Even if the Great British Summer doesn’t live up to expectations, many of us will be jetting off to warmer climes over the next few weeks. Whilst a bit of sunshine makes a lovely change, it can often become uncomfortably warm, leading to excess perspiration and frayed tempers!
To help you enjoy the sunshine wherever you are this holiday season, we’ve put together these 10 Top Tips to Keep You Cool This Summer:
1. Don’t use your hands as a fan
We’ve all done this! Using your hands as a fan will create a rush of air, making you feel temporarily cooler, but this vigorous action uses a lot of energy and will raise your body temperature. If you’re going to fan yourself, use a piece of paper to create the same effect, without the effort!
2. Use a herbal remedy
Certain herbs are used for their cooling qualities and can help fight the heat when eaten or used on the skin, such as a soap or lotion. Mint is an obvious choice, with plenty of mint body washes available, but chamomile, dandelion leaf, hibiscus, and raspberry leaf can also help.
3. Breath
Even breathing can help you stay cool. Yoga has a cooling breathing technique, where you roll your tongue and breathe slowly through the mouth, to help lower body heat and ease stress. Breathe in through your rolled tongue (or, if you’re not genetically able to, purse the lips) and exhale through the nose. Breathing through the mouth should allow your saliva to cool the air you breathe before it enters your lungs.
4. Put ice in front of your fan
If you have an electric fan, put cups full of ice in front of it, or a bottle of frozen water. The ice cools the surrounding air and the fan can blow that air towards you.
5. Avoid big meals
Digestion uses a lot of energy and generates body heat, so eating a lot in one go will make you feel warmer. Instead, eat small amounts of cold food throughout the day.
6. Close your curtains
Keep your curtains closed during the day to shade your rooms and prevent the sun from getting in.
7. Run fans counter clockwise
Ceiling fans should run counter clockwise, as a clockwise movement will create an updraft and force warm air down.
8. Use water
Water is the best way to stay cool, be it jumping in a swimming pool or having a cold shower, but if neither of these are an option try dabbing water on your pressure points. A little water on your wrists, temples, elbows and joint creases can help cool your whole body.
9. Turn off electrical appliances
Most electric objects give out heat so make sure everything is switched off. One light bulb may not seem like a heat risk, but collectively they really can make a difference.
10. Allow your body to sweat
Many traditional antiperspirants work by blocking the skin’s pores to stop the body from sweating, but sweating is your body’s natural way of removing toxins and cooling down. When sweat evaporates from the surface of your skin, it removes excess heat, therefore a deodorant that allows you to sweat is more beneficial for the cooling process. Natural deodorants don’t block your pores, working instead by inhibiting the growth of odour-causing bacteria, allowing you to sweat, but remain odour-free!
