Immune System Health

As I write this, those of us in the United States are at the beginning of a journey that many in the world have been on for a while. There is wonderful information available about how our habits can help to contain COVID-19.

There are also many simple things we can do to support our immune system’s strength and resiliency. Below are a few of my favorites. Like washing our hands, they are mostly free and take only a minute or two throughout the day.

1.   Breathe deeply. One of the biggest drains on our immune system (and our thinking!) is worry. When we take a few seconds to close our eyes, inhale slowly and fully enough that the belly moves and we relax our shoulders, we are changing our chemistry and reducing anxiety in the body. Take 2-3 of these deep breaths throughout your day to relieve the stress that builds up. Easy to do while waiting in line, or sitting at a traffic light.

2.   Stay hydrated. The right amount is the amount your body wants. It is hard to notice the signs of thirst when we are busy or upset. However, if you notice a passing thought to have something to drink, Follow Through.

3.   Move your body. Two of the primary functions of the lymphatic system are to transport lymph, a fluid containing infection-fighting white blood cells, throughout the body, and to transport cellular waste to the bloodstream for removal. The lymph moves because we move. Just as a moving stream is less likely to stagnate, our bodies stay healthier when we move. Walking, jumping, laughing, dancing and playing are simple ways to move lymph. Using a rebounder (a small trampoline) is another. If you have one, 30 seconds to a minute every hour you are home will do amazing things for your lymph system as well as your energy level. If you don’t have a rebounder, you can create a similar effect sitting on your bed. This is not about jumping hard. To get a sense of how much to bounce, hold a glass of water that is almost full while bouncing and don’t spill any. This will do the job of supporting the movement of lymph through the nooks and crannies in your body. Nutrients in. Garbage out.

4.   Stretch and move your body. Morning stretches throughout the day facilitate the movement of lymph and oxygen-rich blood throughout the body. Reach overhead, reach to your upper left and upper right. Plant your feet and swing your arms side to side. Move in ways that feel good. This is different than ‘getting exercise’. This is about incorporating 15 seconds of movement throughout your day….every hour or two is ideal. Yes, only 15 seconds. And Yes, every hour or two (except while sleeping).

6.   Get sunshine on your skin. The sun is healing in many ways that we know about, one of which is to support your immune system. If you are bundled up, close your eyes and really feel the warmth of the sun on your face, knowing that the chemical changes it creates are carried throughout your body. A few minutes a day can make a difference.

7.   Use your voice. Though traditional cultures have known for eons, there is now plenty of evidence about the effects of vibration and sound on the body, and how our own sound is the most beneficial. Also, humming and singing are more right-brain activities that bring relaxation as well. (See #1) 

8. Tapping on your chest. Both the Vagus Nerve and the Thymus are crucial to immune health and are located under the breast bone. Tapping and/or gentle thumping with a closed fist throughout your day stimulates these important parts of our immune response.

9. Some essential oils have anti-viral qualities, essential oils like TeaTree, Marjoram, Clary Sage, Anise, Thyme, Lavender and Oregano. Here are two links to research articles from PubMed, the National Institute for Health’s research publication website. I know that a lot of cleaning agents are temporarily unavailable in stores right now. Some of these essential oils may help in maintaining a clean environment.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31195112

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30584499

10. Allow your heart to be softened Take a moment to see the beauty in the sunset. Smell the rain. Offer a smile to a stranger. Send a card to a loved one. Let those you love know you love them. All of these things make us healthier because of the chemicals they release in the body… because they touch our hearts.

Nourishment

Yesterday, I walked a client out to the porch and as soon as we stepped outside we both inhaled deeply. We could smell the rain coming. What struck me was that It has been raining off and on a lot these last few weeks, and this scent of rain had not happened even once, until yesterday.

Had I just not noticed it before?

No. 

You know this scent of rain. It cannot be missed.

So why yesterday? Is it a particular type of rainstorm approaching? I don't know the answer to that. I just know as I breathed it in, my body relaxed and I smiled. 

Today as I write this there is a small patch of beautiful green, speckled with a few small places of deep red right outside my window. Wild strawberries. Every now and again a leaf will dance as a drop of rain bounces off.

I am again struck by the ease that fills my body when I take the time to savor the depth of nourishment that comes from just a moment of indulging my senses in the Beauty of the Simple things that surround me.

