Did you know the Earth has gone through many stages of global warming and coolings? We all remember seeing the Movie “Ice age”.
Many of these cycles are part of nature and the way the Earth revolves around the sun. Others were the cause of asteroids hitting our planet or giant volcanoes changing the face of the Earth forever.
Humans appear to be the cause of the next global warming cycle. We did this by increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is what is called a greenhouse gas and traps heat.
We aren’t alone in this environment changing behaviour. One of the “Ice Ages” was caused by another living thing – Plants.
Plants appeared on the scene, proliferated like crazy, sucking up all the carbon dioxide in the air, doing the exact opposite of what we are doing now! An ice age took over. The ice sheets that formed reflected the sun’s heat back into space and compounded the cooling effect even more.
I bet an Ice Age sounds pretty good right now, as we sit in some of the hottest days ever recorded! In fact this podcast was highly requested. Habits to deal with the heat!
If you are not careful the heat can catch you off guard. Deaths caused by the extreme heat are now becoming very common across the world. Dehydration and heat stroke. Believe me, you never ever want to experience these.
Heat stroke can make you feel dizzy, confused, agitated, disoriented. You can start throwing up or feeling nauseous. An interesting thing happens, you stop sweating and your body goes into shock.
If you ever start feeling like this, immediately find shade or some place cool. Sip water slowly. Cool the body down as fast as possible and check with a doctor. Do not take this lightly.
On days like this when the heat is too intense, there are a couple of easy things you can do to save yourself from catching a heat stroke.
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Always carry a bottle of water with you. Add a pinch or two of Pink Salk to the water. You can also add some lime or lemon juice.
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Stay out of the sun between 11 and 2 in the afternoon.
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Walk in the shade. Or protect your neck and your head. If you are wearing a shirt, turn the collar up. This is something we do while trekking and the sun is intense.
There are tons of recipes you can get online for coolers and drinks you should have during the heat. As your habit coach, I want you to become friends with the heat.
We spend too much time worrying about it, stressing about it and fighting the heat. “Oh my god look how hot it is today!” And then we grumble about it.
In fact, humans have the ability to deal with a wide range of temperatures. Our ability to sweat keeps us cool and regulates the temperature. Over the course of human evolution, our ability to survive in extreme climate zones has been our best survival tool.
We no longer use our body to adapt to the climate around us. Instead we use air conditioners to make sure we are always comfortable. So our body hasn’t learnt to deal with heat and high temperatures. It doesn’t mean that we can relearn it. Like everything it takes effort to learn to be comfortable with the heat.
We have to learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable. That is where resilience comes from. That is where growth comes from!
This doesn’t mean we give up using the AC. Or we sweat out the summer. I love the AC and would be a total hypocrite for asking you to do that. Instead I want you to learn to make peace with the heat.
So your simple habit for surviving a heat wave is to enjoy the ride. So the next time you feel the heat and start grumbling, catch yourself.
Stop, allow your body to feel the heat. Is it a grimey sweaty wet heat, is it a dry burning heat? Does it feel like a sauna or a steam? Where are you feeling the heat?
Take a deep breath, have a smile on your face. Use the heat to center you in the moment, by just feeling it on your body. Heat in fact is used to heal the body, so imagine your body healing.
If it gets too much, stop. Don’t fight it. Don’t take it to the point where you feel faint, or get heat stroke symptoms. Instead just enjoy it.
Do this every time you feel like complaining about the heat and within a few days you will feel a change. You will go from drowning, to surfing this heat wave.
