I feel like I live in an almost constant state of stress and anxiety. I dwell too much on the past and worry too much about the future. At one point, I was continuously having trouble keeping my emotions in check and they would start to come out at the most inopportune times. I knew I needed help. I knew I needed healing and care.
I learned about the healing properties of polar plunges (getting into ice baths). I was intrigued and did even more research. Cold water therapy is an ancient healing practice of submerging the body in temperatures of less than 59 degrees Fahrenheit (usually just above freezing and up to the mid 40’s for best effects). The health benefits are numerous to include:
- Reduce muscle soreness and inflammation
- Ease symptoms of depression
- Balance hormones
- Build resiliency
- Supercharge cells with nature energy
- Boost your immune system
- Speed up recovery after physical exercise
- Improved cardiovascular circulation
- Increased energy and focus
- Aids weight loss efforts
I wanted to improve all of those things. I found a local therapy place that advertised ice baths and took a tour with my husband. Reconnect Mind Body offered way more than just cold water. They have an entire circuit of healing modalities to go through for the hour session you are there.
The session starts with 15-20 minutes of compression therapy on your arms and legs/hips. Compression therapy is unbelievably relaxing. You could walk in totally stressed and by the end of compression therapy, you are relaxed enough to fall asleep blissfully. The benefits are better blood flow, prevention and treatment of varicose veins, less swelling, lower risk of blood clots, and healing leg ulcers to name a few.
After compression, you move on to the polar plunge. Reconnect has tubs that are 46 and 33 degrees. I started with the 46 degree tub because I was terrified of the 33. The therapists there, attend to you at every minute you are in the tub. They help you control your breathing and encourage you to remain calm and relax. I’m not sure I could have stayed in the tubs for as long as I did without them. After a week of going, I decided to conquer a fear and tried the ice bath….and then I fell in love. If you sink down into the tub and submerge your vagus nerve at the base of your skull as quickly as you can after getting in, a sense of calm will come over you faster than you would expect it to and you can remain in there much longer than you would have thought you could.
Once out of the tub, the therapist walks you through some movements to get the blood back flowing to your extremeties and then it is right into one of their infrared saunas. They feel amazing and have numerous health benefits as well to include:
- Better sleep
- Relaxation
- Detoxification
- Weight loss
- Relief from sore muscles
- Relief from joint pain such as arthritis
- Clear and tighter skin
- Improved circulation
- Help for people with chronic fatigue syndrome
The last of the modalities is in one of the private red light therapy rooms where you undress down to your comfort level while letting the red low-level wavelengths of light heal you from the inside out. Red light works by producing a biochemical effect in your cells, in order to strengthen the mitochondria. The mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell — it’s where the cell’s energy is created. The energy-carrying molecule found in the cells of all living things is called ATP (adenosine triphosphate). By increasing the function of the mitochondria using RLT, a cell can make more ATP. With more energy, cells can function more efficiently, rejuvenate themselves, and repair damage. This therapy also comes with a plethora of benefits:
- Promotes wound healing and tissue repair
- Improves hair growth in people with androgenic alopecia
- Help for the short-term treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome
- Stimulates healing of slow-healing wounds, like diabetic foot ulcers
- Reduces psoriasis lesions
- Aids with short-term relief of pain and morning stiffness in people with rheumatoid arthritis
- Reduces some of the side effects of cancer treatments, including oral mucositis
- Improves skin complexion and builds collagen
- Helps to diminish wrinkles
- Helps to mend sun damage
- Prevents recurring cold sores from herpes simplex virus infections
- Improves the health of joints in people with degenerative osteoarthritis of the knee
- Helps diminish scars
- Relieves pain and inflammation in people with pain in the Achilles tendons
When we leave Reconnect, no matter what condition we arrived in, we feel like we have been pampered at a spa for an ENTIRE day, all in one hour! There is something in these therapies. They work. They heal. They relax and destress. I strongly urge anyone and everyone, even those in healthy conditions, to go find a place like Reconnect. Go heal yourself! Best of luck!