Strengthen Your Immune System
Did you know that when we are feeling invincible our immune systems are pretty much impenetrable? When you are feeling happy and powerful almost nothing can get through! The only times we are susceptible to germs, diseases, viruses, etc., is when we have allowed ourselves to become vulnerable to them. Some ways that we do this include: staying in negative emotions such as fear, grief, anger and shame, not getting enough sleep or when we have been eating too much processed foods and sugar. First let us address things that weaken the immune system.
“Sugar feeds disease and contributes nothing valuable that our bodies need in order for them to function properly.”
Sugar feeds disease and contributes nothing valuable that our bodies need in order for them to function properly. Referring to sugar, I’m talking about the man made refined sugar, not sugar that comes from plants in its natural state. Man made sugar is created with a process very similar to how cocaine is made. This type of sugar is more addictive than cocaine. It’s the drug that went under the radar and is in almost all packaged and processed foods today. Also it seems You can’t go to a church function, school activity or social event without it being present. Imagine trying to break an addiction to a drug while the same drug is being offered to you at every turn. When you eat large amounts of sugar you temporarily suppress the immune systems ability to respond to challenges. The effect lasts for several hours. If you eat sweets several times a day your immune system could be operating at a perpetual disadvantage.
Did you know that just a few moments of anger can weaken the immune system for up to several hours. Other emotions such as fear and shame also weaken our natural defense mechanisms. Negative emotions put us in a state of stress. Living constantly in negative emotions can compromise your immune system. Think of the amount of “News” that you consume in a day. Does this bring your stress level up? Its good to stay informed but limiting certain things we watch that cause stress to the middle of the day might help. I definitely wouldn't watch it first thing in the morning or last thing before bed. What are other things in your life that put you in a state of stress.
“If you are constantly waking up at a certain hour every night that is a sign from your body that there is an emotion or energy that has not been processed or has gotten “stuck”.”
According to ancient Chinese medicine, our bodies are on a two hour healing time clock. This means that each system of our body has allocated time for healing. For instance, the triple burner (Thyroid, Adrenals and Pituitary gland) has a healing time between 10 PM to midnight and 9 PM to 11 PM during daylight savings time. These make up the part of the Endocrine System which kicks in when our bodies are in the fight or flight response. If they do not get the time they need to heal, your immune system will be weakened. This is why we hear that the hours you sleep before midnight are the most important. Along with the triple burner there are other systems that need their time to heal. If you are constantly waking up at a certain hour every night that is a sign from your body that there is an emotion or energy that has not been processed or has gotten “stuck”. To clarify, if you keep waking up between 3 AM and 5 AM every morning, you may have some emotions trapped in your lung meridian. The negative emotions associated with the lungs are grief, sorrow and despair. Your body will need to work through (Process) these emotions so that it can take the proper healing time it requires.
Listen to your body
If you feel tired, take a nap. I’ve had to learn this one the hard way too many times. There is always a voice in my head saying “Keep working! You can rest when the work is done.” I have had to learn the hard way that the work is never done. I promise if you take the time to rest when your body needs it, your work production will triple its capacity and make up for the down time. If I try to work when I’m tired I don’t end up getting much done anyway. If you don’t feel like exercising that day because you feel tired, take a break. When I was younger and felt tired I thought it was because I was just being lazy and I forced myself to exercise anyway, only to find out that my body was trying to fight an invader and needed downtime to do so. The consequence of not listening to my body left me down recovering for a week rather than just the few days it would have taken had I just listened and rested in the first place. Since then I have become more aware of what the signals from my body are telling me. Feeling fatigued is different than feeling lazy.
Do What you Love
Another way to strengthen your immune system is doing a physical activity that you love to do. What activities make you feel invincible? What activities make you feel strong, happy and excited? Do them! For me it’s walking, running, hiking and listening to positive music. I love to listen to words that make me feel invincible. The “runner's high” makes me feel Amazing. Not to mention all the adrenaline, oxygen, blood and lymph flowing through the body. And Lets not forget the natural healing endorphins that make you feel wonderful are released when you exercise. When you speed up the blood and lymph flow it also speeds up the natural waste elimination process that our bodies have.
Laughter
If negative emotions are weakening your immune response, you can bet that the positive ones will strengthen it. Find something that makes you laugh 3-5 minutes every day. This will build up your immune response for hours. Search out some clean comedy, bloopers, funny pictures, friends that are the comic relief of social media, whatever makes you laugh, and cherish them. I have always been the more serious type. Recently I am realizing how valuable these things are in my life.
Gratitude is also a positive emotion. Writing three things down every day that you are grateful for is a great way to train your brain to look for the good in any situation. It will reaffirm that there is a gift for you in every situation and circumstance. Find that gift and feel the gratitude and joy that comes from seeing and accepting it. This will create a new neurological pathway in the brain that will also change the chemicals released into the body. Doing this will begin strengthening your immune system, increase your resilience, strengthen your relationships and much more. No wonder we are commanded to be grateful.
Vitamins and Time in Nature
Consume foods that are closest to the form that nature provides. In ancient Chinese medicine it is said that we are the children of the Earth and the Heavens. We need the gifts from both to thrive. Our bodies are created of the Earth and our spirits come from the Heavens. We need those vitamins that come from rich, dark soil through the vegetables and fruits we eat, especially Vitamin C. We also need the Vitamin D that comes from the sun. We need the energies of the Earth and the Heavens. We are electrical beings and the Earth has this wonderful compatible energy. Grounding with our feet directly on the grass for 10 minutes everyday helps balance the energies in our bodies and will in turn, strengthen us.
Probiotics
A large portion of our immune system is within the digestive tract. If the “good bacteria” in our gut is low our immune response will also be low. Keep your immune system strong by keeping the bacteria in your gut healthy. We do this by feeding the “good” bacteria. If you have taken antibiotics make sure you are rebuilding the ``good” bacteria with probiotics as antibiotics will kill the “good” bacteria in the digestive tract as well as the “bad”. Something that is even more powerful than probiotics in a capsule would be fermented veggies! So, find some pickled beets, sauerkraut, kimchi, relish and dill pickles made with live enzymes and little to no sugar. Add them as often as you can to your diet. Enjoy.
All of these things can help strengthen your immune system and they are all things that you can do. We want to strengthen our systems instead of relying on sanitizing the world around us. Sanitization sounds nice at first but it would be impossible to sterilize everything. When we do live in an environment without germs it actually weakens our immune systems. In order to keep our systems strong they need to be challenged at times. We have to have contact with the world around us to build up our immunity to it. So….Let your kids play in the dirt and enjoy the life around you. What would happen If we take the approach of reinforcing and trusting in the God given powers we already have within us? Of Course Precautions are taken with newborns, elderly and those with compromised immune systems due to previous conditions but we should not fear. We already have a system within that was created with an appropriate response to deal with invaders. Reinforce, support, strengthen it and above all, trust it. Every cell in your body has light in it. Feed the light, with more light!
Sources:
-How sugar Affects Immune Function, quickanddirtytips.com
-The Secret Teachings of Chinese Energetic Medicine.
-Hopkinsmedicine.org The Gut: Where Bacteria and Immune System Meet
How do our emotions affect our immune response? medicalnewstoday.com