With little else to focus on at the moment, it seems appropriate to discuss the ways in which you can help protect yourself from COVID-19, or minimize its effects, if contracted. Similar to a lot of the information being shared by health professionals, Blissfully U has always taught the importance of staying hydrated, and minimizing stresses on the body to help flush the body of toxins and maintain strong immune system functions.
First off, it’s important to sip warm or hot water throughout the day (a part of Habit #3). ~This virus is not heat resistant, so it cannot attack in warm environments.~ Even though Dr. Adham Baba’s advice to sip warm/hot water throughout the day to flush any virus out of your mouth and past your lungs, where your stomach acid will help take care of it for you, is questionable, it is still good advice to keep hydrated, particularly with warm or hot water. Refrain from drinking ice water, at any time of the year.
Staying hydrated is key to maintaining good health, which is our best defense against any virus. Drink a minimum of 8 cups of water throughout the day and at least 2-3 of these first thing in the morning to flush your system and start the day hydrated. A great side effect of flushing COVID-19 is that you can also avoid health-related issues attributed to the body being dehydrated such as urinary and kidney problems and electrolyte imbalances (which can cause seizures). Constipation due to dehydration can cause a host of other health-related problems but we will save that for a different discussion.
Health experts also suggest maintaining a healthy diet. As tempting as it may be, try your best to avoid stress eating sweets and processed foods. While it may be comforting in the moment, these foods only serve to introduce more toxicity into the body! Is food your go-to in stressful times? If so, the most fool-proof way to minimize the sugar, saturated fat, and extra junk that can be found in processed foods is to keep these products out of your home. If you don’t buy them in the first place they won’t be there to tempt you. Eating highly processed foods will only decrease your immunity and make you more at risk. A healthy diet of mainly plant-based foods (a topic we cover in Habit #5) is your body's best defense, next to staying hydrated. If the extra preparation of healthy meals sounds difficult or like a lot of work, what better opportunity to learn? A lot of us have been given the gift of time; why not use yours to learn how to cook some new nutritious dishes?
Another suggestion from the health community is to exercise regularly, preferably outside, if it’s possible and safe for you to do so. Of course, maintain your distance from others while you are out walking, hiking, or biking, and reserve your hugging for the trees! Keeping active (Habit #4) is key to maintaining health for a host of reasons. During this bizarre time, when there is much uncertainty lurking in our day-to-day lives, exercise can alleviate stress, distract from the constant feed of information on COVID-19, promote feelings of well-being, and maintain lung health. Lack of movement is a sure way to decrease lung capacity and, thereby, lung health, making you more susceptible, as COVID-19 is a respiratory virus.
This is a good time to practice pranayama (breathing exercises), as doing so will increase oxygen flow in the body and help you maintain a sense of calm throughout these trying times. Keep an eye on my website during the next couple of days. I’ll be posting some simple breathing exercises, which will include a little bit of meditation and prayer for good measure.
Lastly, let’s talk about the killer elephant in the room: stress. Stress decreases immunity, resulting in higher susceptibility to viruses, harmful bacteria and a host of dis-eases. Now is the perfect time to practice managing stress so you can keep your immune system strong and stay healthy. A lot of you may have already had a hard time managing the stress in your life before the COVID-19 outbreak, and adding a global pandemic to your list of worries could be enough to send anyone into a downward spiral of anxious feelings. I get it. If you’re struggling, please reach out to a trusted source, myself included. Don’t hesitate to ask for the help you need. This is not something you have to manage alone. Although physically separated, we truly are all in this together and will survive by relying on one another for support.
If you should find yourself in the unfortunate position of contracting the virus, my prayer for you is that your good health will help to minimize the effects of the virus on your body.
Please do your best to stay physically isolated and as safe as possible from contact with others. Use the time wisely but don’t focus purely on productivity - a lot of us could benefit from some time spent simply doing nothing. Minimize news updates to a few small blocks throughout the day. Take stock of your health and complete an inventory on your health habits (or lack thereof). If you don’t know where to start, feel free to check out this
health survey. Pick an area to start on, just one small habit you can change, and stick to consistently. It’s never too late to get back on the road to health and wellness. It will be your best defense, no matter what life throws at you.
Please take advantage of a free strategy session with me to help get yourself started, with no further commitment or strings attached. If interested, you can also find out more about my full program and the individual self-study modules we’ll be releasing soon.
Book here.