Is it weird we’re JUST writing a complete blog article about the benefits of hot tubbing for the first time? Yes. But, we’re going to do it better than ever! If you’ve been with us for a while now, you know hot tubbing is a huge part of our lifestyle here & for good reason. A hot tub benefits your life both mentally & physically – just by soaking daily. Let’s get back to the basics and chat about the benefits of hot tubbing.
To make it easy, we’ll break down this information article in two category’s: Mental Benefits of Hot Tubbing & Physical Benefits of Hot Tubbing.
Mental Benefits of Hot Tubbing
Lower Your Stress Levels
We know, it seems impossible to decrease your stress level these days. After all, we have so much responsibility as an employee, business owner, parent, partner, friend – we often forget about ourselves. Let’s try something: close your eyes & bring yourself to a vacation that you’ve been longing for this year. One that will bring you the peace and relaxation that you’ve been needing. I’d place a pretty confident bet to say that this place had some body of water whether it be a lake, ocean, stream, pond, bath tub, pool, or a HOT TUB! There’s a reason for that, we come from water, we’re made up of mostly water, water brings us back home. Hot tubbing allows you to take that mental break from a crazy day and just relax. Combine that with warmth & a deep tissue massage and you have no choice but to destress. By implementing this practice everyday, you can allow yourself to experience more relaxation and less stress and carry that calm throughout your day.
Improve Anxiety
Immersing yourself in warm water can sometimes instantly relieve a bout of anxiety. Especially when experiencing physical symptoms of anxiety like muscle tension. Like we said before, often times when we get in warm water, we experience a feeling of safety – this is called the “womb effect”. This feeling of safety can help relieve any symptoms of anxiety just by entering warm water. Getting in your hot tub will also eliminate any distractions like your phone, your computer, and the television. This gives you some time to reflect & calm your thoughts.
Improve Sleep
We’ve talked about this many times before, but we can’t say it enough. The impact hot tubbing has on your sleep can be life changing & it’s perhaps one of the best benefits of hot tubbing for families! How many times do you lay down in bed at 10:30 and next thing you know you’re still tossing and turning and the clock reads 12:00? It’s frustrating, especially when you have a big day at work or school or just need that solid 8 hours of rest. Soaking just 90 minutes before bed can help you sleep sooner & deeper. When your body goes from warm water to a cooler room temperature environment, it triggers a sleep response in the brain. This response basically lets your body start it’s sleep preparation. So, when you hit the pillow 90 minutes later, your ready for a good nights rest.
Experience Deep Relaxation
What is deep relaxation? It’s entering a state of mind and body where blood pressure decreases, heart rate decreases, muscle tension eases, and breath rate decreases. Most reach this state of relaxation in meditations which can help you reprogram your nervous system to better handle stress and anxiety. Soaking in a hot tub can help you reach deep relaxation easier when combined with meditation.
Reconnect Relationships
When life gets busy, it can sometimes be hard to make relationships a priority. Whether it’s your partner, children, family, friends or all of the above – juggling life and relationships can be tough. A hot tub isn’t just a place for relaxation, massages, and self care – it’s also a place for the family to come together. It offers a safe space for children and partners to open up about their day and to relax and reconnect. You might be surprised how your bond and relationship change after a few sessions of hot tubbing together.
Increase Mental Clarity
Throughout our day, we’re sometimes faced with challenges, stressors, anxiety invoking situations, and even over stimulation. When all of this builds and builds over days and weeks, our minds can become cluttered. Taking just 15-20 minutes to yourself every morning or evening (or both!) can help give you the distraction free time you need to clear your thoughts and start or end your day with some clarity.
Physical Benefits
Decrease Joint Pain
Again, one of the most well known hot tub benefits & maybe a little redundant. However, it’s one of the major reasons why people seek hot water therapy/immersion. As we get older, we experience aches and pains that we once never even understood (thanks, gravity!). Fortunately, there are ways to relieve this joint pain – hot water immersion! Buoyancy does wonders for your joints, it allows them to get the break they deserve from holding you up all day! When we immerse ourselves in warm water, we relieve pressure on our joints and soothe the dull pain that comes with it.
Increase Blood Flow
Warm water immersion can actually help increase your blood flow by opening your blood vessels. Hot tubbing won’t cure any causes of poor circulation, but it could help relieve symptoms of poor circulation in your body.
Relieve Muscle Tension
Combined hot water with massage and you have the perfect recipe to relieve any muscle tension. While the warm water is loosening up any tense muscles, massage jets will help gently work out any problem areas and “knots”. Experience a deep tissue or gentle massage in the comfort of your backyard, every day.
Boost Metabolism
Hot tubbing wont necessarily help you lose weight or burn calories. However, it will help boost your metabolism because of the increase in your blood flow. The increased circulation & heat helps “wake up” your metabolism and give it a little boost.
Move Better
Joint pain relief, muscle tension relief, increased blood flow & all the other physical benefits of hot tubbing allow you to move your body more easily. The hydrostatic pressure that occurs from warm water immersion also reduces joint inflammation helping you move easier throughout your day. To add to that, massaging your muscles wakes your muscles & organs up, moves lymphatic fluids, and helps blood flow. As we’ve said time and time again, immersing yourself in warm water is like bringing your body back home. As a friend of ours always says “We live dry & recover wet”.
Support Immune System
One of the less known hot tub benefits is the fact that hot tubbing can help support your immune system. Stress wreaks havoc on our immune system because of raised cortisol levels in your body. As we touched on earlier in this article, hot tubbing relieves stress and anxiety for several reasons. To add to that, hot tubbing also increases your white blood cell count because of increased body temperature & blood flow.
