Our bodies are designed to be naturally resilient, with an innate intelligence to self-regulate and self-heal when our nerve energy and communication flows abundantly, without any stressors or impeding nerve flow.
With the rapid changes taking place in our world right now, it is little wonder that many of us are experiencing increased stress in our life. This is exacerbated by the worries around being affected by COVID-19 from multiple perspectives, including:
Ensuring and maintaining our own health and that of our family
Managing financial stress - some of us are unable to earn a living, are affected with reduced income (such as being asked to move to part-time employment) or some may have lost a job, etc.
Adjusting to the sudden and ongoing changes to our household routine and rhythm due to stay-at-home, work-from-home and other measures by the government
Our Inner Shield or Defence
The team at RealEase believe that cultivating our inner shield, i.e, our immune system and hence, the longer-term resilience in our body, could be the difference between zero, to mild COVID-19 symptoms, to severe COVID-19 symptoms requiring hospitalisation.
So what can we do to cultivate inner resilience in our body?
1. Keep calm and keep your stress levels low
This may be a tall order, but it is the most important. There are many studies that show stress weakens the immune system, such as resulting in fewer natural killer cells that fight tumours and viral infections in the body. Stress response impacts not only our immune system but our digestive system as well as the respiratory system.
Cultivating a daily routine that helps you keep calm and your stress levels low can go a long way in maintaining your inner resilience. And remember, these daily routines may look different for different people. For some, daily walks and exercise or daily self-affirmation and meditation work wonders. For others, the very thought of meditation brings their stress levels up. Find out what works best for you.
TRY THIS
Plan ahead by considering what routines you could do if you had 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes or 1 hour to spare in your day. Slot these into your weekly or monthly plan (you can save and print the image below for this).
Here are some examples of what you can do to keep your stress levels at bay:
Connect barefoot to the Earth
Our bodies are made up mostly of water and minerals, which in combination, are good conductors of electrons enabling us to be electrically conductive. Contact with the ground allows our body to absorb and become charged with electrons from earth, which in turn reduces electrical imbalances and stress in the body and stabilises its basic biological rhythms, including resetting circadian rhythm.
Connect to your breath that is available to you at all times
There are many breathwork techniques or therapies to choose from. RealEase’s recommended breathing technique is the 4-6 Technique. This is an effective breathing technique that allows you to move your body from stress to a calm-heal-digest state.
Reduce electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure
Electromagnetic field (EMF) of all frequencies come from the generation and transmission of electricity, domestic appliances, telecommunications, and broadcasting. EMF represents one of the most common and fastest growing environmental influences and chemical stressors but is often overlooked. All populations are now exposed to varying degrees of EMF, and the levels will continue to increase as technology advances. There are now more than 1,000 scientific studies conducted by independent researchers from around the world concerning the biological effects of radiofrequency radiation.
At a minimum, we would recommend using wired versions of gadgets and peripherals (e.g. mice, headphones, keyboards, printers) instead of wireless, where possible and switching your WiFi and mobile phone off at night or when you are not using them. You can also consider dedicating an hour or two a day to intentionally disconnect from using devices such as your phone, computers and WiFi and slot this into your weekly calendar.
2) Keep hydrated
Here’s another simple, yet overlooked daily practice that is vital to cultivating and maintaining inner resilience in our body. Every cell and every structure within the cell has a hydration shell, and water is coating the surface of all the trillions of biomolecules in our body.
Water is essential to keep our body functioning optimally, including regulating our body temperature, lubricating joints, protecting the spinal cord as well as aiding digestion and nutrient absorption.
Water consumption also directly affects energy levels. Just a 5% drop in body fluids could cause a 25% to 30% reduction in energy levels. The next time you feel your energy levels going down, drink a glass of water instead of going for a snack!
Keeping sufficiently hydrated helps detoxify and flush out toxins from our body. Conversely, when dehydrated, airways are restricted by the body in an effort to minimise water loss. To ensure healthy respiratory and digestive systems as well as immune function, optimal regulation of our body processes, and maintain energy levels, simply ensuring we are sufficiently hydrated each day, may make a huge difference in our lives.
How do you know if you are drinking sufficient water? Many factors go into this, such as the intensity of your daily activities, your age, your weight, climate, lifestyle choices, etc. The team at RealEase recommend always listening to your body. However, as a reference point, the Institute of Medicine, United States recommends approximately 3 litres (about 13 cups) for men and 2.2 litres (about 9 cups) for women in its Dietary Reference Intake for Water in February, 2004.
Besides drinking good quality filtered water, eating food with high water content such as, fresh fruits and vegetables (preferably organic or bio-dynamic which are more nutrient-dense) is also a great way to hydrate as well as including vitamins, minerals, fibre and electrolytes to our diet. Some examples of fruits with water content higher than 85% are watermelon, orange and pineapple while some examples of vegetables with water content more than 90% are broccoli, cucumber, cabbage, lettuce and celery.
3) Use food as medicine
There are many research on foods and spices with incredible healing properties. For example, pomegranate is found to have antiviral activities and beetroot to have antimicrobial and antiviral effects and also can inhibit the proliferation of cells in human tumour cells.
Clinical observations showed that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has proven to be effective in the treatment of over 90% of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mainland China. For those specifically interested in research on natural substances that have been studied for Coronavirus, here is an article by GreenMedinfo on the topic which includes the use of TCM and liquorice root: Studies find Natural Treatments for Coronavirus.
How does Spinal Flow Technique help with cultivating your inner shield or immune system?
Your nervous system (brain, spinal cord and nerves) controls and coordinates everything in your body. When your nerve energy flows abundantly without obstruction, your body and mind are 100% self-communicating, self-healing and self-regulating. When blockages impede nerve flow, you are no longer functioning at 100% and your health and vitality is compromised. Blockages are caused by our inability to process life’s 3 major stressors. Health problems associated with chronic stress, such as chronic headaches, anxiety, immune system dysfunction, sleep issues, fertility issues, chronic depression, hyperactivity and more are caused by our inability to process any or a combination of the life’s 3 major stressors - physical stressors, emotional stressors and chemical stressors.
RealEase’s approach is to find out what’s happening in your body and the root cause of your pain, illness or disease by partnering with you as well as performing specific assessments on your body. As Spinal Flow Technique practitioners, we help shift your body from a stressed zone (sympathetic state) to a healing zone (para-sympathetic state) by focusing on what works/area of ease or where there is a flow to move the body from a stressed state to a calm, heal-digest state to facilitate the release of physical, chemical and emotional stress from the body.
Looking to find the root cause of your pain, illness or disease and shift your body to optimal health and wellness?
Find out more about our wellness services here.
Contributor:
RealEase is founded by husband and wife, David Thoo and Rowena Choo. They firmly believe that our bodies are designed to heal itself and their mission is to facilitate and empower people to heal themselves.