The Breath Collective
“In a society that says, “Put yourself last,” self-love and self-acceptance are almost revolutionary."
- Brene Brown
SAUNA / HOT THERAPY
We offer a relaxing, dual-system sauna with your choice of either FIR (far infrared heat) or Traditional Finnish Sauna (hot rock). Some of our favourite benefits include:
WEIGHT LOSS & INCREASED METABOLISM: Regular use of a sauna imparts a similar boost on the cardiovascular system as running. As you lean into the heat, your body is hard at work producing sweat, pumping blood and burning calories. As your body increases sweat production to cool itself, your heart works harder to pump blood at a greater rate to boost circulation. This hormedic stress will boost your metabolism and release "heat-shock proteins", which are linked to higher cognitive output, reduced stress and anti-ageing benefits by increasing your cellular turnover.
MUSCLE PAIN RELIEF: Increased blood circulation carries away metabolic waste products and delivers oxygen-rich blood to your muscles, which speeds up recovery. Muscles relax best when tissues are warm, vasodilation provides you with greater flexibility and range of motion. Sauna relieves muscle tension and helps peripheral blood vessels to dilate, bringing relief and healing to muscle and soft tissue injuries. Sauna also reduces soreness on nerve endings and muscle spasms as muscle joints and fibers are heated and soften.
IMMUNE SYSTEM BOOST: 20 minutes in the sauna will raise your core temperature, inducing an artificial fever and calling upon adaptive systems to fire up. Running a fever is the body’s natural mechanism to strengthen and accelerate the immune response. This enhanced immune system, combined with improved elimination of toxins and wastes via intense sweating, increases your overall health and resistance to disease.
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DETOXIFICATION: One of the biggest sauna health benefits is its ability to increase your blood circulation and stimulate the sweat glands, releasing built-up toxins in the body. Regular sauna sweating can help detoxify your body as it rids itself of accumulated highly toxic metals (lead, mercury, nickel, and cadmium) as well as alcohol, nicotine, sulfuric acid, and other organic and inorganic compounds.
EASE JOINT PAIN AND STIFFNESS: Time spent in a sauna benefits patients suffering from many forms of arthritis. Radiant heat has also been effective in the treatment of sprains, neuralgia, bursitis, muscle spasms, joint stiffness and many other muscular-skeletal ailments. Much of the stiffness, aches and soreness that comes with aging is reduced or eliminated.
STRESS AND FATIGUE REDUCTION: Just a few minutes in the gentle warmth of a sauna will help you feel relaxed, rejuvenated and renewed. Many customers comment on how much they look forward to their sauna session, as it’s a great time to get away and release any built-up tension and stress. Saunas have also been shown to affect the autonomic nervous system putting you in the parasympathetic (rest and digest) state allowing your body to heal.
IMPROVES SKIN: The profuse sweating achieved after just a few minutes in the sauna carries off deeply embedded impurities and dead skin cells, leaving the skin glowing and immaculately clean. Increased circulation draws your skin’s own natural nutrients to the surface.
You’ll see improved tone, elasticity, texture and fresh color. Increased blood circulation has also been shown to relieve acne, eczema, psoriasis, burns, lesions and cuts and reduce the appearance of cellulite. In addition, open wounds heal more quickly, reducing scarring
ICE BATH / COLD THERAPY
Ice baths are becoming very popular and the reason why is very simple… because it makes you feel amazing!
Exposing your body to cold water reignites a range of regenerative processes in the body! Here's why we rave about ice baths:
SOOTHES SORE MUSCLES: After an intense training session it’s important to give your body an opportunity to recuperate. Ice bath therapy is a way to speed up the process by mitigating inflammation and delayed-onset muscle pain.
Cold water submersion helps repair damage associated with high intensity training. When you immerse yourself in ice cold water, your blood vessels constrict; when you get out, they dilate. This process helps flush away metabolic waste post-workout, especially in the lymph nodes. Increasing your blood flow floods your cells with nutrients and oxygen to help your body recover faster. The local temperature of your body is also decreased, which helps limit inflammatory response and therefore recover faster. When we learn to embrace the power of ice cold water we can extend the realms of recovery beyond what we thought possible.
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BOOSTS YOUR METABOLISM: It’s a no-brainer that a healthy diet combined with regular exercise helps yield results for your physique. But by also exposing your body to colder temperatures, you can alter the behaviour of your fat cells. The body contains two types of fat—unhealthy white fat and beneficial brown fat. Unlike the tissue in white fat cells, the tissue in brown fat cells converts energy into heat. This process called thermogenesis has been shown to help with metabolic function and the prevention of weight gain. Cold water immersions have been shown to trigger this process and therefore help to boost your immune system and maintain weight.
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SUPPORTS YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM: There is also ways to jolt your flu-fighting system to life without the need for vitamins and supplements. Ice bath submersion and alternative breathing techniques offer a demonstrated ability to trigger an adaptation response to the immune system. It’s what’s called ‘controlled hypoxia’—and it works by activating the stress hormone adrenaline. With an exposure to physiological stressors, ice bath therapy challenges the body to function beyond its comfort zone, hence its direct effect on immune function.​
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BUILDS STRESS TOLERANCE: Cold water immersion can trigger a floodgate of mood-enhancing chemicals in the brain by awaking a natural ‘fight-or-flight’ response. This response to ‘environmental stress’ works by conditioning the brain to cope better with the stressors of everyday life. It also decreases the production of inflammatory cytokines which are linked to anxiety and depression. After the initial temperature shock, our bodies are able to calm down and become more resilient to changes in our environment.
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IMPROVES SLEEP: The regulation of cortisol levels caused through cold water immersion is shown to improve symptoms of depression and reduce the instance of sleep-related disorders. Ice baths can also help your central nervous system by aiding in sleep, and consequently, making you feel better from having less fatigue. It’s not uncommon to hear “I slept like a baby that night” after cold water immersion. Ice baths have a positive effect on the central nervous system, which helps you sleep and feel better.
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DOPAMINE JACKPOT: The science is in and it shows us that after 11 minutes a week, cold water therapy will drastically increase your dopamine levels by up to 250%! First we suffer, then we benefit. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter which plays many important roles in our body. Raised Dopamine is associated with greater productivity, more pleasure and motivation.
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