Many of
us followed in horror what was happening in China a few weeks ago, when the new
Coronavirus came into our lives. So many people in critical condition, so many
isolated far from their families not knowing how long it would last, so many deaths
in a short space of time! Since then, we have followed its steady approach
towards us, leaving behind closed borders, collapsed health systems, and
several thousand people dead. We have seen how in countries where the news of the
epidemic wasn’t taken seriously the spread has been scarily fast and
devastating, yet we have been told to keep cool as cucumbers and only do what feels
“right” to us.
Let’s put other people first
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Since we
have no real guidance or have been given a plan, it has so far been left to each of us to
think about the best choices to make. When confronted with infectious
diseases, like this one, we are very much at the mercy of what happens in the
community. This is why actually thinking about others before we think about
ourselves, is an important step to reduce risk of infection for all.
You may
wonder how this could be so. Well, if you have seen any of the graphs or charts
with the numbers of cases and deaths that are occurring worldwide, you may have
noticed that the number of deaths and the length of time the upheaval lasts are
directly proportional to the number of infected people. This means that the
risk to each of us and the disruption caused by what we are living will be cut
short if we behave in a manner that minimises the spread of the virus.
Because,
as we have seen, the new coronavirus is highly contagious, minimising its
spread really means minimising contact with other people. So, if possible, STAY HOME for the time being.
Some people find this a pain, but we must understand that if we don’t do this NOW
we will be forced to do it under much more difficult circumstances later.
Other
than this, thinking of others also means that those people we know who are by
themselves or who are part of the high risk group – the elderly, people of all
ages with pre-existing immune or respiratory conditions- should be in our list
of people to contact regularly to check for their safety and wellbeing. These
are times for us to come out of our own little worlds and see how much we actually need
each other.
Another way in which just thinking about ourselves doesn’t work in this
situation, is how we buy our goods. As it has been pointed out in recent days,
buying all the hand sanitiser from the shelves will not protect us if nobody
else is able to wash their own hands!
Obviously, if we are not able to stay home right now, we need to be extremely careful and
avoid any unnecessary contact with anyone. Every time you touch any surface
outside your home, or money, please wash your hands. And if you have any symptoms
please be outward about it, stay home and tell your close ones about it. We very
much depend on each other right now.
Strengthening
our immunity
Our
immune systems are constantly challenged not only by illnesses but also by
stress, pollution, eating unhealthily, difficult relationships, and loss, just
to name a few things. Because of this, most of us have immune systems that
could do with a boost especially in times like this. These are a few things
necessary to enhance your immunity:
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| Meditation helps our immunity |
1.
Meditation and relaxation techniques: As we know, stress and anxiety impair our
immune system so, counteracting stress with meditation and relaxation techniques will
have the positive side-effect of increasing immunity. There are many ways to
meditate, since we are dealing with a respiratory epidemic, I would recommend
you explore breathing meditations.
Qi gong
exercises are also meditative, as well as involving organised movement that
helps the body stay supple and increases oxygenation, which makes it a great thing
to explore if we are stuck at home.
As for
relaxation, my favourite relaxation exercise is the “body scan” which basically
consists of lying flat on the floor and visiting each part of the body, breathing "into" it and relaxing it, until we cover the whole body. In yoga, this is Savasana and
it’s what we usually do at the end of the practice.
2.
Movement: Exercising without pushing ourselves too hard will help us at this
time to oxygenate the body and clear out toxicity. Exercising too hard or too
long can, on the other hand, be detrimental to our immune systems.
If we choose
to exercise outside, we should obviously avoid contact with others and maintain our
distance from all people in case either they or us are carriers of the virus.
3.
Nourishment: This is central to the strength of our bodies and of our immunity. It is ideal to eat freshly cooked meals containing plenty
of nutrient-rich vegetables, wholemeal grains, and good quality protein. To
enhance our immunity we also need to not burden ourselves with chemicals and
additives that can be harmful to the body so avoiding processed foods, sugary
foods, pre-made meals and fizzy drinks is a very important issue. For more on this you can read my posts on what real food is, and on understanding a healthy diet.
4.
Hydration: As we know, water makes up a high percentage of the cells in the
body and, if we are dehydrated, we may be more susceptible to certain diseases and
definitely our immunity won’t be at its best. Hydration doesn’t only means
consuming enough fluids but also not consuming things that push water out of
the body through the urine. Coffee, tea, colas, alcohol and all caffeinated
drinks all have this effect and are best avoided if we want to stay hydrated.
Over-sweating
is also a way to lose body fluids that are needed for deep lubrication and to
keep the organs functioning optimally
The best
way to hydrate is to drink warm water and herbal teas, at least 4-6 cups per
day. Home-made soups and broths and plenty of fresh vegetables can also provide us
our cells with some fluids.
5. Sleep:
Studies have shown that chronic sleep deprivation has a negative impact on the
immune system. Consistent late nights and early starts and having sleep difficulties
not only leave us depleted, and often too tired to function properly in our daily
lives, but can also diminish our ability to fight disease. Because many people
experience disturbed sleep because of their stress and anxiety levels, meditation
and relaxation practices may help deal with this.
Adopting
good nighttime habits, such as having time off screens before going to bed and
not going to bed past midnight, will greatly contribute to us having good physical,
immune, and mental energy. These habits may be harder to follow if we are
working from home, in quarantine or lockdown, but this may be a time when we
most need them.
6. Air: Our
bodies cannot survive long without oxygen. In Chinese medicine, air is a
necessary ingredient for the making of vital energy or Qi. In the cycle of Qi
production, the Lungs extract nourishment from the Air and this nourishment
gets combined with that extracted from the food and drink by the digestive
system. This results in Zong Qi – chest Qi – which fuels the functioning of the
Heart and Lungs and which gets further refinement to become the particular type
of Qi that will provide strength to all organs and protect us from disease –
our immunity.
Deep breathing
exercises are important for our general health and particularly relevant now because
they can help clear mucus and strengthen Lung function which will be useful against
a virus that attacks the respiratory system. For more on this, visit my post on conscious breathing
Preparing the body for the Coronavirus
As we have been told, this particular
virus starts with a fever and a dry cough. It directly goes to the
airways and relatively quickly goes into the Lungs. Everything that we can do to strengthen
our immunity and Lung energy mentioned above could help us minimise the damage.
According to observations made by Chinese
medicine doctors working in the front line at Wuhan, and kindly shared with me and other practitioners by my
teacher in China, in the average person – excluding those people in the higher
risk group- the infection is more severe
in the presence of internal Dampness. This basically means that if we have an
internal accumulation of fluid, mucus, and/or phlegm, we could have a more difficult
time if we get infected.
This is
useful to know as there are specific foods that increase the mucus and phlegm
in our bodies, which we could start avoiding right now in order to prepare our
body for battle. The main foods to avoid are the following:
- Milk and all milk derivatives (plant-based milks are ok)
- Wheat products- all types of bread, biscuits, pasta
- Refined sugar
- Greasy, heavy, and rich food
- Alcohol
- All processed foods- pre-prepared meals, reconstituted meats, tinned and instant meals
- Chilled drinks and foods
- Excessive amounts of cold/raw foods
There
are also certain easily found ingredients with strong immune-enhancing
properties that we could add to our cooking (please bear in mind that these foods
won’t necessarily help if you are already displaying the symptoms of a viral infection but they will be good preventatives):
- Limes and lemons- a cup of hot water with the juice of half a lemon or lime will help you kick-start the day and cleanse your system
- Fresh ginger- Can help us fight infections whether viral, fungal or bacterial. You can add them to your cooking and also make ginger tea by grating a chunk of ginger in a pan and boiling it in water for a few minutes. It’s delicious with lime/lemon juice and honey. It's best not to have a lot of ginger if you have burning urination, very sticky smelly stools or feel hot all the time.
- Raw garlic- Like ginger, garlic can help us fight all types of infections. We should add garlic to every one of our meals, however, its potency is higher when we consume it raw. Many people find it too strong in taste when raw, plus our bodies can exude garlic smell afterwards, not very pleasant unless the our partners and family are also eating it! One way of enhancing garlic's properties is steeping the peeled cloves in a jar of good quality runny honey for two weeks, opening the lid once a day to release the air. After this time, the garlic should have lost its strong taste, if it hasn't just keep it in the jar for another week. This is also to be avoided if you have burning urination, very smelly stools, or feel hot all the time.
- Turmeric is a nutrient-rich anti-inflammatory herb
- Thyme- can enhance immune response, plus it’s a phlegm busting herb and good for coughs. It can be added to food or prepared as tea with a little honey
- Cinnamon- is used in Chinese medicine to enhance digestion and help the immune system
- Honey- Good quality honey is rich in antioxidants and soothes the airways when we have a cough (See the garlic and honey recipe above!)
- Most herbs and spices- Used in moderation will also help our digestion work better, and make our meals more interesting. I would avoid chilies right now since they can add to much heat to a fever and make us sweat and lose precious fluids.
- To cleanse the air we breathe and help boost respiratory function we can also add eucalyptus, thyme, tea tree essential oils to our bath or an oil diffuser.
Quarantine time
Staying
home may be difficult for some of us who feel lonely, whose living conditions
are not very comfortable, who feel stressed by their families, who feel they
cannot afford to not work. All of these are common and valid sources of apprehension
which cannot be dismissed. It may be impossible for us to understand fully
other peoples’ living conditions or circumstances so, for a start, we need to be incredibly patient and
compassionate towards each other right now.
It is not compulsory at the moment for us to
stay at home but it may soon get to that and, when that happens, we will all
have to make the best of what there is. There are plenty of online resources for
us to explore all those things we have always said we wanted to do but have
never had time for: playing an instrument, learning a language, reading about
particular subjects, mediation, yoga, Qigong, you name it! Let’s get making a
list of these things for when the time comes.
If we have the resources, we will
be able to enjoy things such as cooking proper meals, reading, learning,
getting in touch with people we never have time to contact, sorting things out in
our homes. However, let’s not forget that there are plenty of people less fortunate
than us, there is already a growing number of local groups prepared to look
after each other and especially after those at high risk and those who are
worse off. This is the main group for Bristol https://www.facebook.com/groups/1032597030460220/?notif_id=1584542889971855¬if_t=group_r2j_approved
Finally, since we
may not have any choice, let’s welcome a time of quiet and rest, let’s allow the
body and mind to heal and recuperate from our crazy lives, let’s also allow the Earth to rest and cleanse itself, let’s learn how to BE again and, together,
let’s remember how to live as communal beings who help and protect each other
and who respect and look after our beautiful home and all life on it.
With much love and hope,
Sandra
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