Heating

We are finally coming out of the deep freeze, but I still find myself typing this with what I’ve come to refer to as ‘frozen mouse hand’.  It’s all too tempting to crank up the thermostat when we’re sitting still at our computers for so long, but as we all know when we guiltily do it, this is both expensive and not very good for the environment.

We all have our ways of keeping warm, but clearly my way isn't totally efficient, as I still get really cold. So I thought I’d do a very unscientific survey of a few friends and colleagues to get some ideas.  The first respondents were a bit puzzled that I was asking - obviously put another layer on, wrap yourself in a blanket and wear some slippers!  But I was then surprised by the variety of other ideas. 

One colleague likes to imagine she can still travel, and pretends she’s at an outdoor North European cafe where they give you blankets - to put just around your legs (apparently this is better than wearing it as a cape?).  A hot drink is a favourite of most, not just to drink but to put your hands around.  My sister gets up from her chair with her 5 year old to both entertain him and warm up a bit with a kitchen disco every hour. My Pilates instructor friend just replied ‘squats!’, and those who know me know that that’s definitely one of my favourites, while waiting for the kettle to boil.  She did then send me a video of her feet, walking barefoot in the snow!  Apparently it’s all in the mind and she recommended following the ideas of the Ice Man, Wim Hof.  I tried it myself and can just about last 30 seconds in a cold shower now!  I then made the mistake of asking some friends on a Friday evening, and the replies all became a bit unprintable, the first of which was using Deep Heat, but I wouldn’t recommend that!  This all became a bit more serious when another of my sisters told me that as a secondary school teacher she actually doesn’t have time between her online lessons to move and has ended up with chilblains on her feet after sitting for 7 straight hours a day teaching - ouch.  

So the results of my unscientific survey are:

• Wrap up your legs in a blanket

• Drink hot drinks

• Get moving - exercises or a kitchen disco!

• Think yourself warm like Wim Hof!

Ultimately, I’ve realised I need to keep trying something different, as my original method wasn’t working.

Just off to run that ice bath...