Contrast Showers- Healing with Hydrotherapy
How to maximise your health with your morning routine
The water given by the Creator to mankind and the herbs selected from the plant kingdom make up the essence of healing diseases and making the body healthy.
Father Sebastian Kneipp
All over the world, water is used for healing. It could be rejuvenating in the springs in Japan, bathing in the mineral rich Dead Sea or finding peace from the holy water used in sacraments.
Water therapy ‘hydrotherapy’ was the foundation of the Northern European naturopathic tradition with its roots in Germany and Austria with Vincenz Priessnitz and Father Sebastian Kneipp pioneering treatments in the mid 1700s to late 1800s.
This tradition of hydrotherapy simply involves using hot and cold water to stimulate the body to restore balance.
What I love about using hot and cold water is that you do not need to find a healing spring to get the benefits 😅!
The thermal conductivity of water is over 20 times greater than air which means it is quicker at bringing heat in the body and taking heat out of the body.
Again this is great, as using water will be better than going to a fancy spa that has different temperature controlled rooms 🧖♀️ you can get healing in your home.
So with water there are many simple and free (if you do not count your water bill) techniques that you can do at-home.
However, as you can imagine hot and cold means getting a little adventurous with the cold water tap 🚰 (I know this is a lot of people’s nightmare!).
Many Europeans are happy with this. The use of alternating hot and cold water in fact used to recommended from childhood to support with temperature regulation and therefore, strengthen the body to deal with the snowy extremes in the colder countries.
But it doesn’t have to be Wim Hof levels cold!
Father Sebastian Kneipp, one of the founders of hydrotherapy, cured himself in 1849 of his tuberculosis by jumping in the frozen Danube at winter whilst he was studying to become a priest.
This led to him treating hundreds of patients each day using his Water Cure methods.
BUT he went from the Wim Hof style of ice bath extremes to promoting the mildest methods possible that would still achieve the same results. He developed gentle ways to stimulate the body into healing and we now have a wide range of using hydrotherapy to suit every constitution- for the weak and the strong!
How Can Hot & Cold Water Heal?
The secret is that it stimulates the vital force known as the vis medicatrix naturae. This is an ancient medical principle that acknowledges that the body has its own internal healing response designed to restore health.
Water works on many levels from adding hydrostatic pressure to the lymphatic system, to the chemical effects of adding herbs or oils to water but the main benefit is retraining the body to become more parasympathetic dominant.
That is bringing our body back into the place that allows for healing to take place- the ‘rest and digest’ state. If you want to learn more about this then Valerija Lifanova shared a great webinar on this.
So read on as I’m going to be sharing how we can bring hydrotherapy into our everyday life using the power of contrast showers!
Contrast Showers
Many of us will have a shower in the morning ✅, and some of us have heard of the benefits of a cold shower in the morning ✅ and even fewer of us may enjoy the benefits of a cold shower in the morning ✅!
If you can agree with any or all of the above, then this could be a great addition to your morning routine.
Contrast showers are a slightly different and (well I think) easier approach to having a cold shower in the morning as you start with hot and this should last 5 x the amount of cold time you get.
So the shower starts hot and then finishes on cold and this is very important to remember. The benefits of hydrotherapy are usually found when we finish on a cold temperature and I will explain why now!
Benefits of Contrast Showers
Hydrotherapy engages the vital force by disturbing our normal temperature. The body now then needs to respond to bring it back into balance and bringing with it a whole host of benefits.
It tones the blood vessels so we have better circulation and cardiovascular health. It normalises the body temperature and promotes the body to start regulating the temperature again (if you get cold hands and feet or hot and flushed this is for you!).
It retrains body from sympathetic (the fight, flight or freeze state of the nervous system) into parasympathetic which means the body can function and heal. It allows the body to detox, digest and support immunity.
A study on men who had increased body temperature and then were exposed to the cold showed a remarkable increase in immune cells such as increase in leukocytes, NK cells, granulocytes and IL-6, all of which are big players in the immune system.1
The hot and the cold are both important as they have different effects on the body:
Warming the body causes a relaxation in the blood vessels, a decrease in heart rate, decrease in digestive function and promotes calm and relaxation
But the secondary effects of warming (after the treatment) are that the heart rate will increase ⬆️, the metabolic rate increases ⬆️ and respiration increases ⬆️ (this is why you can feel faint and short of breath if you are in the bath for too long)
This is not a good state for the body to be in.
Cooling the body causes constriction in blood vessels, increased heart rate and blood pressure, decreased respiratory rate, deeper breathing, increased digestive function and local decrease in inflammation
However, the secondary effects of cooling (after the treatment) are that the heart rate and blood pressure decrease ⬇️ and the blood vessels relax.
Wonderful!
This is why we want to get the benefits of warm but finish on cold.
Our body will send blood to our periphery when we are hot to try and cool it down. This takes blood away from our digestive system. If we finish on warm then we can weaken our digestion. Whereas finishing on cold brings the benefits of:
Blood flow goes into our trunk to protect organs and stimulate digestion
Cold water brings blood to our internal organs
We end on a parasympathetic dominant state of relaxation
Our heart rate, blood pressure decreases
Blood vessels are all relaxed….chilled!
So after a contrast shower of hot and cold we end up in this parasympathetic dominant healing state and our digestive system is equipped to eat breakfast.
It looks like we do need to chill after all!
How to Do A Contrast Shower
Start with a warm temperature for around 5 minutes and ensure the water runs down from the base of your neck down both your torso and your back (front and back!)
Switch over quickly (not gradually!) to cold water for around 1 minute also making sure the cold water goes down your torso and back. (The ratio of hot:cold water is 5:1.) Breathe deeply for 5 breaths on front and 5 breaths on the back.
Although it might be tempting to go back to hot again, end on cold!
Dry off and dress immediately to ensure not getting chilled. If it’s chilly get into warm clothes or even under a blanket.
If you are able to, allow 30 minutes of relaxing time after the shower. (Ideally go back to bed but for most people that don’t have that option try and start the day slowly)
After sending the blood back into your digestive system, its now time for a hearty breakfast!
Notes: You only need one round of hot to cold water, more can be too much on the body. However, if you switch the hot tap on again then do another round so you finish on cold. The aftercare of relaxing afterwards will be part of retraining the nervous system back into parasympathetic dominance.
Constitutional Considerations
Hydrotherapy is a constitutional remedy designed to bring strength and resilience to the body. However, if you are in a weakened constitutional state, then adjustments should be made to the form of hydrotherapy. For example; the larger the body area covered the greater intensity. Also the further the temperature moves away from our body temperature then the greater the intensity.
Contrast showers is a whole-body treatment so if the body is weak then don’t start here- work with a practitioner that can tailor a treatment to you.
If you are feeling alright but a bit depleted then don’t go to extremes of temperatures- more does not mean more! Go warm to cool perhaps instead.
Other contraindications: diabetes or other conditions that impair either neurological or cardiovascular function, concurrent cancer treatment, pregnancy or menstruation and high blood pressure.
Summary:
Hydrotherapy is extremely powerful and in a time where are nervous systems are fried we probably need it more than ever!
Try a contrast shower everyday for a week and make a note of any changes in mind or body (let me know your reports!)
Embrace the cold 🥶 (but not too much and warm up again afterwards)!
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10444630/