write down a few ideas of what you’re willing to try.
Book in for a sauna or cold plunge to start deliberate exposure to the extremes that will stimulate your immune system.
Managing Back To School Stress
Wouldn’t it be nice if Back To School could be stress-free?
Like that Staples commercial that plays the Andy Williams song “The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” song while talking about Back To School.
But I don’t know anyone who actually thinks this time of year is stress-free. We frantically try to relax for Labour Day only to be thrust into the muck of the first day of school.
Traffic is crazy.
We know sniffles we be spreading soon.
We experience the life transition of the kids growing up and going off to school or starting a new chapter.
Our sense of control over things is tested hard during this season. And it’s through understanding what’s in our control that we can tame our stressors before we see them leave us frazzled and burnt out.
Working on understanding control takes time and constant reminders to ourselves. But by making this shift we can start to lift away from some of the feeling that is holding us back.
The practice that helps to bring clarity and perspective to what we have control over is called the Spheres of Control.
It helps to see visually the dichotomy between what’s in your complete control and what you have no control over. And because life is never just black and white, there’s a gray area too where we have some control.
When the things in our lives that we have no control over or only some control of pile up all at once, like during times of transition, it’s easy to have your thoughts start spiralling while trying too hard to grasp onto what you cannot.
With back-to-school time, we start thinking and worrying about all those things that feel so stressful and make us worry.
So try to name those worries that you don’t have any control over. Capture them on the page so they don’t have free reign over your thoughts. Look at what is in your control and reinforce those things. (Hint: there are only a few things that we can consider under our complete control).
I consider it to be the most Stoic of the skills of stress management to practice. The Stoic philosophers were all about temperance of the mind and finding stillness amidst turmoil. The writings of philosophers like Seneca and Marcus Aurelius made it very clear that the struggles to control our thoughts and worries remain much the same thousands of years after they were capturing their own ideas on paper as Marcus Aurelius reflected himself,
“Your ability to control your thoughts- treat it with respect. It’s all that protects your mind from false perceptions… it’s what makes thoughtfulness possible.”
Our thoughts are one of the few things we can come to have complete control over with practice. And it’s a powerful one because it will lead to being better able to let go of the many things we cannot directly influence.
Like the school bus driver who is late, the start of cold and flu season, and the kids starting a new chapter in their lives.
You can download this Spheres of Control worksheet that includes prompts to explore that will help you to understand what in your life is in your control and what to let go of.
Download the Sphere of Control worksheet.
The second cohort of Stress Management Success will be starting in about a month.
Join the waitlist here so you get notified of when enrolment starts.
Do I Need To Be Able To Meditate To Float?
Many people feel hesitant around the float tank because of the idea of sensory deprivation and what you’re supposed to do for an hour with your mind.
It can be daunting to think about going into an hour of solitude to be alone with your thoughts, but many of our clients have no experience with meditation and you don’t have to either.
Let’s talk about some of the experiences of the float tank and why you don’t have to be a good meditator to reap the benefits.
An hour of peace and quiet with no distractions from your thoughts is one of the most nourishing and powerful things we can do for ourselves in today’s day and age.
The float tank is so physically relaxing because you’re supported weightlessly by the Epsom salt solution, that it helps your mind to calm down too.
This is one of the reasons that the float tank works wonders for people in pain as well as for relieving anxiety. Sometimes when your mind can’t shut off and you’re stuck worrying, it can feel like it’s impossible to calm your mind and focus on meditation. By letting yourself float peacefully with calming music or having it fade out to silence you’re able to let your body naturally guide your mind to a calmer state.
Research on float therapy has looked at what our brains do when we’re floating and has found that our brainwaves reach the slow theta state. For the most part, Theta brainwaves usually only show up under two conditions: during REM sleep and in highly experienced meditators. But because of the unique environment of the float tank is so calming and free from external stimuli, our brains are naturally able to reach this deeply rejuvenating and calm state.
