What you’ll get out of tuning in:

• How did massage come into Mercedez life
• How did Yoga Health Coaching get into Mercedez life
• How to get through the fear and the laziness

Links Mentioned in Episode:

• Get in touch with Mercedez

Show Highlights:

• Mercedez explains how a community makes a difference
• Mercedez shares how the habits changed her
• Mercedez explains how important it is to get out of your way

Timestamps:

• 02:00 The beginning of Mercedez journey
• 08:40 A journey through coaching
• 26:25 Continuing to grow
• 36:53 Getting out of your own way

Guest BIO:

Mercedez Calleros has been a licensed massage therapist for 26 years. She has rounded out her work as a manual therapist to also include certifications as an Integrative Life Coach and a Yoga Health Coach. She comes to her work via an intuitive sense of knowing what others need to feel better and a passion to help them get there. As a child she watched as her maternal grandmother would treat people who were sent to her for healing of physical or emotional maladies. Mercedez was fascinated with the work and knew from a young age that she wanted to and could help others. She currently offers massage, talks, workshops and retreats on Cape Cod Massachusetts.

They all looked very relaxed and cheery. Even in those old sepia pictures, I could see that their eyes were clear and glowing. Although most of them were probably octogenarian, they all exuded vitality which is not commonly seen at that age.

I was entranced, quite curious, and admittedly – I thought they were all a bit crazy! Who in the world would wittingly subject themselves to the freezing water, however good it might have been!

I knew I would not be silly like that any time soon, for sure

The very idea of feeling cold is very off-putting to most of us. The thought of standing naked in the frigid weather, surrounded by solid snow, and then of plunging into the freezing cold pool is enough to make the hairs raise up your back.

But they were doing it. Daily. Happily. Me? I was sure that I’d have an instant heart attack if I even tried one second in a cold plunge or a shower.

Wind the clock a few decades later, and here I am, taking cold showers daily!

And here’s why.

Benefits of Cold Water Showers/Plunges

I began finding out more about the effects of cold plunges many years later when I was learning Naturopathy.

Traditionally, cold showers or cold plunges are done after the body’s core temperature has been raised first – either by steam baths, sauna, hot baths or strenuous physical activity, such as an intense running session which draws up sweat.

Research shows that being cold, and especially getting immersed into a cold water, has a highly beneficial impact on our body.

Cold showers/baths benefits:

• Improve the Immune System
• Stimulate Production of Brown Fat
• Support Weight Loss
• Reverse Type 2 Diabetes
• Prevent Aging
• Improve the Circulatory System
• Reduce inflammation
• Provide Pain Relief
• Improve m\Mood and Fight Depression
• Help with Symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Let me break it down in a bit more detail for you.

Cold water bathing stimulates our immune system, causing a form of evolutionary stress which makes it work harder and more efficiently to protect us not only from the effects of cooling in cold weather but also from infection by bacteria and viruses like flu, passed on by other people. The immune system becomes more robust, effective and much quicker to respond to such attacks, and more effective overall when dealing with any other illnesses.

It affects the production of brown fat. We have three kinds of body fat – the white fat, beige fat, and brown fat. The two main fat types that interest us here are the white and the brown fat. (See image comparison here.)

The white fat is associated with obesity and a number of chronic conditions –  type 2 diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, heart disease, stroke, cancer, infertility, and so forth. It is notoriously difficult to lose, particularly when we lack the brown fat in the body.

The white fat cell is quite big, and it comprises of a nucleus (its genetic material), one predominant solid oily mass and very few mitochondria.**

The brown fat cell is usually smaller than the white and contains a large number of mitochondrial cells in addition to a nucleus, and a number of small oily droplets. The brown fat helps our body to break down the white fat, due to the presence of a large number of mitochondria in it. Effectively we are replacing the white fat with a thin layer of protective brown fat which uses the stores of white fat for its production and metabolic processes.

So if you are trying to lose weight, you will help your body utilise unwanted white fat for energy through exercise by including the cold bathing into your routine.

The brown fat can even reverse type 2 diabetes, through its utilisation of body’s triglycerides and sugars stored in white fat cells.

The brown fat produces a number of natural antioxidants, thus preventing ageing and other degenerative processes.

Cold showers or plunges improve our circulatory system too. This is particularly useful for those people who are constantly suffering from feeling cold, having cold extremities, and those who are not exercising regularly. This improvement also helps decrease any inflammatory process and reduces the pain in the body.

Cold showers are very stimulating, and they are beneficial for those with depression due to the endorphins released during cold water showers naturally improving their mood. They are even helpful to those diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome as they regulate hormones leading to more energy, lessening of pain, and increased mobility.

That is some list there! The practice of cold bathing has a huge positive effect on our system.

So where do you start?

The best place to start is to begin courting and contemplating the idea of the cold shower first. Try to imagine what it would feel like.

