Wellness Hacks For Cooling Your Way Through a Heatwave

A heatwave is upon us, which means it’s time to embrace cool-down techniques – preferably ones that have the potential to boost your overall well-being.

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As the temperatures rise and life gets more intense, Pitta dosha can flare up in our bodies and minds. When this happens, it becomes more difficult to keep our cool – both physically and mentally. Thankfully, when we learn how to reduce body heat with Ayurveda, we can avoid troublesome heat-related issues, like excessive sweat, dehydration, hot flashes, night sweats, heartburn, migraines, and irritability. During these last weeks of summer, stay cool as a cucumber (one of our favorite cooling foods!) with these wellness tips to reduce body heat and Pitta dosha.

true whole body Cryotherapy™

Cold therapy has the potential to ease anxiety, stimulate focus and energy, reduce inflammation and target aches and pains – and it’s much easier to get into in the summer months, when exposing yourself to icy temperatures comes as a relief.

Our natural Cryotherapy chamber yields some pretty amazing results. Did you know that in Elemental Wellness, our Cryotherapy chamber is linked to the Air element? Air is mobile, cool, light, dry, rough, subtle, flowing, sharp, clear, and hard. Although air is subtle, its effects are observable and so we have a sense of what it is. In the body, air is expressed in the form of motion and life. It is the force allowing blood to circulate, breath to move, nerve impulses to glide, thoughts to flow, and joints to propel our movement through the world. Air is the force behind all motion. It’s no wonder you get an immediate burst of energy when setting the Air element back in balance.

Our chamber is leading the modernization…

of whole body cryotherapy utilizing US manufactured walk-in cold chambers. We offer the Only True Whole Body Cryotherapy system in the Midwest.

Why expose yourself to hazardous liquid nitrogen when there is a safe and well established alternative at The Laya Center? We provide full service treatments with an assortment of recovery modalities to enhance your well-being. Our center delivers supreme services, superior safety, and focus carefully on the customer experience.

We’ve created Cryo Your Way™ – pricing to fit your schedule, wellness needs and budget. If you are a Cryo user, try our whole body walk-in chamber, you will never go back to nitrogen! If you are new to Cryotherapy, start with the safest, most proven systems in the world!

A study by Dr Hausswirth, et al. (France), 2013 has compared electric cooled air, walk-in chamber(s) to liquid nitrogen cooled saunas. Conclusions of the study are that WBC (Whole Body Cooling) is much more significant than PBC (Partial Body Cooling) in the activation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), the system responsible for nerve function and cellular activation. Thermograms below show the measured skin temperature differences from a walk – in chamber (Group A) (-166F) to a cryo sauna (group B) (-256F). Outcomes prove that treatment effect is a direct result of uniform skin temperature reductions. WBC was statistically and significantly better in activation of the ANS and as measured by modulation markers in the blood (epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine). Temperature comparisons of the systems are irrelevant. Skin temperature reductions during treatment exposure (measured in the neck, chest, and quadriceps regions) are the markers of treatment benefit. See the study here.

Conclusions of the head-to-head study comparing Whole Body Cryotherapy (WBC – Electric walk-in chambers at -166°F) to Partial Body Cooling (PBC – Nitrogen saunas a -256°F) were that skin temperature drops in all regions of the body were far more significant in the WBC group. Skin temperature drops are associated with the activation of the Central Nervous System (CNS) and Autonomic Nervous Systems (ANS) causing the release of Anti-inflammatory modulating proteins (norepinepherine) as well as pain modulating endorphines. WBC showed a significantly high (+35%) plasma norepinepherine concentration compared to PBC.

Eat Cooling, Pitta-Reducing Foods

Your diet is one of the best ways to reduce body heat with Ayurveda. Foods with high water content, like watermelon and cucumber, can be both cooling and hydrating. You may want to start incorporating some green juices as well. Make a point of eating around noon, when your digestive fire is strongest. It's important to feed that fire, so you don’t burn up! If you’ve never had a drink at our Tea Bar, you’re missing out. The infamous One Love Rose Latté is a cooling drink, especially when served over ice! It’s a cooling Afrivedic tea blend that’s fruity and topped off with crisp Spearmint leaves.

Along the same lines, you'll want to avoid foods that will heat up your body. Ingredients that can warm your body include carrots, chili, garlic, and citrus fruits. If you normally enjoy hot beverages like tea, allow them to cool to room temperature before you drink them. While ice-cold water may seem like a great way to cool off, you should stay away from this as well… instead drink your water at room temperature. Overly cold beverages can inhibit digestion, which can lead to overheating and discomfort.

List of Cooling Ayurvedic Foods

• Water-Rich Foods (Cucumber, Asparagus, Squash, Zucchini, etc.)

• Juicy Fruits (Mango, Papaya, Grapes, etc.)

• Berries (Strawberries, Raspberries, Cherries, etc.)

