Hot and cold

I'm a huge fan of natural hot springs and visited quite a few while travelling.  At one place, the aptly named Baños in Equador, the hot springs are the focal point of the town social life.  So as well as tourists who've come to relax, you find the locals of all ages hanging out.  Staring is perfectly acceptable, perhaps even obligatory, so it's a great place for people watching.  One of the pools is hot rather than warm. Think a hot bath.  It sits right next to a pool that's so cold (you're in the Andes), if you stay there for more than a couple of minutes, you start to lose all feeling in your body.  That's where I first discovered the amazing rush you get from going from hot to cold, and back.  First you get all lobster like in the warm pool.  Next, you get into the cold pool, with a bit of an involuntary whoop.  You get accustomed to the temperature, then before you go unconscious, get yourself back to the warm pool and wow......the natural high is incredible.   The same principle as a roll around in the snow after a sauna, I suppose.  


To replicate this at home, if you have a separate bath and shower fill the bath with either very hot or cold water, then jump between the two.   My shower is in the bath so I just alternate the shower between the two temperature extremes.  It works well enough that I have a huge grin on my face from the natural endorphins.  You can finish on either a hot or a cold round, whichever you prefer. 


Does it sound a bit crazy to you?  Even so, you should try it.  Next time you're feeling a bit flat, or stressed, or low, give it a go.  You've got to be brave enough to stay in the cold for as long as you can bear.  I find concentrating the cold shower on the back of your neck really gets you yelping.  Then the bliss when you turn on the warm water and feel the heat moving through your body again.  It never fails to make me laugh.


Some other ideas for creating natural endorphins if you're too wussy for this :)

http://suite101.com/article/how-to-achieve-a-natural-high-everyday-with-endorphins-a403298

Do it!

When we had the "big snow" a couple of years ago, we did this using the hot bath and the snow in our back garden.   Giddiest moment I can remember in recent times. My husband started a snowball fight.  He lost after I threatened his snowballs with snowballs.