Experience float therapy for yourself to see these research-backed benefits. Whether you’re booking in Peterborough at Flow Spa or your closes float centre wherever you are in the world, I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful experience.
Does The Float Tank Need To Be Sensory Deprivation?
I am watching a Livestream as my friend Josh crosses the threshold into a pitch-black shipping container which he will be locked into for 24 hours. But not only will he be locked away in complete darkness, he’s also going to run on a treadmill nonstop in a race against three other guys for a whole day. This sensory deprivation challenge was on a whole other level that no one else has ever attempted before. To say it isn’t for the faint of heart is putting it lightly.
Fortunately, float therapy doesn't have to be this way, even though it's often still referred to as a sensory deprivation tank.
While it's true that you can go with the lights and music off to completely tune out the world around you, this is not a requirement of the experience to be therapeutic. A lot of our customers who are looking for pain relief may float with the lights on or have the music play the whole session.
It’s about reaching a point of stillness in your body and your mind, and for someone who has a lot of internal distractions like a racing mind, relaxing music can be just enough to help bring about a calmer state.
We also have customers with tinnitus who also prefer to keep the music on or plug in their own device to play some audio or a podcast because it is much more relaxing for them without the ringing in their ears.
We most commonly use a playlist of relaxing sleep soundtracks to help settle you into your float. If you want to download or listen to it right now, you can do so here. Listen for yourself and even choose which track you like the most if you want to request it during your float.
5 Ways To Reduce Stress Right Now
You don't even have to be great at meditating in order to reduce your stress right now.
You don't have to be a great meditator to live stress free. Put these five practices into place regularly to beat burnout and feel like your best self again.
Physiological sigh
This is as close to a hack as you will find for immediately reducing stress through activation of the parasympathetic nervous system.
Think about if you’ve ever caught yourself sobbing and felt like you couldn’t catch your breath. Or if you’re a steely-eyed stoic who’s never made a face, you’ve probably seen someone in a state of hyperventilation. Breathing is very rapid but shallow. And when we’re helping someone through this situation, we get them to breathe into a paper bag or breathe through pursed lips, helping to slow down their breathing.
The physiological sigh immediately activates a state of calmness in our body. You breathe in fully and then try to sip some extra air into your lungs with a second inhale before fully exhaling. Your exhale will naturally be longer but you can also consciously think to exhale slowly. Repeating this for about a minute is all it takes to start to shift your body out of a reactionary stress response and into a more calm state.
This is so powerful because it can be done anytime, anyplace to help you to slow down and regain traction. You don’t have to plop yourself onto a cushion and get situated in a lotus position with eyes closed to reduce stress.
Get outside for a walk
87.4% of excuses for getting outside for a walk are made up. And while that statistic is also made up, we really can in most circumstances organize our day and plan our time to spend even a few minutes outdoors moving at a relaxed pace. The movement alone can be great for promoting a calmer state of mind and reducing stress, but so can being in nature and getting some sun when possible.
Getting outside in nature for a walk checks off all these boxes at once but any one of them can suffice to help you to reduce stress, assuming you’re not allergic to the sun.
Research suggests that positive health benefits from nature exposure can come from just 15 minutes a week, but I’d challenge you to make the time to hit that goal most days if you’re tying to build a stress-busting routine.
Pet a dog (or a cat)
Our bond with our animals is so powerful that it can even reduce stress.
Therapy dogs and seeing them in the hospital wards serve a purpose in delivering joy.
Petting a dog or a cat creates a calm connection that helps us to detach a bit from whatever is overwhelming us to fill us with their unconditional love (so long as you’ve kept up with your belly rub quota).
This action might be a little less practical for some of us due to fears, or allergies, or just not having pets around, but it’s still a really quick way to reduce stress and feel better, so make use of it if and when you can.
Go to sleep or take a nap
Sleep is our recovery superstar and if you’re reaching your limits, the best thing you can do might just be to close your eyes and get to sleep.