• Melon (Watermelon, Muskmelon, Cantaloupe)

• Whole Grains (Rice, Quinoa, Oats, etc.)

• Cooling Herbs (Dill, Cilantro, Corrainder, Rose)

List of Cooling Ayurvedic Drinks

• Coconut Water

• Herbal Teas (Hibiscus and Rose)

• Infused Water (Lime, Cucumber)

• Rosewater Lemonade

• Melon Juice

Reduce fire with Ayurvedic Oil Massage

Abhyanga, or Ayurvedic self-massage is the ideal way to relax and unwind. It’s also a fantastic way to reduce body heat with Ayurveda. There are many oils that have natural anti-Pitta cooling properties and clients love our Mystical AF self massage oil.

Massaging cooling oils into your skin can bring you instant relief on a hot day. It is important to have a regular practice of Ayurvedic self-massage to keep Pitta dosha from building up and reaching the boiling point.

How to Do Ayurveda Self-Massage at Home

A self-care, dosha balancing, relaxing way to start or end your day. Abhyanga, Ayurvedic oil self-massage, is a key herbal treatment tool. Include it in your morning or evening routine using our Mystical AF calming massage oil.

Put 1/4–1/2 cup of your dosha specific Ayurveda oil into a flip top bottle and place in hot water until warm. If your bathroom is nice and warm, and you have hot enough water out of your tap, place the flip top bottle into the sink and let it warm up.

2. While your oil warms up, gather the few other supplies you need for your Ayurvedic massage.

3. The temperature of the Abhyanga oil should feel soothing and pleasing on your skin.

4. Find a warm room and sit or stand on a towel you don’t mind getting soiled. The oil will build up and you'll want to use a towel with which you don't have a strong attachment.

5. Take a few diaphragmatic breaths to center and ground yourself. Be present to the moment. Our two-minute meditation technique is perfect meditation technique for performing your Ayurvedic self-massage.

6. Massage the oil into your skin. You’re gently working the oil into the largest organ of digestion, your skin. The quality of the warm oil is soothing to Vata and the herbalized Abhyanga oil is being directly digested by your skin. How perfect is that?

7. You should not feel like a sardine in a can of oil. Instead use enough oil that you have sufficient glide for your Abhyanga strokes, but not so much that it’s dripping off you.

8. Starting with the feet, massage from feet to head.

9. As you massage, use strokes that mirror each part of your body. Take a look at your body and you will see that we’re made of a series of long bones and round bones.

10. So, three long strokes on the long bones, three circular strokes on the round bones. Let’s use the feet as an example to ensure all is clear. Three long strokes on the metatarsals, three circular strokes on the ankles. Lower leg, three long strokes, knee joints, three circular strokes. You get the idea.

11. Massage your abdomen in clockwise circles, which is the flow of digestion, this Ayurvedic massage motion encourages healthy digestion.

12. Start with your hand near the sternum and work to your left, around down to the navel, up around to the right and repeat slowly three times.

13. If there is an area of your body that needs more attention, provide. Use some additional strokes on the area and let your attention sink into the tissue area.

14. Your hands, scalp, ears, and feet are full of nerve endings, and benefit from extra time and attention a few times a week.

15. Be sure to fully wash off your feet before you bath, so you don’t slip.

16. We recommend breathing diaphragmatically or listening to one of our vibrational playlists after your massage to allow the oil to penetrate deeply into your skin. (If you’re short on time, you can hop right into a warm bath or shower.)

17. Enjoy a warm bath or shower. Only soap the few strategic areas, do not soap the entire body. Make a horseshoe shape with your hand, using your index finger and thumb to create a “U.” Now use this to squeegee off the oil and water from your skin.

18. Pat off with a towel that is designated for Ayurveda self-massage as over time, it will accumulate the Ayurveda oil.

19. Step into rubber soled slippers or the like to ensure your safety as residual oil may remain on your feet. Avoid slipping.

Stay Hydrated with Cooling Ayurvedic Herbs

The Laya Center clients know well how effective our digestive detox products are. So, hydrate with herbalized water – and get those cooling herbs in!

While Ayurveda emphasizes drinking warm and hot beverages, a steaming cup of tea isn’t that appealing when it’s smoldering hot outside. Enjoy your hydrating Saumya digestive tea at room temperature when you’re looking to reduce body heat.

Reduce Intensity in Your Mind and Life

Hot weather isn’t the only thing that heats up Pitta dosha. There’s Pitta season, of course, and Pitta-aggravating foods like alcohol, caffeine, and hot spices. But the most overlooked source of Pitta provocation is intensity!

We live intense lives. Commuting, stressful, demanding jobs, work-life balance challenges, pandemics, and on it goes. There's a lot of intensity just navigating daily life, so where we can, we need to release the pressure and also learn how to keep it from building up.

Picture a pressure cooker with the release valve at the top. If that valve is not letting out the steamy pressure, the pot explodes. All these Pitta forces and factors combine together and can burn us up.