“I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I'm awake, you know?” |
Ugh. Sinus headache, tissues everywhere, and the old adage "Feed a cold, starve a fever" really counts because I'm HUNGRY! But who wants to cook when they feel like this?! What's a sick person to do? Yesterday, I did my first 5K race. Yay, so proud, good job... I felt like Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail when Tom Hanks gives her the daisies. "I love daisies. Why are you here bothering me?" No amount of accomplishment or good times made up for the fact that the weather was horrible and now I am sick. Boo. Hack. Sniff. At first, I went right to bed as soon as I got home. But I was chatting with a wise friend who soon had me convinced to get back up. Better First Step: Hot shower, warm clothes. I also netti pot'd my sinuses, and exfoliated to encourage my lymph system. OK, at least I felt human again. |
Third Step: Tea and Soup and Herbs, Oh MY. Meanwhile the tea kettle was hot. I added dried hibiscus flowers a pilates client just gave me (beautiful and delicious and high in vitamin C!) and Ginger Honey Crystals (these are magic) to a quart mason jar, filled it with hot water, and left it to steep. In a mug I dropped a scoop of organic miso paste and a sprinkle of dried kelp and more hot water. Instant soup!
I carried both of these into the living room and set them aside to cool. First I ate applesauce, with Multi Metabolite Immune powder mixed in. It's a sprouted seed powder with immune herbs and Lion Mane's mushroom. I demo for the company at grocery and health food stores part time and this is one of my favorite items. Then I had the soup and tea, warming me all the way and making me comfortable. I was still hungry so I reheated some pasta with meat sauce- you know, for dessert. :)
Echinacea is a great part of this routine, when I can remember to take it. I'm my own worst patient, for sure. In acute cases like this I SHOULD take a dropper of my tincture every half hour. But, well, now that I'm thinking of it I'll go get that dropper bottle and put it in my pocket. There, I just took a dose.
Fourth Step: R.E.S.T. Just do it. I watched a movie on Netflix. It wasn't very good so I won't tell you about it.
Then I went to bed. I slept for 12 hours, and rested in bed with my phone for another 2 hours after I woke up. THIS IS IMPORTANT. The main reason I got back up when I first got home was that it was only about 4pm, and I knew what it would mean to wake up at 4am, or even 6am, in the dark and starving and still not well. Had I needed to work today, I totally would have done it. But since I had today off I fed myself and then went to bed, so this morning I was free to be more leisurely.
Fifth Step: Recovery wasn't done in a day. Today has been a mix of doing things and sitting down with a bowl or mug of something. I know it sounds decadent but convalescing is something we don't allow ourselves to do, though it's really a necessary part of being ill. I'm still a little stuffed up and worn down but I feel 70% better than I did yesterday. Writing this is part of a 'sitting down' section of the day, though it is using more energy than Netflixing on the couch, and I have tea here with me.
Next I'm going to turn my chicken stock into soup, adding it to kale and potatoes and anything else I can dig out of the fridge in a big pot with some diced tomatoes and spices. I'll add a handful of dried nettle and a big sprinkle of dulse flakes for their trace minerals, and have dinner in an hour or so. None of my To Do list is getting done today, and I forgive myself for that. Yes, I'll be extra busy during the week, but I'd still be sick then if I didn't allow myself the rest time now.
Dealing with a spring cold involves prevention (I did not anticipate just how horrible the weather would be so dressed poorly), fluids, nourishment, and REST. Taking it easy the rest of yesterday and today has been crucial to my rebounding. If I had pushed today I'd have gotten more done, but struggled the rest of the week to get even this recovered. R&R is the most important thing we can do for ourselves, especially when illness strikes!
