2010 July
Music
This product has in-built speakers so that you can listen to your favourite songs and/or radio station whilst you relax under the water. Fully waterproof and safety checked you have no need to worry about any electrical issues.
With volume and track selection handled by the showers control panel you will be able to hear exactly what you want when and as loud as you want it.
Why Music?
The brain is a very impressive tool which can be affected in so many different ways, sometimes without us even really realising. I am sure you have previously experienced a kind of natural high or euphoric experience when you have been in a good mood and one of your favourite songs has come on the radio or your MP3 player and heightened your mood and happiness? Well music can also alter your state of mind as well as just enhancing it.
Music can be great therapy, it is great for relaxing and coming down from a busy day before you go to bed. Alternately you could help yourself to wake up and get energised in the morning by playing a more upbeat track in the shower before work. Music therapy is becoming more and more popular for treating problems such as insomnia and stress, why not couple stress reliever’s together by listening to your favourite chill out track in the shower.
How does it work?
Research has shown that your brainwaves can be affected by the tempo of music. If you are listening to an upbeat or fast paced track you will experience heightened alertness and concentration whereas if listening to slower music you will be calmed and soothed.
With these changes in brain waves comes other bodily changes such as reduced heart rate and suppression of feelings such as depression and anxiety. Finally music can be seen to lower blood pressure which eases muscle tension and helps you to relax.
Further Reading
http://stress.about.com/od/tensiontamers/a/music_therapy.htm
http://ezinearticles.com/?Benefits-Of-Music-Therapy&id=649910
http://naturalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/music_therapy
http://stress.about.com/od/tensiontamers/a/musicrelaxation.htm
Hand Shower
After relaxing in the steam shower or whirlpool bath you may want to rinse off and thoroughly cleanse before you step out. This product features an additional shower head. With our steam showers the hand shower hangs neatly out of the way when not in use so you have optimal space whereas the shower cord retracts inside of the bath frame on our whirlpool baths.
It is ideal for rinsing of lather fully and can even be used to give the shower or bath itself a quick rinse after use.
Glass Walls
All of our steam shower enclosures, doors and walls are constructed of 6-8mm reinforced safety glass. This is designed so that if, by some unfortunate accident, one of the panels were to break it would shatter into pieces rather than breaking into shards which could very easily cut and/or hurt the user.
As well as being designed with safety in mind the glass components of all our steam showers have been designed with great consideration being given to aesthetics. This means you will have a great looking shower which has been created to ensure your safety is put first.
Why Choose Glass?
Apart from the previously mentioned safety benefit glass is also the better choice for our shower screens and doors for a number of reasons for example it is quick and easy to clean as the smooth surface harbours far fewer germs than an abrasive material would, it is also clear to see any areas of dirt due to its transparency, this ensures a clean and hygienic shower is easy to maintain.
It is also highly durable and longer lasting than its cheaper alternatives such as clear plastics which tend to warp, develop light surface cracks and even develop a colour tinge over time. The strength of our 6-8mm safety glass makes it the perfect choice to finish off your steam shower.
Fibreglass Tray
All of our steam shower and bath trays are made from fiberglass with a stainless steel frame, ensuring they are highly durable and long lasting.
Fiberglass is created by mixing very fine strand or fibres of glass with a hardening resin to create a strong and lightweight shell.
What Exactly is Fiberglass?
The 'glass' in fiberglass is the same basic substance used in windows and glassware. Molten glass is extruded through ultra-fine openings measured in microns, resulting in thread-like formations which can be woven together to form a rough cloth or patch. Different resins can then be added to this fiberglass material, allowing it to be formed and pressed into moulds. The result is a heat-resistant, lightweight fiberglass panel.
Why Use Fiberglass?
Its lightweight properties mean that it is easy to install and maintain which means we can get your shower fitted and ready to use in much less time. Due to the fact that it can be pressed in moulds it can be transformed into any style and shape meaning you get the best design possible as no functionality or design has been compromised by the materials pliability.
Fiberglass is a very strong and long lasting material so you can rest assured that your steam shower will continue to remain in perfect health for the foreseeable future; it is also cheaper to produce than similar materials such as carbon fibre which reduces unnecessary additional costs. Fibreglass is also more flexible than materials such as carbon fibre and can deal with higher stresses of elongation before breaking. Finally it is both made from recycled glass and is easily recyclable itself meaning you will be helping the environment as well.
