relaxation
Linking Stress with Fitness Targets
Everyone has thoughts about upgrading themselves and improving their fitness, health and even indirectly their confidence levels. It is however far too easy to lose motivation, especially if you are expecting drastic and short term results. Its a hard truth but changing your body shape, fitness, diet and lifestyle is something that takes time. Realistically 'diets' can help you loose weight, if you start eating less but continue to be as active as before your body will loose weight and depending on the extremeness of the diet it can do so quite quickly.
Diet
BUT there are a few BIG problems with this firstly any crash diet is likely to see you losing the wrong type of weight. If you suddenly cut out all the fat from your diet your body will start burning your body fat in its place right? Well sadly NO this is not really true. If you starve your body of fat it is more likely to hold onto the body fat you already have as its supply has been cut of, put simply it rations! You may well loose weight but it is likely to be muscle wastage (this is called atrophy) and is especially true if you have quite a lot of muscle to start with.
The other big problem is even if you loose weight as soon as you stop the diet you will put it straight back on again! what you really need to do is change your lifestyle and diet (as in your life diet not a diet period) if you eat badly it is almost impossible to just change just like that, the key is to start small and make little changes that are realistic and you can stick to. For example start by cutting crisps out of your daily diet or replacing them with a baked alternative, once you have got used to this change make another one say eat 3 average sized meals + 2 - 3 snacks per day as opposed to gorging yourself on 3 massive platefuls! This will keep your metabolic rate up and means your body will be burning calories more consistently.
Other than diet the main factors which can effect you reaching your targets are lack of sleep and stress!
Stress and Worry
Stress is an unavoidable fact of life, if your lucky it will be infrequent but its likely it could be a daily inevitability if your job involved pressure and stress. When you are stressed you body releases a hormone called cortisol and reduces the amount of testosterone that your body produces which is a terrible combination which will stop you from putting on muscle or making cardiovascular fitness advancements. This is similar too, and can be linked with, lack of sleep.
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
Aromatherapy
What is Aromatherapy?
Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine which involves the use of plant materials and other aromatic compounds to alter the users mood, health and mental state. There are a few main methods of conducting aromatherapy including:
- Inhalation– Breathing in aromatic vapour (Aerial diffusion and direct inhalation)
- Topical – Applying oils directly to the skin
- Orally – Ingesting materials
In the case of our steam showers and whirlpool baths the inhalation methods is the most applicable. A number of our products facilitate for aromatherapy, many of our saunas and steam showers outlets have specially designed locations for aromatic materials to be placed in so that the heat will cause them to turn to vapour and the fans will circulate this vapour around you. They can then be absorbed by your hair follicles and sweat glands to help promote healthy and bacteria free skin as well as being processed by your repertory system via inhalation. This is the quickest and most direct route for the material to affect your state of mind and wellbeing.
How Does It Work?
Each method of application works in a different way, as we have just seen by applying oils to the skin it can be absorbed into the blood stream and also kill bacteria on the skin. With inhalation the vapour passes tiny nerves in the top of our noses which then transmit data to a part of our brain called the limbic system. This are of the brain is responsible for heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, memory, stress levels and hormone balance.
As previously mentioned this is the most effective and fast acting method of aromatherapy, we suggest placing aromatic oils or materials in the special designed sections of our products or even adding plant oils to your bath water. This will help you to relax, lower your heart rate and settle your breathing making it more consistent. The result will be a calmer and happier you.
Criticisms
The positive effects of aromatherapy have yet to be 100% proven by science. Many critics suggest that it is another case of the placebo effect. That said MANY people swear by its effectiveness, the brain is an amazingly powerful tool which can be affected in many surprising ways. There is certainly no real evidence of its use being harmful or damaging in anyway.
Related Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromatherapy
http://www.aromatherapy-at-home.com/howdoesaromatherapywork.html
http://solework.wordpress.com/2007/11/20/aromatherapy-steam-inhalation/