Do some restorative exercise
Movement can be medicine, especially if your work is not very active or you spend much of your day seated. You might not always be up for a hard workout, but stretching, yoga, or any type of activity that gets the body in motion is great and can be meditative for those who aren’t very good at the whole sitting still thing.
Now, are you ready for the real secret? Pick just one of these things and try it out. If you’re already feeling stressed out, trying to check off more boxes isn’t going to help. Whatever sounds like something you’d like to do and can make work, do it consistently and see if it is helping you.
Have fun, get curious, and Find Your Flow
Is What We Know About Sleep True?
Is what we know about sleep true?
On average, we spend about a third of our life asleep. It’s a necessary function, and it impacts our physical and mental health. We know that a good night’s sleep makes us all feel good in the morning, but it can also help your digestive system, immune system, and even your heart.
But are we getting the sleep that we want and need?
There are so many things that prevent us from sleeping for as long as we should, and as deeply as we should. Many of us are guilty of spending hours on our phones before bed - mindlessly scrolling through social media, stimulates the brain, making it harder to fall asleep. The brain can’t just turn off like a switch, it needs to unwind and our habits are basically only winding it up.
But poor sleep can also be caused by other lifestyle choices, such as caffeine or sugar before bed, that keep your mind and body awake. Other times it can be a lack of exercise - for some people, having an unusually sedentary day means you have excess energy that can’t just go away when you need to sleep.
The good news is that if you are struggling with sleep, there are ways that you can help yourself!
Empowerment is the key to changing your sleep patterns. Some people have very serious, legitimate health conditions that can negatively impact their sleep - in these cases it is very important to seek medical support. But for others, there are tools you can use to change your own life.
One of the first places to start is your knowledge base. There is so much information floating around about sleeping and good sleeping habits. It can be hard to know what is true, and what is actually negatively impacting your rest.
So let’s help you to find the facts, so you can start to make some healthy changes.
Our sleeping habits can’t be changed: True or false?
FALSE
Some people think that because a sleeping habit or pattern has been going on for so long, it can’t be changed. If they have always slept for only a few hours at a time, or they always take a long time to fall asleep, they can’t do anything to change it.
The good news is, that you CAN change your sleeping habits.
As with any habit, it will take time to see changes, but perseverance is key. Start by creating a healthy routine for yourself, then commit to sticking to it. Some good ideas you can incorporate:
Give yourself a set bedtime, so your body naturally begins to get sleepy around the same time each night.
Make sure that you put aside all your devices. A screen should not be the last thing you see at night, as this can stimulate your brain into waking back up. Try and put those away relatively early in your routine, giving yourself time to really focus on what you are doing.
If you find yourself very stressed and anxious while you are trying to fall asleep, try and incorporate some relaxing physical and/or mental activities into your night routine. This might be five minutes of light yoga or stretching or some meditation. Whatever works for you!
My phone is keeping me awake: True or false?
TRUE
Whether it’s your phone or tablet, technology is designed to keep you focused and alert - the exact opposite of what you want when you are trying to sleep!
As much as you can, you need to reduce the number of devices in your bedroom and the time you spend on them when trying to get ready for bed. Most of us use our phone as an alarm so turning it off isn’t always a good idea, but you should put it on Do Not Disturb. Notifications are designed to draw your attention, but in reality, they can wait.
And if you find you can’t avoid checking your phone, investing in an alarm clock to get your phone out of the bedroom can be one of the best things you do for your sleep.
If you are someone who loves to check social media right before bed, consider swapping the action for an alternative, like reading a book. Even though you need to focus, reading still helps to slow you down, because the pace at which you receive information is drastically reduced compared to your phone. If you really can’t leave social media alone, at least consider limiting the time you spend on it, so don’t accidentally scroll for hours.
Sleeping medications are addictive and therefore can be dangerous: True or false?
TRUE
It is true that some medications designed to help you sleep, like ones that are prescribed by a doctor, are addictive. They are still useful and they can help people, but only when they are taken correctly. You should never use any form of prescribed medication for someone else, and you should only take them for as long as you have been prescribed them.
