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Hello, guys!
Now that the summer is here in my country, I'm thinking more and more about relaxation and having a nice break. That being said, I want to talk about recreation and well-being, and some of the treatments I tried myself.
Recreation is mostly performed in specially designated places, called SPA in Bulgaria, and in the recent years, those SPA centers became more popular than ever. I think it's very important for us to find the time and the way to relax in our dynamic lifestyle. What is a SPA center?
A commercial establishment providing facilities devoted especially to health, fitness, weight loss, beauty, and relaxation.
SPA centers are available in most hotels since it's understandable to spend a relaxing time if you're traveling. They can also be part of big fitness gyms or beauty salons. I tried many of those because it's a nice way to spend my time and recover from the accumulated tension.
I will mention a few of the options that one has when visiting such facilities:
Sauna
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Sauna is widely known and available in many countries. This is a special room, with burning fire or any heat-producing device, which keeps the temperature high. Some of the saunas use wood for the fire, others - electricity or gas heating. Most of them have stones, which are heated and that heat spreads in the air. The exact temperature depends on the facility, but an example is 88 - 90ºC. Humidity in the room is usually very low - around 15%, which makes the air dry and difficult to breathe.
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The recommended period to stay in a sauna is 15 minutes; some places even have hourglasses inside, because a regular watch can't function properly at that temperature. Well, 15 minutes can sound like a short amount of time, but once inside, feeling the heat and the overall atmosphere, it can seem like forever. When it gets too hot, there is an option to pour a bucket of cold water on the hot stones, which makes the room just cooler enough to proceed with the treatment.
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But, that's enough for the experience, let's look at the health benefits of those procedures.
Health benefits of sauna:
- The heat detoxicates your body from harmful substances.
- Sauna is known for improving your strength and energy to fight with diseases. Especially if it's combined with a cold shower after using it.
- The difference in the temperatures in the sauna and outside of the facility provides relaxation and has a calming effect.
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A variety of sauna treatments can be performed. One of them is called Salt sauna. The walls of the sauna room are covered with salt, multiple blocks of salt crystals, in fact. And when the room gets hotter, parts of that salt evaporates in the air and is absorbed when breathing.
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Steam room
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The steam room is another type of thermal treatment. If I have to choose between a sauna and a steam bath, I would definitely pick the last one. It is again a designated space or a big room, with hot tubes filling the air with steam (which is basically evaporated water). It could have some scents or slight smell of perfume added in the air. There is also a shower inside, and its cold water can be used to reduce the temperature in the room or cool down. Besides all that, there is a heating system in the floor or integrated into the walls, to maintain the warmth. Since it's a steam bath, logically the humidity of the air is high - around 90%, but the temperature is lower - 45 - 46ºC. So, those tubes are not working all the time, because this would increase the temperature too much, but rather they function at specified intervals.
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Health benefits of steam bath:
- Just like the sauna it has a calming effect, makes your muscles relax and provides tension relief.
- It is good for the skin - the steam purifies the pores of the skin and it can be also combined with a facial procedure.
- Steam baths can provide an improvement for joint pains, muscle pains, and all related conditions.
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Both sauna and steam rooms are claimed to be helpful for losing weight, although I completely disagree with this statement. It's true that a lot of water is squeezed off the body during the treatments, i.e. the organism dehydrates, which leads to a temporary weight difference. However, soon after the end of the treatment, this weight is gained, since you need that water back in order to recover.
Thermal lounge chairs
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I would most likely call them beach lounges, except there is no beach and no sun since they are located indoors. But the shape of those chairs is very similar to the beach lounges. They look really fancy, solid and have a heating system, which keeps the temperature at 39 - 45ºC - a little bit higher than body temperature. So, they are very pleasant to use, providing a warm relaxing place to recover from other treatments. When I first tried a thermal chair, I was almost sure it would be uncomfortable because it is hard. Now it's one of my favorite places to relax, even if it looks strange, it is actually nice and warm.
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All those thermal treatments are combined with appropriate music, and a stylish interior, so they really help for a complete recreation. When I enter such places, I always get that feeling of going through time. And that's because of the ornaments and the interior design, which reminds me of an ancient bath.
Most of the treatments are very popular in winter because of the cold weather. Some of the SPA centers allow customers to adjust the devices to their desired temperature, while others have fixed values. Of course, there are other types of treatments and facilities included in SPA centers, but for the purposes of this blog, I'm not describing them in detail. You can find different types of massages, swimming pools, jacuzzi, fitness facilities. There are even centers which offer organized training for weight loss or body tone such as Zumba, Body Pump, Kangoo Jumps, etc.
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In any rate, those treatments are great for both the mind and the body, providing a full range of relaxation methods.
Thanks for your time!
- NinaB
