Cold Temperature Medicine
Regulating your nervous system is essential to health and well-being. From my observation through the years working with patients in a clinical setting along with self-reflection, I witness how little to none most of us are aware of our nervous system, and what it truly does to the body. Here’s the part where I could go off into a biology/anatomy 101 lesson, but that’s not entirely my scope. In addition according to Google, if you haven’t hopped on the “Why?” train by now, consider this a loving reminder. It is so easy to look up information in 2021. Can also be referred to as the Age of Aquarius. Golden Age. Revelation. Millenial, Gen Z, Gen beyond age. You can refer to it in whatever way resonates for you, however if you looked into the core meaning of these titles it seems to be a theme of self-discernment. Meaning, the information is all out there. The good (aka reputable — but really, whose truly reputable?) “bad”, neutral, nuanced, ecetera. Either way, as the universal Law of Free Will shows, it’s all up to us, you. Group think is shutting down, and I’m here for it.
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So back to the nervous system. Can we agree that the anatomy of the body is all intertwined? Any external or internal object can set off a domino effect of bodily functions. Just like when we eat food, our salivary glands activate to break down the food as it travels from our mouths, esophagus, stomach tract, blood stream, all the way to our elimination organs. Imagine when an object less tangible, more vibrational, such as Thoughts “enter” the body. How those thoughts potentially set off a sequence of internal events when we perceive that thought in safety or in threat mode. This is what our cave-man day nervous system was trained to do. As we’ve evolved, perception of safety and threat have become more nuanced. Complex. Subjective. A multitude of factors, often socioeconomic shape the way our nervous system evolves with us to either protect us or allow us to relax. We can also refer to this as the stress response system. The beautiful thing about today’s human body is that our consciousness has expanded (or connected) enough so that it is capable to discerning between the fight or flight or.. nah? modes. But only if we train it to do so. And that is a different type of muscle to flex. The good news is there are so many popularized (mainstream working in favor for these ‘fads’) tools available to nurture our nervous system such as meditation, deep breathing, body scans, exercise, nature… the list can go on. It seems all these tools are methods and frameworks that help us connect back into our bodies, because a lot of times we can live in our minds and neglect our vessels.
My own attempt to connect more with my vessel, especially my nervous system, has been through cryotherapy. It originally began as a post-workout healing modality. Through research, I found many studies indicating the positive benefits for our mind-body health when committing to cold water therapies. I was accustomed to hearing about athletes utilizing water baths post-workout to recover faster. I’ve noticed spiritual leaders including cold baths/showers in their morning routine and it further sparked my interest to give it a shot. Cryotherapy doesn’t use water, but it simulates an extreme cold setting for a period of time. After experiencing a few sessions now, I can honestly say it does something for you, but only if you allow it. I’ll give it a few months before I discern if it is a modality for me.
So far so good. I was able to sit outside in the pouring, winter rain while writing some of this.
