Hello, and welcome to the English Like a Nature podcast.
My name is Anna and today we're going to be learning a little vocabulary that will help you if you like to take a sauna or do any kind of heat therapy.
If you are a regular listener, you might be scratching your head and wondering what happened to Gabriel.
We have been following our lovely character Gabriel as he travels the UK.
But due to illness my illness, not Gabriel's illness due to illness, there's been a slight delay in production.
So in order to get back on top and ensure that you finish Gabriel's adventure in good fashion.
Top quality.
We've taken a little break.
And to ensure that your learning continues and that you don't break your habit.
I am here to still give you something of value.
So I do hope you'll enjoy this week.
A little break from the norm.
And you'll probably feel the difference between the usual scripted version of the podcast and today being much more free.
So the sauna.
Now I take a sauna as often as I can.
I go in, ideally I would go five days a week, but I've got a busy life.
So five days a week is sometimes unmanageable.
I try very hard to do at least three sessions a week because that's very good for your health.
Now, taking a sauna is something that is quite popular at the moment.
Everyone seems to be talking about it and discovering the well-documented health benefits.
Now I'm going to give you five items of vocabulary that you might use when doing any kind of heat therapy, whether it's jacuzzi, steam room, sauna.
And there are also different types of sauna that you can take as well.
The first is the phrase to be dripping with sweat, to be dripping with sweat.
This is just a very visual way of describing sweating.
So if you are really, really sweaty.
You would say I'm dripping with sweat.
We can even shorten this phrase to simply saying I'm dripping.
So when I go into the sauna, I'm often surprised how... how wet my skin gets, how sweaty I get.
When I was first going into the sauna, I'd come directly from the swimming pool.
So I'd have my costume on and I'd go directly from the pool into the sauna.
And I thought that a lot of the moisture was just the pool water.
But then, a few months ago, I started going into the sauna without using the swimming pool facilities.
Just going straight into the sauna.
And that's when I realized that actually all the moisture is sweat.
Because I'd go in dry and come out drenched.
That's another great word.
To be drenched means very, very wet, covered in water or moisture.
And so...
I am now a little bit grossed out.
There's another great phrase to be grossed out.
I'm a little bit grossed out when I go in and the polite sauna users move over, move along the bench to allow me to sit down.
And I sit down in a puddle.
I now know that that puddle is not swimming pool water.
I now know that puddle that I tend to sit in after a kind person has moved along the bench for me.
That puddle is sweat and that grosses me out.
It makes my skin crawl ever so slightly.
What do I do to prepare to go into the sauna?
Well, I often take in a bottle of water and that's in order to throw water onto the hot coals.
Because I like to crank up the heat.
And that's a phrasal verb that I want you to take note of.
To crank up.
Now you can crank up the volume of music.
But you can also crank up the heat and it just means to bring it up, to raise it, to increase it.
So we crank up the heat by throwing water onto the coals.
I try to sauna for as long as I can always aiming for a minimum of 18 minutes.
I can't really go beyond 25 minutes.
That's my absolute maximum.
But 18 minutes is that sweet spot where healing begins.
That's where we get the health benefits of the sauna, apparently.
So I always aim for 18 minutes.
And my body tends to know when I'm getting to that point, because my heart rate rises and I start to feel quite uncomfortable.
And I have this sense of fight or flight, like I want to escape.
I want to run away.
You could say that maybe I'm feeling a little claustrophobic.
Now, that's another word to take note of today.
Claustrophobic.
To be claustrophobic means that you are uncomfortable or you feel quite anxious in small things, tight enclosed spaces.
So I am claustrophobic.
I will not get into a lift if I can help it.
I will not get into a busy train carriage or tube carriage, especially if there are people crammed in and you have to squeeze into the crowd and then allow the doors to close behind you, trapping you into that crowd.
Absolutely not.
I will be late for my meeting.
I will miss an event.
I don't care.
I'm not getting in because I'm claustrophobic and it always causes me problems.
I know in the sauna I can escape, so my claustrophobic reaction isn't severe, but I definitely start to feel the anxiety rising.
My body is uncomfortable at the 18 minute mark.
So when I feel like I've had enough, once I've passed the 18 minute mark and I feel like I can't stay in any longer, then it's time for me to tap out.
To tap out.
This is when you say, I'm done tapping.
And you finish whatever you're doing.
We often use this in fighting.
I instantly think about the boxing ring.
When fighters have had enough, they tap.
Or wrestling.
I believe it's the same in wrestling.
The fighters, the wrestlers and the boxers will tap to show that they're done, maybe tap on the floor or something to say I'm out, and I think maybe even the referee in a boxing match might tap out the player.
I don't know, I don't box And I don't wrestle, so I'm not completely sure about how it works.
But we use the phrasal verb tap out when you've had enough, when you don't want to be involved in it anymore and you're stepping away.
After 18 minutes, once my claustrophobic nature gets the better of me and I'm dripping with sweat, then it's time for me to tap out.
And I jump out and I usually get straight into a cold shower, a very, very cold shower.
Why do I do this?
Well, partly to detox.
To detox is another verb that I'd like you to take on.
Detox is getting rid of toxins, getting rid of the bad stuff.
Often in food and nutrition you will hear the word detox being thrown around, and it's usually signifying that you're healthy.
Food will get rid of bad things in your body.
It's not altogether true, but in the sauna you can sweat out microplastics and you can help your body to heal, You can improve your immune system and you can lower high blood pressure.
I don't have high blood pressure, but I certainly need help on the immune system front and I feel good.
It helps you to sleep.
It's fantastic.
It's also a lovely time to sit without distraction, because you can't take your phone into a sauna and you sit there for 20 minutes alone with your thoughts.
And that's brilliant.
We all need a bit more of that in our lives.
So there we go.
That's my little ramble about saunas, and your phrases for today are to be dripping with sweat, to crank up the heat, to tap out when you've had enough, to detox, getting rid of all those nasty toxins or microplastics in your body, and to be claustrophobic, which is to be uncomfortable and scared of small enclosed spaces.
Fantastic.
Well, let me know if you use the sauna or if you're tempted to use the sauna.
I love talking about this kind of thing.
So let me know in the comments and I look forward to reading them.
Until tomorrow, take care and goodbye.
