Hydrotherapy At Home:  A long time ago a friend told me about his new “thing” to be super healthy: hot then cold showers every day. This sounded like torment until I went to a Korean spa this weekend and spent time carefully steeping in a hot pool and then dunking into a cold one and, although it was initially akin to torture, soon I felt an exhilaration I have not felt in ages.  So, I present to you this week’s little healthy ritual: hydrotherapy at home.

It’s very simple: get into the shower and turn it up as hot as you can handle it for a few moments, then turn it to as cold as you can take.  Do this six more times.  It gets your circulation flowing and is both invigorating and relaxing.  Always end with a blast of cold.  The cold blast closes your pores and seals the cuticle of your hair to make it more shiny.

A few tips: To make this a truly healthy little ritual, grab yourself a shower filter to eliminate lots of the toxic stuff like chlorine from your shower water.  Also, start slow. Maybe try one blast of cold at the end of your shower, then build up to more cycles of hot and cold.  I did almost faint at the spa when I went at it too fast and furious, but when I settled into the ritual slowly it was totally awesome!   (**and…if you have any health problems or feel uncomfortable in the slightest bit when you start, don’t try this without your doctor’s approval!)

Enjoy! xoxo Dana