Further Reading
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-fiberglass.htm
Chromotherapy
What is ‘Chromotherapy’?
Chromotherapy is the use of colour to affect the physical and/or mental state of a person. It is also known as colourology, colour therapy and more recently by scientists photobiology (to strip it of its links with spiritualism and mysticism.) It differs from ‘Light Therapy’ which has been scientifically proven to counteract seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D)
It can relate to the use of colour in any form such as the colour cloths you choose to wear, imagining colour in your mind’s eye or even the colour foods you eat. In this case however, we use the term to refer to the use of coloured lighting to alter the physical condition and mind state of the user.
We all know and understand that colour can have an effect on our emotions. Red renowned for representing and heightening danger or anger whereas blue is a cooling and calming colour which also diminishes appetite. There has also been plenty of investigation and experimentation regarding the use of colour to alter the physical state as you can see below.
History
- In India, practitioners of Ayurvedic medicine believed that specific colours corresponded with each of the seven ‘chakras’ (Energies in the body that represent organs, emotions, and aspects of the soul)
- In the days of ancient Egypt, practitioners built solariums with specifically designed glasses and lenses that served to break up the sun's rays into the colours of the spectrum
- In the late 1800’s Dr. Edwin D. Babbitt and Dr. S. Pancoast conducted numerous experiments and Babbitt then went on to publish a book entitled ‘Principles of Light and Colour’ which outlines chromotherapy as we understand it today
- In the late 1940’s Russian researcher S.V. Krakov conducted a series of experiments to show how colour affects the nervous system. In his experiments, he observed that red light stimulated the adrenal glands, raising blood pressure and pulse rate, and that blue and white light had a calming, relaxing effect.
Scientific Beliefs
It is becoming more and more common to find mainstream researchers turning to chromatherapy for a variety of ailments as well, particularly sleep disorders. Colour is a property of light, which is made up of many different waves of energy. When light falls upon the photoreceptor cells of the retina, it is converted into electrical impulses.
These impulses travel to the brain and trigger the release of hormones. The release of these hormones in controlled bursts can be used to treat the body and mind for many of the medical conditions that hinder sleep as well as promote conditions that are conducive to sleep and rest.
While many forms of chromatherapy can and should only be practiced by licensed practitioners, some forms of colour therapy are simple and safe enough to be practiced in the comfort of your own home, such as the chromatherapy lights in many of our whirlpool baths and steam showers.
Criticisms
Critics of chromotherapy claim that it is a ‘pseudoscience’ which means that past experiments, claims and findings do not follow the correct conditions to be classified as 100% scientifically proven. They believe that there is too much room for false and invalid results. Selection Bias is also a criticism of chromotherapy, this is linked in with the placebo effect by which if you believe that it will affect you, it will.
Spiritual Beliefs
Ayurvedic medicine describes the body as having seven main ‘chakras’, which are spiritual centres located along the spine that are associated with a colour, function and organ or bodily system. According to this explanation, these colours can become imbalanced and result in physical diseases but these imbalances can be corrected through using the appropriate colour as a treatment. The purported colours and their associations are described as:
| Colour | Chakra location | Alleged Function | Associated System |
| Red | Base of the spine | Grounding and Survival | Testes , kidneys, spine, sense of smell |
| Orange | Lower abdomen, genitals | Emotions, sexuality | Urinary tract, circulation, reproduction |
| Yellow | Solar plexus | Power, ego | stomach, liver, gall bladder, pancreas |
| Green | Heart | Love, sense of responsibility | Heart, lungs, thymus |
| Blue | Throat | Physical and spiritual communication | Throat, ears, mouth, hands |
| Indigo | Middle of forehead | Forgiveness, compassion, understanding | Eye, pineal glands |
| Violet | Crown of the head | Connection with universal energies, transmission of ideas and information | pituitary gland, the central nervous system and the cerebral cortex |
Further Reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromotherapy
http://www.tipsforinsomnia.info/articles/chromatherapy_is_the_use_of_co/