Hi,

Which catches your attention first: discomfort or comfort? What if the perception of either of these is more subjective than we realize? For example, the Finns transform heat and cold into pleasure by using the sauna. Russians use the banya for the same. Actually, most Northern peoples have some version of the steam bath/cold plunge combination. Today's research is about the sauna, but has implications for the ways we live in general.

Here’s the paper describing how:

1. Therapeutic heat, uncomfortable or even dangerous, can improve quality of life.

2. Therapeutic cold, uncomfortable or even dangerous, can also improve quality of life.

3. Culture and tradition, beginning at a very early age, are key to transmuting these discomforts into pleasures.

Read it here: Effects of heat and cold on health, with special reference to Finnish sauna bathing (2017).

Heat And Cold On Health

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Sauna bathing is a tradition embedded in the culture in Finland, and it is accessible basically to everyone. As a result of this, a typical Finn takes sauna baths at least once a week, the average being about twice a week. A typical duration of sauna bathing can vary between 5 and 20 min (or even 30 min) and is often intermittent, including short periods in colder environment(s).

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I know that in the same way language and tradition can make uncomfortable experiences, like too much heat and too much cold, into pleasant ones also…