Saunas, Spas, swimming pools and hydrotherapy

When it comes to healthy living, water plays a very important part in our lives and not only in terms of our required food and drink intake. Water can have many positive effects on the body and it can also be used to create an environment for activity, exercise and relaxation. If you doubt the importance of water in exercise, therapy or relaxation, just read on.

Saunas and Spas

Saunas and Spas are becoming increasingly popular and there are a number of very valid reason why this is the case.

Firstly, both provide an opportunity for relaxation, winding down and releasing the stresses and tensions of modern day life. Sauna experiences allow a single person, or a group of people, to relax in a hot dry atmosphere that is good for the skin and muscles and which actively promotes sweat and detoxification. Add to this the fact that the experience is relaxing and enjoyable and you have a lot of ticks in the sauna box. The water component comes in if you add water to the hot sauna rocks for a steam shock and of course water is expelled from the body as sweat.

Spas and spa treatments are another increasingly popular way of enjoying water. Not all spa treatment use water, but a lot do and the he best example is the Jacuzzi. Jacuzzis create one of the best relaxation environments around and they can be good communal get-togethers when friends or a family share the experience. Steam showers are yet another water based therapy.

Swimming and swimming pools

When it comes to exercise nearly all experts are agreed that swimming, with its zero impact movements, is the best form that there is. Swimming uses nearly all of the muscles in the body and it does so whilst supporting the body’s weight and providing the massaging motion of the water against the skin and muscles. It is also an activity that can be performed by all ages and at all levels of physical exertion making it open to all.

The requirement for swimming is of course a swimming pool and whilst most people use the facilities of a sports centre or a spa, home pools are becoming more affordable for those who want them (and who have the space to accommodate one). These home or garden pools are also easy to maintain with features like soft feel swimming pool liners that give the walls and base of a pool a smooth and tactile feel. Heaters and pumps have also come down in price and these all add to the affordability and usability of the swimming pool as a health and recreational water environment.

Hydrotherapy

Of all the water related activities and relaxation approaches, hydrotherapy is probably the one that uses water as a direct treatment in the most obvious of ways.

Hydrotherapy treatments can be found at spas, some recreational centres, clinics and even in the home, and they cover a multitude of therapies. What all of these therapies have in common is the use of water to deliver some kind of massage, relaxation, therapeutic or invigorating sensation that benefits the body, the mind, or both.

Some hydrotherapy treatments use jets of water, of jets of water and air. Others use water in a more gentle way where the temperature of the water becomes an important factor. Water can also be used as a medium in which to deliver other minerals or body benefiting chemicals, an example being a mud bath or the use of natural mineral waters.

All in all, water can play a very important role in keeping us healthy in both the body and the mind.