If you have been prescribed sleeping pills or tablets by a doctor, make sure that you take them according to the instructions, and always seek help if you find yourself struggling with side effects.
All sleeping medications are bad: True or false? FALSE
Prescribed sleeping medications are designed to help you sleep and when they are used correctly, they are safe. The danger is when you use them differently from the instructions, e.g. taking too many at once, or taking them longer than recommended.
The good news is that you can also find over-the-counter sleeping supports that are safer for more people to use and still offer the same great support. A great option is Deep Sleep by Genuine Health. This is a natural supplement that utilizes natural ingredients that work together to promote better sleep health:
Reishi mushroom extract - This has been used for centuries to help cure a range of ailments. It can help to stimulate your adrenal gland, which in turn increases the amount of cortisol in the body. Cortisol reduces stress and can increase feelings of relaxation, helping you get to sleep faster and stay asleep for longer. Deep Sleep can also help you to enter deeper sleep cycles, which promote brain rejuvenation and can improve physical health over the long term.
GABA - is a natural amino acid found in the brain. Supplements safely increase the Gaba levels in the body, making them more functional, by reducing the neurotransmitter actions that are leading to stress and anxiety. This results in a more relaxed and peaceful feeling.
Melatonin. This is found in a lot of sleep supplements, and it helps to regulate the internal circadian rhythm of the body, so you sleep as your body is intended to.
L-Theanine - Found in tea, L-theanine is another calming compound that helps to get our body out of a stressed state and into more deep relaxation.
Magnesium - Magnesium is an important mineral for many of the functions in our body and can help to relax the muscles and promote better sleep.
Even more good news: Deep Sleep is safe to be used by anyone. It is soy, gluten, dairy, and egg-free so even people with dietary requirements can take it and experience its success.
I’m having trouble sleeping, so I’m a bad sleeper: True or false? FALSE
Many people think they are bad sleepers when in reality they probably aren’t! There are a number of reasons why you might wake up still feeling tired, or not as relaxed as you want to be. In reality, this might not actually be a sleep problem!
People who think they are bad sleepers may internalize this belief, which can result in a lot of stress and anxiety. You may focus on your sleep problems, but not the other things in life that may be impacting your sleep. Are you very busy at work at the moment? Are you only sleeping five hours a night because you are trying to juggle work and children and a million other responsibilities?
Our sleeping behaviours can sometimes be a reflection of other behaviours or habits in our lives and it’s important to recognize that everything is connected. Always be kind to yourself - health is a constant journey and as long as you’re working on it, you are moving in the right direction.
Deep Sleep is available at Flow Spa - Pick it up in-store today!
Is Floating Safe With High Blood Pressure?
Is floating safe if you’ve got high blood pressure?
The short answer is - yes!
It’s helpful to know that the temperature in the float tanks is skin temperature neutral so you don’t overheat or get cold. This also means that it’s safe for anyone with high blood pressure because it’s not going to raise blood pressure the way a hot tub does, which is why you have to avoid hot tubs.
In fact, float tanks help to reduce blood pressure. Research on the benefits of float therapy has shown significant reductions in indicators of stress, including high blood pressure after just one one-hour float session. That’s why it’s safe for high blood pressure but always check with your doctor first if you have any concerns.
So if it’s time for you to reduce some stress, it’s a great time to float!
Float Tank Filtration and Sanitization Process
How do the float tanks get sanitized?
Health and safety is our number one priority at Flow Spa, and I worked as a food safety manager for a number of years before opening Flow Spa, so I get it.
People want to know how the float tanks get cleaned and are they safe?
There is a four-stage process of filtration and sanitizing that the float tanks go through after every customer in addition to the regular change over of the water and Epsom salt that makes up the float tank solution.
When the filters run after every customer, they completely change over the solution 4 times before the next person. The first step is a skimmer followed by a micron filter that is fine enough to trap and remove microbes from the solution. Then the next two steps through the filtration system sanitize and disinfect the solution even further with the same process that medical devices go through for disinfection.