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Regular acupuncture treatments are part of my self-care routine, and, while many people use acupuncture for a specific condition, I go for general 'good health' support. This means that each visit we discuss what's been happening since the last session, and my acupuncturist devises a treatment in the moment to help realign me. This time some of my pulses were low, and I was sent home with moxa sticks to continue treatment over the next 3 days. Moxa ("moxibustion") uses dried mugwort to warm acupunture points, and comes in two forms- direct and indirect. Indirect moxa involves a cigar-sized bundle of mugwort wafted over and held near the skin, whereas direct uses incense cones directly on the skin. My acupuncturist gave me 3 pairs of direct moxa cones with instructions to use them first thing in the morning. She drew a dot on my foot where she wanted them placed and told me to line up the hole in the bottom of the cone with the dot. The hexagonal base has a gentle adhesive on it so it stays on my skin. I light the cone and let it smoke away until it burns down, easy peasy! There's no pain, though she did say if they get hot to remove them. After 3 days, I'm very proud for remembering to treat myself each morning! And I feel better, more grounded. The fatigue this was addressing made me feel skittery and that has eased up, almost like I have enough energy to rest now. This is yet another positive experience to recommend acupuncture to the uninitiated! It's really a great healing method. |
- you've thought about starting to mediate, but didn't know how
- it's free!
- you have 15 minutes to give yourself a break
- Deepak Chopra has a soothing voice
- did I mention it's free?
I have done several of the free Chopra Center meditation experiences since they began offering them about 3 years ago. In between, I meditate with one that I purchased, for real cash money, because I found it so powerful and helpful.
Sign up RIGHT NOW, it's the last day to join!
Here is a picture of my meditation spot:
Chopra Center Meditation
So, her world has been crazy, chaotic, and demanding, hmm? Full of extra labor, less sleep, more obligations, and new worries?! Ha! MY life is at LEAST that nuts!
And you're probably right. We each have our limits, our coping mechanisms, and our recovery needs. My story isn't told in order to make you feel sorry for me- indeed, I hesitate to write often to avoid such a trap. Rather, I just want to document what's helped me and what hasn't, to offer you hope and inspiration in your times of chaos.
Some days I need nourishment, some days I need pep, and some days I need help just finding the front door. I will detail the choices I made to get through, including supplements (herbal and elemental), food and hydration, and self care.
The first thing I want to mention, the most important thing you might say, is this:
Rest and Forgiveness are Essential
Allowing yourself time to rest seems to take away time you should be spending doing the work that's looming over you, right?
Two things about that statement are wrong wrong wrong.
One, Spoon Theory. When you're chronically overloaded for months or years, you're just not operating with as many spoons as you used to, nor as many as others expect you to have. And you can't just borrow against tomorrow's, that quickly ends in disaster. Massive ongoing stress can act like a chronic disease, so we need to allow for, and provide for, healing.
Second is that dirty word, "should". WHO SAYS what you should be doing? TV, magazines, bossy coworkers, nosy "friends", demanding family? Of course not. Who could know what you need better than you? There's lots of noise in the world telling you to feel badly about yourself, and learning to tune it out can be a real challenge.
But forgiving yourself, ridding yourself of guilt and shame, allowing yourself to be who and what you are right now today is so important. Believe me, saying a genuine "No, thanks" to someone else's criticism, no matter how kindly meant, (and it usually IS kindly meant, that's the worst part) is liberating!
I am working on practicing self forgiveness when I do my morning meditations. Resting- well, I've got that down! But I know some people who have such a personal taboo against something as restorative as an afternoon nap. It gets me through the rest of my day and evening, so if it's going to help you too, go for it!
I took a cue from the experiential learning that is part of Maia’s Sage School program and decided to test out some smaller doses on myself before doing research. This all started when I was trying to explain Homeopathy and Flower Essences and vibrational medicine. “It sounds like total BS but it works!” didn’t seem like enough; I wanted personal experience to back me up.
On my kitchen counter I collected my potions- 3 Flower Essences, Milky Oat and Gotu Kola tinctures, and a high-mineral vinegar I made from wild edibles a Spring or two ago. (I chose these to help me rebuild mentally and physically, and to help me let go of some past baggage that kept weighing me down.)