An Hour with a Musical Conductor

I had the pleasure of doing bodywork with a musical conductor.

Slowly I became aware of all the sounds, the vibrations he works with! All the instruments of an orchestra…I don’t even know how many instruments that is.

Imagine being so free in your body that you are actually able to feel the subtle, and not so subtle vibrations of the sounds of so many instruments as they move in intricate weavings of melody, harmony, rhythm and volume through the instrument of your body. 

And that is just the sounds of the instruments! There are people playing those instruments. People he knows to some degree, at least in relation to playing the piece of music currently filling the air, highlighting their strengths, supporting their weaknesses, coordinating the music on the page possibly written by someone long past, working to bring integrity between the passionately written notes on the page and the sound filling the hall.

Penetrating the world of the audience, sending vibrations of music through those bodies who listen not only with their ears, their entire bodies are responding to the sounds they are vibrating in.

The conductor, the musicians and the audience are already so many intricate vibrations…nerve impulses, blood flow, cranial rhythms, meridian pulsations, breathing, blood pressure shifts, muscular impulses. All of that now held in the presence of this intricate coordination as he conducts the symphony of sound, as he is the center point, and yet also the container for the sound that cannot be contained, that which just continues to move out further and further into the ethers. How far out from the walls of the hall do the vibrations move? Are they finished when we can no longer hear them?

And yet…

Here is this man, laying quietly for his massage, relaxing, letting go of the vibrations of hours of practice and performance, as the rhythms of his own body come back to the foreground. The beating of his heart, the in and out of his breath, all the nerve impulses that make breathing, and so much more, possible. Slowly, he comes back home to his own internal symphony of vibration.

I am in awe of this one who is so willing to be moved by the magnitude of sound he lives in, creates, supports and loves so much it cannot be contained.

What I Should Have Said......

What I should have said ....was No!
But he is a grown man, so there is no NO available.

“I can’t find my room.” (As an adult I would say he whined.)

“The arrow points that way down the hall to your room.”
I don’t like how this feels.

I can see the door to our room right behind him, but I can’t go there; he might follow me in. And, I don’t want him to know where we stay.

I want the elevator door to open behind me so I can step in and go back to the room where my mom and dad, brother and sister, aunts and uncles are all laughing and having fun.

“I know what it says on the wall, but I looked and couldn’t find it.”  
He’s lying. I know it.

What I should have said was, “They can help you at the front desk”.
But he is an adult, so I can’t talk that way to him.

“Can you help me?” he asked.

What I should have said was “NO.”
But I am supposed to help someone in need.

I didn’t like him walking down the hall behind me because I just wanted to turn and run.

I should have screamed and screamed like I was doing inside.
But I had to keep it inside so he wouldn’t get angry.

What I should have said was, “You lied! Your room is right here!”
But instead I said, “Here’s your room.”

“Come on in.” He smiled

I should have said “No, thank you.” and run.
But it wasn’t an invitation, it was a command, and I don’t disobey.

And that is what saved me when he offered me a drink.

Something changed in that moment.
My father loomed larger than this stranger offering me a drink.  I had footing here. This man is wrong offering me alcohol. I can say no ‘cause my dad would not want me to drink.

Finally, I said “NO! I don’t drink. I’m only 14.”

You’re only 14???”  

The man moved away…in flash I am out the door, running down the hall, praying he is not behind me.

I feel tears as I lean against the locked door of our room.
It’s okay now. It’s okay now. It’s okay now….Yet I cannot find my breath. 


I have to find mom’s glasses. She will be worried if I take too long.

The hardest thing...

...is to speak the simple truth.

and yet it is so easy to be so eager…..searching high and low for the palatable truth,
weaving a long and winding fantasy to offer an optimistic truth,
or taking you on a long convoluted journey to soften the truth.

…it is not a desire to lie.

Rather, it is the seduction of harmony.
A constant eye on the waters between us for the slightest ripple
 …ready to change course rather than create a disturbance.

Yet, what is more disturbing than a conversation on shifting sands?
What moves further from the truth than those constant accommodations?

The simple truth cannot live in that quagmire of harmony.

It promises nothing.
It insists on speaking those un-nameable undercurrents.
It refuses to turn a blind eye to what is supposed to remain under the carpet.
It will not collude in family secrets.

It speaks a language I still learn the vocabulary for.