This uses UV light and an Ozonator which both on their own are effective for safe treatment of the float tank solution but are even better together.
And as an additional sanitary measure, we add hydrogen peroxide to the water and spray down all the surfaces of the float tank that aren’t covered by the water filtration process with hydrogen peroxide as well.
What Is Compassion Fatigue?
Emotional labour is one of the most challenging jobs that we do as humans. Not because of the physical toll it can take, which can also be the case, but because it can be never-ending. And when you are a giver, you'll drain yourself completely and then some until you are completely burned out and start to lose your spark.
That's compassion fatigue.
A state that's become much more common in the last several years, so it's important to know what can cause compassion fatigue and how to prevent it so that you can continue to be your best self and not reach that point of burnout.
Compassion fatigue is a form of burnout that comes to caregivers. While we often assume that it’s a result of giving too much, it’s not that we’ve selflessly given too much of ourselves so much as it’s from feeling the ongoing suffering of others and assuming that our efforts are not enough.
The other big factor with compassion fatigue and burnout from being a giver is the style in which you give. Seeing the results of your efforts is one way to combat burnout, which is why certain fields like teaching and medicine lead to higher rates of burnout.
When the turnaround of the humans you’re giving care to is very rapid in which case you don’t get feedback or see the results of whether the support you’ve given helped or not, compassion fatigue can start to kick in.
Give More, But Respect Your Boundaries
Counterintuitively you can give more of yourself without burning out, but you must respect your boundaries. When it comes to giving of yourself, it’s important to respect your boundaries and know your limits.
Selflessly giving all of yourself is not the answer.
You will burn out from following this style of giving.
Even people who give a lot of their extra time to volunteering or other giving work can find that they can manage if they chunk it all together instead of scattering it through the week. By dedicating a large block of time to giving work, you again see the returns from your efforts in the others that you’ve helped and this makes a big difference in your motivation to keep giving and not develop compassion fatigue.
By having some set blocks of time for giving outside of work, or even sticking to the confines of your work hours in your job that requires a lot of emotional labour, you’ll be better able to find time to recover and recharge which is the next point.
Have weekly recovery time
You have to create balance and let yourself recharge and recover too. In performing caregiving, your body is in need of recovery time. Even if you aren't burning out because you've been able to give selflessly, to perform your very best, you need rest and recovery.
If you can't afford the cost or time of doing anything else, sleep is and always will be the recovery superstar, so even making changes to improve sleep by just a little bit can make a difference. And if you are able to make time to get outside for a walk in nature or go to your favourite spa for a float or massage, you'll be positively contributing to the rest and recovery that'll keep you strong for the others you care for.
Know your limits
And also in terms of respecting boundaries and making time for recovery, you have to know your limits.
At the end of the day, Emotional labour is highly rewarding but also very draining. It involves a lot of social connections that you might feel the need to detach from if you're naturally more introverted or you've just been giving all of yourself for a long time.
Think about your personality type, as well as what type of giver you are and what you're doing for recovery time, as we talked about, and see what opportunities you can find for making changes.
By becoming more self-aware of how we are doing and the types of patterns we tend to fall into that lead to burnout, we can start to shift towards being more resilient and avoiding any crashes in the first place.
If you found this info helpful, share is with another selfless caregiver you know that could use this reminder.
What's The Temperature In The Float Tank?
We often get asked about the temperature in the float tank.
Will you get cold? Is it going to be too hot?
So let’s talk a bit about what it feels like when you are floating.
We usually describe that it feels like you're floating in space.
The temperature in the float tank is perfect so that you stay comfortable and don't overheat.
We call this skin receptor neutral because the temperature is set to be at a point where once you get settled in and relaxed you don't even notice you're in water anymore. The air and water around you are in harmony with your body temperature. Not your core temperature, but your skin temperature, which is right around 96 degrees.
