Cold and Flu Season: Extra Care Measures to Stay Healthy
To our Beloved Patients,
It is our honor to serve you and to help improve your health. We trust that you will use your best judgment regarding venturing into the community when you may be contagious. We encourage you to contact your physician if you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms or are running a fever.
Easy, free, or inexpensive things we can do to strengthen our immune systems:
- Wash your hands often and avoid touching your face.
- Sneeze or cough into a tissue and discard it immediately.
- Ditch the fear; it’s killing you! Focus on gratitude; fear and anxiety suppress the immune system.
- Engage in your favorite stress-releasing techniques. These may include dancing, singing, laughing, coloring, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), Laughter Yoga, HeartMath®, and many others.
- Avoid processed sugar like the plague; it decreases the immune system’s effectiveness by 50% for up to 8 hours. Replace sugar with life-giving fresh fruit that is loaded with vitamin C and all kinds of phytonutrients that build health.
- Drink half your body weight in ounces of purified water. For example, if you weigh 120 lbs., half is 60 ounces of water. To improve the flavor, you can infuse your water with herbal tea or even fresh fruit, cucumbers, mint leaves, and other items. You can also add a pinch of baking soda to make it more alkaline, which promotes healthy cells.
- Eight hours of sleep at night will allow your body to heal and restore itself. Avoid screen time (TV, computer, phone) for at least an hour before bedtime. The light from our screens interferes with our quality of sleep. Reading, journaling, prayer, and meditation can improve restorative sleep.
- Contrast hydrotherapy is a fancy term for a simple process. Get in the shower and stand in SAFELY hot water for 5 minutes, then turn the water to cold for 30 seconds. Repeat the process three times in a row, then get dried off and go to bed to rest. Contrast hydrotherapy stimulates the lymphatic system, which is an integral part of the immune system.
- Castor oil patches (We offer instructions for this therapy.)
- Walk, stretch, move your body gently, and breathe deeply. Movement is essential for a healthy immune system.
- Earthing/grounding is standing, sitting, or lying on the ground barefoot, connecting with the earth. Human bodies resonate optimally at 7.8 Hz, which is also the earth’s frequency. Spending 15-30 minutes a day outside, soaking up the sunshine, and connecting to the earth to receive life-enhancing frequencies is a win-win. I like to take that time to thank God for His amazing, beautiful creation that is full of wonder and delight. He always loves to hear from us, so it’s a perfect time.
- Eat life-giving, nutrient-dense food, especially fruits and veggies. Take time to chew every portion thoroughly and taste each bite. You can make even the simplest meal a feast celebrated with gratitude.
- Eat garlic and ginger. They are nature’s answers to killing off viruses and bacteria.
- Supplements can provide extra protection. Some powerful favorites are Vitamin C (preferably buffered, in combination with flavonoids, and at least 3-6 grams per day), Vitamin D3, Elderberry syrup, Goldenseal, Chaga, Cordyceps, Echinacea, Probiotics, and many more. For your convenience, we carry a wide range of quality supplements.
We at the Healing Center and Affordable Acupuncture are here for you. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to serve you. We always love to hear from you.
Love and Blessings to each of you.
Joan Massey LAc/DOM, and Staff