Using my metal water bottle, I first simply added a squirt of everything to my daily filling. Then, I was careful to never completely empty it before refilling. The idea is that the energy of the medicines remains in the water, and as long as you never drink all the water first you’ll have its "vibrations" in each refill. I said it sounded like BS! But this is exactly what I was testing out.
After a few days I realized that every single time I “made” my water in the morning, I was overflowing the bottle and spilling some in my kitchen- on the floor, on the counter, everywhere but in the sink. How could I be suddenly so careless, when I didn’t usually spill things? I thought that perhaps the Earth wanted some and I said that aloud in frustration one morning. Immediately I had a different understanding- there was too much going into the bottle, like it was jumping out to escape overcrowding! It seemed ridiculous, yet I was totally sure.
So I lowered the Flower Essences to 3 drops each day for the next week, and was more judicious with the amount from the two tincture droppers as well. The vinegar is in a pump bottle and the 6 squirts I had been using felt right, so I kept that up. I stopped spilling right away, and haven't since.
The third week I lowered the Flower Essences further, to 1 drop each, and I added in a small dribble of Urban Moonshine’s Energy Tonic. I had been using that in the Fall but it is drying, and had become uncomfortable for me. Maybe, I reasoned, a little in all this water would balance out.
After this third week I had my monthly acupuncture appointment. I always prep before our sessions, thinking back over the month and what I have to report to her. Really, there wasn’t much- nothing momentous had happened, sleep and digestion were fine, my month had been uneventful. The biggest thing was that Winter had suddenly broken and Spring was peeping around the corner, harkening change.
She was a bit startled to feel how strong my pulses were. Weak Kidney energy had been a particular concern and she commented on how much more reserve she felt in me. This was strong evidence that the small doses, repeatedly diluted in water, were working to rebuild me! She even nodded gravely and said, “Impressive!” with a smile. She then proceeded to give me a Spring Liver treatment which was good and painful, since she got to needle all my most tender points.
A few days after my treatment I started dreaming vividly, and realized I hadn’t done so for quite a while, at least several months. On that same day my intestines woke up and started gurgling madly, and I again realized I had missed out on any inside noises for a while.
It seems I am restored enough that the Liver treatment was allowing me to ‘let go’ of more than just emotional baggage. My body is waking up from its Winter hibernation and is doing its own version of Spring Cleaning.
So after several weeks of experimenting with tiny doses and ‘vibrational’ or ‘energetic’ medicine, I’m in. I can’t tell you why this works, or how. But I’ve seen better success with this method over the last month than I have in the past, using larger doses several times a day for the same amount of time for chronic issues.
Officially it’s not Spring yet- the equinox is still a few weeks away. There are lots of signs everywhere of its impending arrival, though. Suddenly birds are chirping in the mornings, the sun is noticeably stronger, and the tips of the Crabapple tree next to my pilates studio are reddening. I’m feeling the stirrings of movement in my soul and psyche as everything around me perks up.
Some people like Jenna at Cold Antler Farm in upstate NY call Spring “The Season of Mud”, and I see why. Not only does the ground get muddy from freezing and thawing and bouts of rain and probably more snow, but so does a lot of me.
Our immune systems come under attack again in Spring, with extra "output" from sinuses to contend with, and feeling sluggish can impair how well we can fight off germs. Suddenly I’m grateful for the impulse that made me put up several quarts of Fire’d Tonic at the end of January, so it’s ready now!