This makes for a tranquil and cozy experience that doesn’t leave you sweating or shivering. Instead, you feel as if you’re wrapped in a warm embrace during float therapy.
And if you’re wondering why the float tanks are set up this way, it’s because it gently guides our bodies and minds into a calmer state of relaxation. By not noticing the ambient environment around you, it gives your brain less to process.
Right now, take notice of all the physical sensations around you. What do your clothes feel like? Are they comfortable or restrictive? Do you have a watch on that’s sending you notifications and tapping your wrist?
Is your phone putting pressure on your pocket and diverting your attention?
I particularly hate long socks and find it very uncomfortable when that pressure is on my calves and usually wear ankle socks.
Even the pressure of the chair you’re sitting on or what the ground feels like if you’re standing up.
All of these sensations are just physical. We haven’t even considered sights and sounds yet. And by having a float tank become a fortress of solitude from physical sensations, along with visual and auditory cues, our nervous system gets a chance to really turn down a take a break.
I think that the sensation of losing track of where your body ends and the float tank solution begins is one of the best parts. When you can’t tell if your feet are in or out of the water and where your body is in relation to the surroundings, it’s one of the most mentally liberating feelings we can have.
Now the other question that often comes up in relation to the temperature in the float tank is about making adjustments. If we are given enough notice in advance, we can make slight adjustments to the heaters to make the float experience more perfect for you. We have the sweet spot for pretty much everyone with our float tanks but some people do run hotter or colder and we’ll do our best to accommodate this when given enough time to prepare.
What Do I Wear In The Float Tank?
What do I wear in the float tank?
If you've started to research float therapy or watched any of the videos that we've got online, then you've probably wondered about what do you wear in the float tank?
You've seen people wearing bathing suits and it's totally normal to assume that's the way to go as well.
And the answer is, it's totally up to you!
But most people prefer to float nude as it's one less distraction from a relaxing float.
The float rooms at Flow Spa are completely private. You lock the door for yourself when you get settled into your room.
Do whatever feels most comfortable for you though. It's all under your control to have the most relaxing experience.
One thing I will mention is if you do choose to wear a bathing suit. The amount of salt in the water is incredible and you'll want to wear your bathing suit while showering off after your float and give it a couple of good rinses.
I have found that whenever I have a bathing suit on in the float tank, even if I've rinsed it really well, the clothing dries stiff as a board because of the amount of salt that gets absorbed.
It's easy enough to toss in the washing machine but I find it funny to see swim shorts that can stand up on their own.
What Stress Management Techniques Are Most Effective?
Our ancestors lived in a world much different from our own. A world where behind every bush a predator could be waiting for them. The slightest snap of a branch could mean trouble. To fight or to flee was instinctual and prepared us for moments like this.
It sounds stressful thinking about it but these incidences happened acutely and typically didn’t pervade every waking minute.
What happens when our ancient threat detection system gets immersed in the world we face today?
Escape versus Approach Techniques
When it comes to managing stress, we all have our own default methods that we lean into. But there are definitely some techniques that are more effective than others.
Knowing not only what types of stress affect you the most, but also how you should manage your stress is what’s going to help you to feel the best and recover better.
So let’s talk about understanding your deep health assessment and where stress is affecting you the most.
We’ll also touch on forms of escape versus approach techniques for stress management and what the best long-term solutions are for dealing with what’s bothering you.
Understand Your Deep Health and Stress Assessment
Sometimes we have a really great grasp on what’s causing the most stress in our lives but it can often come as a surprise or not be exactly what you think it is.
When you develop an awareness of the different dimensions of your health, that is your Deep Health and the stress that is intertwined with each of those dimensions, you’re better able to pinpoint your sources of stress in any given timeframe.
To do this, you want either look at the wheel with the six Deep Health components and rank or draw out how stressful each aspect of your health is right now.
