☀️ SOL Edition #3, 2024 ☀️
Why are cold plunges 🧊 healthy? Your bodies response to the stress of immersion in near freezing temps is called vasoconstriction, meaning the contraction of blood vessels. This cold of an environment is dangerous and your body recognizes the threat instantly. It’s critical your body maintains its internal core temperature, and so blood gets sent to your core (this is why limbs are the first parts of your body to experience frost bite). When you get out and warm up afterward, blood flow returns to the rest of the body, delivering nutrients and oxygen to tissues more efficiently. The process enhances recovery, reduces inflammation, boosts metabolism and immune function. But prior to any of these benefits, your body has to go through real icy hardship.
Many things in life are not what they seem. One may believe the key to maximizing vitality involves minimizing stress and bodily harm, however the relationship is inverse.
- To build muscle, you must break it.
- To get great sleep, you must deplete your energy during the day.
- To strengthen the immune system, it must encounter and overcome pathogens.
- To cultivate a lush garden, soil must be enriched with decay.
- To create a diamond, carbon must endure intense pressure.
The prerequisite for perfection is imperfection and to be great at anything you have to be bad at it first.
Vitality: refers to a state of being full of life, energy, and vigor. It encompasses physical vigor, mental acuity, and overall well-being, often characterized by a sense of liveliness.
Biblical wisdom agrees and offers a great summation of this theory: To gain your life, you must lose it. (Matthew 16:25)
Lets apply this to physical exercise by taking running or jumping rope as an example. Through constant training, one’s ability to handle the aerobic stress of going for a run increases. Eventually you can perform that same task at a lower heart rate. Well-conditioned athletes can maintain a lower heart rate while applying the same level of intensity / exertion. If your goal is to lower your resting heart rate, it’s best to spend time training in higher heart rate zones.
Nutrients sustain life, yet fasting (there’s a plethora of articles online discussing its benefits) allows cells to undergo a process called autophagy, where they remove damaged components, contributing to cellular health and vitality.
This applies to cravings as well. You may have noticed, after a hard sports workout, the only thing your body craves is water. Whereas if you’ve been comfortable all day on the couch, you’re much more inclined to go for a different beverage.
Approaching struggle with resilience and a positive mindset becomes a source of vitality.
Where in life are you seeking comfort, and what benefits lie on the other side of seeking discomfort? This is your encouragement to accept difficulties rather than avoiding them. Adversity in life will find you, that’s a given if you haven’t already figured it out. Be grateful for the trials, tribulations, and failures of life turning adversity into a source of strength and energy.
Overcoming obstacles, adapting to challenges, and pushing one’s limits will contribute significantly to a sense of vibrancy and growth in your life. The obstacle is the way.
What is the ☀️SOL Series☀️?
SOL simply stands for a Subject Of Learning. I am pushing myself to process thoughts into more concrete understandings of the world providing material conclusions while simultaneously improving my writing.
The collective profile (an eventual community) will become a Strategic Atlas for individuals to gain perspective on global trends, philosophy, and cognitive science. The aim is nothing other than to become rich in perspective leading to strategic mental growth.
— Atlas