To me, it is an exhilarating experience! It feels fresh and invigorating as the cold water hits the skin. It starts to produce a shiver all over my body. Then it draws the warmth from deep in the body to the surface and makes me feel really warm. It clears the mind completely, makes me feel focused and relaxed. I feel the increased elasticity in all my muscles and tissues as the blood circulates freely. I feel no pain associated with the current injury to the tendon in my wrist, and there is no swelling. My eyesight improves, and the light and colours appear more vibrant. My hearing is acute.

Does it sound good to you? Could you imagine what it would feel like on your skin if you had one? Try thinking of it when you are in your bath/shower perhaps… try to entice your body to move into it… and remember – when you come out of your hot shower, it always feels cold, even if it’s warm in the house….After a cold shower, you come out feeling nice and warm! Ideal for the winter months, great for summer months too when you wish to manage the heat better. Gently build up your own excitement and expectation.

When you’ve been courting this idea for a while, one day after your hot shower, or a hot bath even (I like my hot baths), switch on that cold shower and just go for it – perhaps only for a second or two, and then see what happens!

And then do it again, the next day, and the next, increasing the length that you stay immersed each day.

I really love the cold showers now. My first one was accompanied by a piercing shriek and lasted about ¾ of a second at most. But now I can not imagine having a day without it.

Once I forgot to do a cold shower after my bath, I was too busy planning the day ahead and not fully present, and it was halfway through toweling my body that I realised it, so I jumped back in and had my cold shower – to me it’s like a desert after a fine meal, just so yummy! My mind became focused too.

A few tips for cold showers/plunges:

• Don’t shower your head – you can shower the face, but don’t immerse your whole head.
• Don’t shower at all if you feel that you’ve ‘picked up’ a virus, or getting a cold sore, and your body is trying to ‘shake it off’. I found that on one day where I felt I was ‘coming down’ with a virus, I felt the urge to avoid the cold shower, so I didn’t plunge in, and the next day I resumed with my practice as I felt back to my full health, no virus lurking inside me.
• Avoid cold showers during your menstrual period and pregnancy – you can do a lukewarm shower instead
• Do it on empty stomach, before your breakfast is the best time
  

And what about Vata types, surely they get aggravated?

Vata is responsible for all movement in the body: the flow or breath, the expression of speech, the circulation of the blood, the elimination of waste, and the regulation of the immune and nervous system. It moves the diaphragm, muscles, and limbs, and also stimulates the intellect.

When Vata is out of balance, you can feel more anxious, flighty, or forgetful than usual, you may lose weight, experience pains or spasms, numbness, dry skin, dehydration, excessive bloating, erratic digestion or insomnia.

The cold showers will not further imbalance your Vata, they will ground it instead. Their stimulating effect is not stimulating in the same way as the stimulating foods are. It is balancing, it restores the natural function and balance in our system, and it will help you anchor your Vata, and harness it for a calm mind and inspirational creativity, comfortable movement, deepened breath, a consistent appetite, normal bowel function, positive enthusiasm, healthy desire, and good energy all round.

For Vata types, I would recommend that you have a hot bath instead of a shower before your cold shower, and to increase the duration of immersion very slowly over a time.

Give it a try!

Enjoy the process of discovery of beneficial changes in your own being. Let me know what you find out.

**Mitochondria are essential for the maintenance of normal physiological function of our cells, and mitochondrial dysfunction, as well as lack of mitochondria,  is implicated as one of the reasons for pathological changes, e.g. contributing to the development of disease states in the human body.

If you are in any way a progressive thinker, you’ve tried your utmost to make an improvement to ‘those days’. You are familiar with practices of mindfulness. You’ve tried recommended natural products.  You’ve talked to lots of people – heck you talked to the professionals too! You might have even taken big-boy pharmaceuticals promised to make a huge difference to your mental well-being.

Little has changed over the years. Most likely ‘those days’ are still a common feature of your life and you just cope, not allowing yourself to consider the possibility of genuinely enjoying this day.  The day seeps into your week, month, year, and the heart silently weeps, in spite of the smile on your face.

You wonder if this can EVER really change… if this mind of yours can ever become a true buddy on this journey of life, and not continue to trip you up, often when you least expect it.

Ayurveda and Mental Health

Western medicine considers mental health as separate from our overall physical health. Yogic and Ayurvedic traditions see the two as inseparable.

For the last 4000 years, through self-inquiry and practice, yogis (yoga masters) and vaidyas (the ayurvedic healers), came to realize one simple but powerful fact: there can be no peace and clarity of mind, or stability of our moods, in a body experiencing disharmony, discomfort, pain or stress.

More recently even Greeks come to the same realization – their now famous motto was:

“A healthy mind in a healthy body.”

Ancients knew that incorporating self-nurturing habits of yoga and Ayurveda into our daily routine would help heal the sick, and make those that are healthy stronger and at ease, more resilient, full of energy, and vitality.

