The Wonders of Hot Tubs

As you may know, there's nothing better than sitting in a hot tub, after a hard day's work or a long day of driving the kids from one place to the next, grabbing dinner on the run and ending it near complete exhaustion.  No, there is nothing that can get you physically and mentally relaxed like a long soak in a hot tub, that's for sure.  So what is it about sitting a hot tub that helps take all of the worries of the day and makes them disappear?

Seriously, it sounds almost magical, doesn't it?  Is it the steam from the hot water that grabs hold of the tension in your body and then floats it all away that does it?  Is it like the feeling you get when you walk into Disney World, for the first time (or for the first time on one visit) and your eyes get HUGE when you look down Main Street to Cinderella's Castle and you realize that you're standing in the most magical place on the planet?  It doesn't matter if you are 5 years old, 60 or 102; that feeling is there and it is a wonder to comprehend.  

The thing is, there aren't any magical answers, there are just tried and true, scientifically proven reasons as to why, when you step into a hot tub at the end of a long day, that you are able to release all of the days worries and tensions.

All day long we walk around and our bodies are pounded, with each step we take, by gravity.  We wouldn't notice it unless we were concentrating specifically on the force of gravity and how it affects every step we take; but it's there, and it is constantly putting a huge amount of pressure on your entire physical self, every single day.  So, what does that have to do with the wonders of a hot tub?  When you sit in a hot tub, your body becomes buoyant and you are relieved of up to 30% of the natural gravitational pull that stresses your physical self all day long.  As if that weren't enough, because we could all spend a couple of minutes in a swimming pool for that effect, but there's more to a hot tub's wonder.

As you submerge your tired old self into the hot water, your body naturally begins to warm and warmth brings about relaxation.  It all happens because your blood flow is in high gear, while your veins and capillaries are also in a relaxed, not tense, state of being.  So, it all works like this; blood does the flowing, your heart works better, and you are not being driven to the ground by 100% force.  Is that all there is to it?  Well, basically yeah, that's the tip of the ice berg and the basic understanding of why, after a day spent totally on the hamsters wheel, all it takes is a soak in a hot tub to completely rejuvenate the body and mind.  Amazing, isn't it?