Alternatively, if you need further guidance and understanding, you can fill out the Deep Health Assessment and Questionnaire which will ask you a series of questions about each dimension and give you an overall score. The areas you score lowest in correlate with which dimensions are currently most stressful to you. I will include a link down below to do the deep health assessment for yourself.
Now that you have some answers to what direction your stress is coming from mostly, you can start to strategize ways to better manage that stress.
There are lots of great ways to manage stress and recover so that you feel better but all solutions are not created equal and will depend on your sources of stress. Sometimes a hard workout at the gym is just what you need to reduce mental and emotional stress but if you‘re already dealing with a lot of physical and environmental stress, the additional strain on your body and crowded and loud gym may not help you to adequately recharge.
Should You Run, Or Stand and Fight?
When most of us face stressors in our lives, just like our cave-dwelling ancestors, we turn to one of two solutions to cope with them. We choose to escape from them in ways that allow us to avoid what we’re dealing with, or we can approach and work on handling it directly.
Usually, avoidant techniques feel like the easy short-term solution and sometimes they can be constructive if it allows us to step back and get a better perspective or find a place of safety to start from before we deal with whatever we’re facing.
Ultimately though, the more that we practice and use approach solutions, the stronger our resilience to stress and ability to manage it will be.
Approach and Avoidance Techniques for Stress Management
So how do you practice these approach solutions to your stress? If this isn’t your default method of stress management and you do tend to avoid anything that feels threatening, it will be helpful to start slowly and with anything that’s not too intimidating for you. If mental stress is affecting you because you’ve been putting off having a conversation with your boss about something important that needs to change, this might be much harder if you’re not used to approaching and handling your stressors directly. Maybe in this case, depending on the timeline, you could start by approaching that mental stress through a meditation technique, to get control of your thoughts and even practice visualization of the crucial conversation you need to have. That way you can build up more resilience before tackling those bigger stressors.
We can do this for every type of stress that we face. There are approach and avoidance techniques in every dimension of deep health.
And if you’re trying to do a complete reboot on your system because stress seems to be coming from every direction, you should try floating.
Float therapy is one of my favourite recovery methods and is uniquely effective at reducing stress because how it can help us to recharge in all aspects of our deep health. The quiet and dark comfort of float tanks eliminates environmental and physical stress while also allowing us to go deeply within to approach and work on our mental, emotional, and existential stressors. And the solitude of the float tank is also the perfect reset for social stress. So if you haven’t tried floating before or it’s been a while since your last float and you’re feeling stress build up again, I can’t recommend floating enough.
Find Your Flow
Can I Float If I Have Claustrophobia?
Using Sensory Deprivation Tanks If You're Claustrophobic
Most people think about MRI machines when they think of floating. These loud, tightly contained machines may be responsible for more cases of claustrophobia than anything else in the world.
Unfortunately, for many of us who have claustrophobia, this preconceived notion does not do justice to the spaciousness and control that brings a wonderful and relaxing experience from floating at Flow Spa.
The float tanks are actually really big and you have control over how you want to relax.
Watch This Video
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Worried About Claustrophobia?
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Watch This Video 〰️ Worried About Claustrophobia? 〰️
There are two choices in float tanks here: the float pod has a clamshell lid you can keep up if you want and the float cabin is like stepping into a big room to float in. The side entrance door on the cabin means you can keep it open a little bit or a lot depending on your preferences as well.
In each of the float tanks, there are only about 10.5 inches of water which also means there’s lots of open air space above you when you’re laying on your back and floating effortlessly.
There are also lights and music options for all of our float tanks, so you choose to make the experience as comfortable as you like. While it’s a great way to let our nervous system escape from everything going on around us to have lights and music off, you don’t have to in order to have a great float and relax, reduce stress, and recover.
We’ve seen many customers come in believing there would be no way they could float in a float tank because of their claustrophobia and yet they surprise themselves with how relaxed they were and had no issues at all. There are also clinics that are starting to use float therapy as a way to desensitize people to claustrophobia because of the control over the space and how floating has been proven to reduce anxiety.
Find Your Flow