In yoga we talk of ‘bliss’ often. It is a bliss of the mind, for sure! But it is a result of deeper levels of innate comfort emanating from the depths of our physical being. The yogis and vaidyas realized that there can be no true happiness & contentment if the body is suffering. The way we feel in our body will determine our mood.

The Power of an Ache

For instance, remember the time when you had a headache or a toothache. If one suffers in acute pain, you quickly realize how much your mood, and emotional mental well-being are affected.

We feel cranky, irritable, and uncomfortable – and not just in that affected body part.

Our whole being will be ‘squirming’ with discomfort, suffering greatly. And so will our mind. We’ll have difficulty concentrating or focusing our mind on little else but our pain. We’ll feel tired,  exhausted in fact. We will want to avoid all unnecessary contact with others, or we may feel particularly needy and unsupported.

Isn’t it strange how a ‘small thing’ like a headache or toothache can affect our well-being on such a deep level?

Although, it’s quite simple and logical, when you look deeper within our body.

Everything in our body is connected via the huge web of neural pathways. Whenever one nerve fires, this whole web lights up, firing the signals of discomfort through the whole body-mind system.

Funnily enough, those instances of sudden or short-lasting pain, such as toothache or headache, are much more remarkable and memorable much more felt than the seemingly small niggling pains, aches, and discomfort. We become tolerant to low level chronic inflammatory processes, digestive imbalances, immune & hormonal disorders, circulatory issues that go on over a long period of time which seem to become a part of our backdrop.

Surviving by Dampening the Pain

Why? Well, the body-mind system just learns to settle into, and to dampen down signals of distress that are coming from affected parts and systems. The body-mind system always looks for homeostasis,that innate balance, and this is geared by our own survival mechanism.

If we learn to ignore our discomfort on the conscious level, we may be able to function – and in this case, simply plod on, for a little bit longer, hopefully.

But the pains and discomfort are still there, even when we’ve learned to dampen their signals from our immediate consciousness.

And we begin to feel low in our moods, we begin to accept this low as ‘normal’. As we continue to spiral down, we forget how it actually feels to feel great!

Or maybe we step up, and decide we will try to redress these ever-present low moods, so we try the talking therapy, or mindfulness, or pills, or supplements.

But it doesn’t work. After all these years, it still leaves us feeling down, defeated again.

Until we begin to re-balance our body and attune to our circadian rhythms all else will be an uphill struggle. Allow your body to heal the layers of discomfort – in your joints, gut, lungs, belly, skin, and all of your more subtle systems by simply adjusting the rhythm of your day.

The mind will be low, our moods betraying us: feeling stressed, grumpy, moody, tired – as our thoughts endlessly ‘catch’ onto the signals of discomfort emanating from the central channel of our nervous system. Continually creating stories & patterns that will keep us mentally spiraling down in spite of our best efforts.

That feeling of Bliss that yogis always speak of is not a concept of the mind. Bliss is the physical sensation of the calm and quiet nervous web, which then spills into the well-being of our mind. We feel refreshed, relaxed, at ease. Our mind becomes joyful & light. Our thoughts are filled with generosity, patience, tolerance, gentleness & peace. And our heart is steady, brave and determined, opened with the wonder that the world holds for us all.

How to HEAL YOUR MIND with the 10 Habits of Yogis

These seemingly simple practices will revolutionize the way you feel within and without! Rooted in ancient Ayurvedic wisdom, they have the power to transform your life in ways that you can’t possibly even dream of now!

Imagine sleeping well & waking up early each day, with a smile on your face, even before your alarm goes off. Having plenty of time for self-nourishment, exercise, enjoyment of nourishing foods. Plenty of time for reflection and play with your loved ones. Feeling energized, happy and joyful, no niggling aches or pains, at your optimum body weight.

As we automate our daily practice of 10 Habits, we allow our body, and particularly our nervous and hormonal systems to re-boot and heal, and by default our mood and our mind-set will change drastically.

Start Here

Begin on this journey by taking little steps each day – start by simply going to bed a bit earlier.

Trust me – this was a BIGGIE for me – I always identified with being a Night Owl type – for many many years, going to bed at 2 am was considered an early night here! Now I am regularly fast asleep by 10 pm – catching that first and most important part of the night when our bodies detox and rebuild.

During the hours of 10 pm until 2 am we use the power of our internal Agni/Digestive Power to do do some serious housekeeping. When we wake up in the morning, our mind feels fresh and clear.

A TIP for better Sleep and more effective overnight detox: commit to eating a bit less and a bit earlier each evening.

On The Road to Bliss

You will soon notice that your mind feels rather chirpy and optimistic each morning. There is this lovely feeling bubbling up from the depths of your heart, making you feel very positive about the day ahead, and even the week ahead of you, without any particular cause… Just a sense of joy starting to surface and integrate itself into your daily perception.

As you deepen and automate your practices of the 10 Habits, you will soon be coasting in Bliss, your mind at ease, joyful & light, and feeling refreshed, relaxed, and brimming with deep vitality and zest for life.