The Philadelphia Flower show just closed, and that is a sure sign of Spring for me. I was taught that when you come back from the flower show with itchy garden fingers, it’s the perfect time to prune your Lavender. The last few years the Lavender has been under snow, though, so there’s still no plant work available for a frustrated gardener. Here are some Flower Show pics:
I love the flavor of apple cider vinegar steeped with these early greens, it’s so fresh and bright. They’re also fun to just nibble on, after so many months of fresh plant deprivation, and they find their way into many dishes simply because they’re finally available and so vibrantly green. I’m doing a Spring Greens Weed Walk with Manderley Farm next month to introduce people to these great early plants. I tried to schedule it for late March, hoping against hope that it would be warm enough, but Eliza assured me that we’d disappoint everyone if we could only show them a half dozen very early plants, and that waiting a few more weeks is best. I believe her, but if wishes were horses…well, then I’d be Eliza!
Another thing I’m trying to pay attention to is the TCM element associated with Spring, Wood, and its impacts on my world.
My 5 Elements teacher Dory Ellen Fish told us that the emotions of Wood include anger and frustration, and their direction is “out” (as compared to Fire’s “up”), which can lead to Road Rage. I’ve been noticing more literal and metaphorical Road Rage in me as I want to move forward and am stymied by obstacles outside my Circle of Influence, so I’ve been practicing techniques to diffuse that including Deepak Chopra meditations. His next free 21-day challenge begins March 16.
I’ve noticed that this Spring desire to move forward does not smoothly increase as the days lengthen. It happens in fits and starts, and doesn’t always match the activities and obligations I have planned for that day. A friend said the same thing a different way- all her friends are starting to issue invites to have lunch here, visit there, come over for dinner, try that winery, check out this new place, and she’s not ready to leave the house that often. For her, Winter isn’t quite over yet, and she’s not ready to emerge.
All in all this is quite a transitional season, which seems ironic since it’s heralded by an equinox- a moment when the planet is in balance, when all angles with the sun are equal. Well, Mother Earth may be balanced on her poles, but I’m not! So here are my 5 steps to keep the Spring transition as comfortable as possible:
1. Keep immune boosting remedies on hand like Fire’d Tonic, Elderberry Syrup, Echinacea Tincture, and Garlic Honey to fight the onslaught of new colds and flus that will inevitably attack us.
2. Pay attention to eating instincts. It can sometimes be hard to eat the warming foods that sustained me through Winter when the days warm up even a little, yet I haven’t fully transitioned out of needing extra digestive warmth yet. Allow for a mixed menu in Spring, with some heavier dishes and some lighter, and listen to your body to decided on each meal.
3. Take time for contemplation. As the world revs up around me, meditation, writing, exercising, or one of my favorites- knitting while listening to an audiobook, all help keep me from being overwhelmed. If I jump headlong into the frenzy of Spring, I lose steam quickly and can even come to resent the loss of my Winter calm found during my hibernating- not a good feeling to move forward with!
4. Get more sleep. Winter is generally a more restful time for me, as I work at stationary tasks rather than running errands when driving or even parking is an issue. As the snow clears and all my deferred tasks come due, my days become busier and I expend more energy and time on them, which can lead me to work later hours finishing my regular tasks too. Making my sleep a priority is hard, but benefit far outweighs the sense of inconvenience and guilt that sometimes creeps in.
5. Go outside and get some Spring on your hands. Play in the melting snow, pick a few new shoots to decorate your home, watch and listen to the birds, and revel in the sun on your face. Physically connecting to the season will help you move along with it. I love finding the first leaves poking up from the melting snow and trying to guess what they'll be- Daffodils? Crocus? Snowdrops? Whichever, it's Life and it's Green.
This is a public space, so my writing reflects my experiences and I try to stay general enough so it might relate to you. This does not constitute medical advice, and I encourage you to discuss concerns with your doctor. Remember, however, that the final say in your wellness decisions are always yours- you have the power to choose, you are the boss of you.
And, some of my posts may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them I'll earn a few cents. Thank you for supporting my work.
This website is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not medical, mental health or healthcare advice. The information presented here is not intended to diagnose, treat, heal, cure or prevent any illness, medical condition or mental or emotional condition. Working with us is not a guarantee of any results. Paula Billig owns all copyrights to the materials presented here unless otherwise noted.
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