10 tips to improve your health and boost your immune system

Hi beautiful people!

I am here to talk about what everyone else is talking about: CORONAVIRUS

My clients and students have asked me to talk about it and I decided to write this because I really haven’t seen a lot of news about preventive methods other than “washing your hands after leaving the washroom”, “using masks” and “avoid crowds”. I am not discrediting these suggestions, but as a wellness coach and a holistic therapist, I feel that it is time to finally share my knowledge to help you understand what else you and your family can do to stay healthy overall.

I know that maybe not all the information will feel right for you, but if what I am saying make sense for you and can help you to feel more positive and encouraged to take small steps towards your own health, my mission is accomplished.

So, how do people get sick???

We know that everyone can catch a cold or a flu and that it can also evolve to a pneumonia or sinus crisis. What makes some people in almost the same environment – let’s say a family – catch a cold while others don’t? The answer is their immune system resistance. The overall state of your immune system is what makes you vulnerable to sickness, which depends on a series of factors that I want to bring to light so that you know what to do in your daily lives, not just to prevent this virus from getting closer, but also all other diseases. How long are you planning to stay in the hands of the unknown every time a new disease comes up? How long do you want to wait until you realize that depending on the medical system is not the only way to stay healthy?

Here are 10 options I see that could help you to enhance your immune system and to protect yourself. Not only from this virus, but from all the other threats that might appear in the way. By following some of these suggestions you will see that it is also possible to have a happy and fulfilling life.

1-Eliminating/Reducing fear

People are getting scared thinking they might die. Yes, since we were born, we risk dying. But why does this look scarier now?

Fear is a feeling that has, energetically, one of the lowest vibrations. If we imagine that everything in the world is energy (as science has explained), our emotions are energy in motion, and they can impact how you feel. Have you ever had a sad moment in your life? How depleted of energy did you feel when that happened? Low frequencies of energy impact our functioning on a cellular level. You can understand that better if you look at the Map of consciousness from David R. Hawkins below to see in the scale how that energetic frequency will influence how you feel (anxiety) and your vision of life (frightening). That is the first thing that weakens the immune system. Whenever you think you are in risk, your body will receive that information through vibration (frequency) and that will affect the functioning of your cells – because our system is made for survival. Can you sing a song when you are anxious, fearful or scared? Probably not. So being aware of how your thoughts and emotions impact the functioning of your body is already a good guide for you to understand what is going to make you vulnerable to diseases – and there is a lot of research, books and studies about that. The way that the mind sees things is that there is no distinction between reality and imagination, so it sends signs to your body (through frequency and vibration) and reacts to it – positively or negatively – depending on the level of that frequency. That’s why it feels so good when we are in love. We never get sick right? We are feeling that bliss, next to our loved one and life just feels like a paradise.

My point is – if you stay into the vibration of fear, you will automatically weaken your immune system and become more vulnerable to the disease. More than that, if we consider the law of attraction, which says that the Universe always gives you back more of the vibration you are in, you will probably attract more fear…or maybe the disease itself, because it is like you are “meditating” on it. Meditation is when you focus on one thing and just do that right? If you focus on the problem, you will be increasing the amount of anergy you dedicate to that – which makes that grow. So, fear won’t be good for you anyway. But how to let go of the fear?

First: acknowledge that the fear is not real – it is a feeling based on the imagination that what you fear will happen to you. Second: Get rid of the thoughts. If it’s an “imagination” it means it is not yet true– and if you can imagine something that is not true, why not imagine something good? Why not imagine that you are not catching that virus? That you are protected wherever you go?? Yes, indeed, you can control your thoughts, but you will have to be aware of them, identify them and let them go. Let the negative thoughts go, and work on creating positive ones.

2- Be present!

This item is very connected with the first point because whenever you are living in the present moment you know that you are safe. When you’re watching the news and seeing so many cases, you might feel afraid of being vulnerable or having someone in your family vulnerable to that. Then, you create an “image” – you imagine this happening in your mind. That generates a vibration, remember? – the one you don’t want to…How to change that? