Colds…Flu…What’s Your Medicine?

Waking up to a frosty morning this morning reminded me that summer is most definitely over and fall has taken the reigns. Where has September gone? It isn’t a surprise that September has come and gone because it is always a busy time in our family with back to school, kids’ activities starting up, business licence renewal, 4 birthdays and our wedding anniversary.

And yes, I overdid it and got sick. That seems to be my M.O.. When I get too caught up in the to do list and stop listening to my body, I get sidelined so that I have to look after myself. Thank you Body!

Ideally the best scenario is to not get sick at all. I mean, who likes feeling crappy? Not this gal. So prevention is definitely the best line of action, without a doubt. But that is for another day. I want to discuss what to do when you are feeling like pulling the covers up over your head and hibernating. I moved through this last bout of “sickness” very quickly and with a lot more ease than in the past and I want to share some of the things I did differently this time.
I am not going to talk about all the other ways to help ourselves such as drinking lots of fluids, eating nutritious food, taking supplements, essential oils etc. cause you know all that stuff. I’m more interested today in talking about some different aspects of healing that you may not have considered.

This first point is a no brainer. REST. I realize I’m not telling you something you don’t already know. Sleep and rest are how our bodies repair and regenerate. But what you may not be aware of is that how you rest is a big part of your recovery.

Do you rest, fully accepting where you are at, dropping your agenda of all the things you were supposed to do, and giving yourself what you need?

OR

Do you resist the fact that you aren’t feeling well, still try to get some things on the list done with the occasional nap here and there, willing yourself to get through the day to the time when you can collapse in bed once the stuff gets done?

OR

Do you actually rest because you have to, because you feel so crappy but you are beating yourself up for being sick and not doing all the things and feeling guilty for someone else having to pick up the slack?

Which scenario do you think is most supportive of getting better faster?

Now, I get there are some exceptions to the rule because life happens and sometimes we just have to show up, sick and all. But what I invite you to do, is look at what your pattern is when you aren’t feeling well.

For all you Mommas, are you still trying to run the household and the family from your bed? Or are you letting your partner do that? I promise you, the house will not fall apart and your kids will survive without you. Your partner is fully capable whether you believe that or not. So when you are sick, let go of all the shoulds, have tos and musts and just rest.

I spent an entire day in bed, letting my hubby look after everything and I think it was a big part of why I recovered so quickly. You may receive some backlash if your family is used to you doing everything but don’t let that get you out of bed. It’s actually a win all around if you honour yourself and get the rest you need.

And if you aren’t in a position where you can delegate, throw away the to do list as much as you can and only stick with necessities. That does not mean housework. Your house will not fall down if left to its own devices for a few days.

The next point is about medicine. I’m not a big fan of taking medicines such as decongestives etc. I know my body can heal itself without the help of pharmaceuticals so I avoid them as much as I can. My medicine of choice is energy medicine.

There are a lot of different types of energy medicine but I will share what I used that I really feel made a difference. Everything is energy, including our bodies. They are made of energy and energy runs through our bodies along different channels. Being a practitioner of Chinese Medical Acupuncture, the channels I use are the meridian system and acupuncture points on the body to help myself recover. Sometimes I needle myself and sometimes I tap certain points. Tapping is something you can do lying in bed and doesn’t require a lot of energy to do. So as I was resting in bed, I tapped 4 different acupuncture points several times during the day. You can use EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and go through all the points along with voicing how you are feeling and what you are thinking, which is a great practice in itself, or you can just tap a few points.

The ones I used this time are from Donna Eden, an amazing energy practitioner. She calls them The Four Thumps and they help boost your immune system, balance your blood chemistry and electrolytes and reduce toxins and stress.

You start tapping or thumping beneath your cheekbones, next to your nose (LI 20), for 15 seconds. Then move to Kidney 27 points which are just below the medial ends of your collar bones and thump firmly for 15 secs. Then thump the centre of your sternum over your thymus for the same time. Finish with thumping on the neurolymphatic spleen points that are beneath the breasts and down one rib. These points are often tender, meaning that the thumping or tapping can help release toxins in clogged areas. Watch the video below to see a demonstration.

While I didn’t have a lot of energy to be out of bed, this was something I could do while I was resting to get energy moving through my body to help it heal.

Another thing I did while laying in bed was deep breathing. Our lymphatic system which drains fluid from the blood vessels, doesn’t have a pump. It is reliant on contraction of our muscles for fluid flow. So even though I wasn’t moving much while lying in bed, I could use deep breathing as a way to affect the lymphatic flow in my torso. Not only did it help my lymphatics, I felt more relaxed which helped me rest even more.

So after a day of a head that felt like it weighed a ton of bricks, I woke up the next morning surprised to feel way less congested in my head. I also had energy to get out of bed and start moving a little.

Knowing that moving the body is so important for healing, I got on my yoga mat, snotty nose and all. I wore my comfy cosy clothes, had my tea and kleenex box close by, turned on Youtube and had a date with Adriene. Yoga with Adriene is amazing. She has a video for everything, including Yoga for when you are sick! You can check it out here. She takes you gently through a restorative yoga practice which feels really good, especially after lying in bed for a while. And if you know about yoga, it not only addresses your physical body, but it also promotes energy flow which enhances your healing.

Now to be clear, I didn’t really want to get my ass on the yoga mat. I still wanted to stay in a fetal position and watch Netflix but I knew how much it would help me, and it did. No one really wants to do the things that help us the most or we would do them all the time, wouldn’t we? So don’t listen to your ego trying to talk you into self sabotaging behaviour feeling sorry for yourself. You ain’t no victim!

You now have a few more items in your “navigating colds and flus” tool box. Like any tool, they can’t help you unless you pull them out of your tool box and use them. Do the things you know will help you heal and you’ll find yourself feeling better faster.

Until next time,

Much love,

Glenda