What Is Superstition Cooling?

Have you ever knocked on wood to avoid jinxing yourself or thrown spilled salt over your shoulder? We all have little superstitious habits and rituals we follow, even if we don’t fully believe in them. Turns out, those silly superstitions might have some real benefits after all.  According to new research, indulging in superstitious thinking, even occasionally, can help reduce anxiety and make you feel more in control when facing uncertainty.

The Science Behind Superstition Cooling

Superstition cooling is an alternative cooling method that relies on the psychological effects of suggestion to make you feel cooler. 

How Does It Work?

Superstition cooling exposes you to images, sounds or sensations typically associated with feeling cold to trick your mind into thinking your body temperature has dropped. For example:

– Looking at photos of ice cubes, snowy landscapes or penguins

– Listening to the sounds of a fan, air conditioner or ocean waves

– Splashing your face with cold water

– Rubbing mint essential oil on your skin

Although your actual body temperature remains unchanged, your mind perceives the cooling cues and causes your body to react as if it’s colder. This can lead to:

– A drop in blood pressure and heart rate, which are associated with feeling cold

– Goosebumps and shivering

– A sensation of cold in your extremities like hands and feet

The effects may only last a few minutes, but repeating the cooling cues can extend the impacts over longer periods. Some people have used superstition cooling techniques to relieve hot flashes, lower body temperature before exercise or sleep better in warm environments. 

While superstition cooling won’t replace your air conditioner, it can be an easy way to find short-term relief from the heat using the power of suggestion. Why not give it a try and see how cool you can feel with the snap of a mental finger?

5 Benefits of Using Superstition Cooling

Ever wonder why certain rituals or behaviors become habit even though there’s no real logic behind them? Superstition cooling taps into that tendency, using psychological tricks to help change behaviors and form new habits. 

The science behind superstition cooling comes down to associating an action with a reward. When you perform a behavior and something positive happens shortly after, your brain links the two events. So the next time, doing that action triggers the reward center in your brain and reinforces that habit loop. 

 Using Superstition Cooling for Good

Superstition cooling can be used strategically to help develop useful habits and routines.  For example, if you want to start exercising more, try going for a walk right after you wake up for a week.  Your brain will start to associate that morning walk with increased energy and mood, making it more likely you’ll repeat it. 

The more you perform an action followed by a reward, the stronger that habit loop becomes.  After a few weeks of regular morning walks, it will feel strange not to do it.  Your brain has been “cooled” into believing that walk leads to feeling good, even if there’s no real causal relationship. 

Of course, superstition cooling can also be used to break bad habits by avoiding the action and providing an alternate reward.  The key is consistency and patience.  Don’t get frustrated if it takes time.  Keep at it and that new habit loop will form before you know it!  Your brain is an amazing pattern spotter, so put that ability to good use and let superstition cooling work for you.