Why you need to ice your face and all about Cryotherapy with IRMA

I meet Mila Joura in her newly opened Cryotherapy place called The Fuel Stop right on Central Park South next to Central Park, a busy area in Midtown Manhattan. Mila has been working in nutritional health for 15 years, alongside internationally renowned nutritionist Oz Garchia (PhD) and before as Vice President of international marketing for Miramax films. While being exposed to the fast-paced, highly-demanding life style of the film industry, and later to the challenges of working and being a mother, Mila has been searching for fast, effective, time-efficient and natural “fixes” that would allow her to maintain energy, build up her immune system and reverse ageing in a sustainable way. Being a mother of two and having to juggle family, work and constant travel made her come up with a pretty effective health model as her new business idea. I wanted to know what exactly a Cryotherapay treatment can do for you.

IRMA: Why Cryotherapy now? The method has been known since the 70s and is used for health benefits in hospitals for orthopaedic damage, depression and hormonal imbalance. How come that it’s more and more becoming a health care method in high demand?
Mila Joura: Cryotherapy – or Cold Therapy – to me it is the most beneficial and most overlooked anti-ageing treatment that is finally getting all the attention it deserves. Number one trigger for degenerative diseases and ageing is inflammation, and cold (ice packs, ice baths) was used for centuries to combat inflammation. It sounds unrealistic that the human body can survive in -130°C temperatures, but strangely enough it can – if only for 2-3 minutes, and with quite dramatic, positive results: bringing down inflammation, increasing energy, boosting immune system, releasing endorphins and dopamine, improving sleep, increasing collagen production, and –healing itself from ailments of stress. So if you could do all of this in just 2 minutes with no negative side effects – would you? I guess the answer is “yes” – so Cryotherapy is hitting mainstream at a high rate.

IRMA: What do you mean by “Fast Track Regeneration”?
Mila Joura: Our life is becoming more and more demanding, we multi-task through everything. Today’s generation needs everything at the speed of light – so who has time to chill out all day in a spa? But we also want to stay forever young, energetic and attractive. Fast Track Regeneration seems to be the right solution for the urban “Uber-beings”: spend minimum time and get maximum results.

IRMA: How often can you do Cryotherapy and what are the benefits, both long-term and short-term?
Mila Joura: You can do Cryotherapy as often as twice a day, with an interval of 4 hours in between, but this would be for high-performance athletes or people recovering from surgery. I do it once a day every day, it’s a way of life, like exercising or eating healthy. But I would recommend once every 2-3 days to get all the benefits, and on a regular basis – the more you do it, the more “bionic” you will feel.

IRMA: How do you train and live when away on vacation to get that very balanced and fit feeling without Cryotherapy?
Mila Joura: That is a tough one – I’m waiting for the travel-size roll-out Cryo sleeping bag… Every time I land in Europe, my first thought is “where can I find a Cryochamber?”, because nothing treats jetlag as quickly and efficiently. But there are ways to get close to the divine healing power of cold even in your hotel room: contrast hot/cold showers and ice face baths. Ice face baths are shortcuts, but surprisingly very effective: Submerging our face into the ice cold water for a short period of time trains the Vagus nerve that is connected to all other nerves in your body to tolerate cold, balance the nervous system and promote restful sleep. And I’m not even mentioning reducing those jetlag puffy eyes…

Here’s how: Fill a shallow dish with water and put it in the freezer (or ask the hotel for a bag of ice and a bowl). When the water is frozen solid, take the dish out, add water on top of the ice and stir it up to chill the water. Hold your breath and put your face into the dish for as long as you can hold your breath, or until you can’t take the discomfort from the cold anymore. You can start slowly with just a few seconds at a time, and build up to longer periods over time.

IRMA: Tell me more about the other therapies and methods you offer, and how do they intersect with Cryotherapy?
Mila Joura: We try to combine the most efficient products and treatments that work together for the maximum effect. Our Facial Cryo treatment is a great addition to the Whole Body: the face is submerged into -150°C temperatures for 10 minutes by using a gentle stream of nitrogen resulting in no-puffy-eyes, glowing complexion and rejuvenated appearance. Recurrent treatments stimulate collagen production and reductions of wrinkles, so if you’re on the opposite side of “botox mania,” this may be your natural saviour. We also offer unique manual cellulite reducing/fat deposits eliminating Body Contour treatments by Gloria Hincapié. This quite amazing body-slimming technique was created over the last 30 years, it eliminates fat concentrated in specific areas of the body (we all know what those are…) where no machine, exercise or diet gets in.

IRMA: How can you prolong the energized feeling for as long as possible?
Mila Joura: Of course nothing lasts forever, so no matter how great you’ll feel after Cryotherapy releases your “happy hormones” – and you get even happier seeing your de-puffed face and slimmed down tummy – it will all succumb to stress and gravity if you don’t exercise, eat healthy and get enough sleep. Or another suggestion: send your kids to summer camp and your husband on a business trip – save the energy for yourself.☺

IRMA: What is the best way to prepare for Cryotherapy?
Mila Joura: The treatment is really short – 1.5 to 3 minutes, and since there’s no moisture or wind current inside the chamber, it’s nearly not as frightening as it sounds, even kids can do it for up to 1 minute. It requires more mental preparation than physical – just think how fresh those flash-frozen strawberries look at the supermarket, and you’ll be ready to go.

IRMA: What book are you reading at the moment?
Mila Joura: “Epi-Paleo RX: The Prescription for Disease Reversal and Optimal Health” by Dr. Jack Kruse – quite an amazing insight into human beings’ evolution in the Ice Age and the critical role of cold – no wonder we do so well in Cryochamber. That, and “Skinny Bones” by Barbara Park – to stay relevant for my 9-year-old son…

IRMA: What is your daily health routine?
Mila Joura: I start my day when the children are off to school. The first thing I do is a glass of water with lemon juice and cayenne pepper to stimulate my metabolism and lymphatic system. I then follow with a very simple but extremely powerful exercise that I learned from a Qigong master: fold left hand over right and place both hands in the middle of your chest, rotate clockwise for 100 times, then change hands right over left and rotate in the opposite direction for another 100 times. I don’t know how it works, but it helps me to balance and get into my “centre” in the most efficient way. I may do this exercise several times throughout the day, if the stress level rises – and New York stress is a species of its own. 

IRMA: Besides the Fuel Stop, what is your favourite place in New York to recharge your batteries?Mila Joura: The Russian Baths on Fulton Street – the complete opposite of Cryotherapy, but in line with the principles of thermodynamic: going from +100°C (or so it seems) to ice cold shower, and back to sweltering heat supported by large hot stoned walls – now we’re talking anti-ageing!

Illustration and article from www.irmasworld.com .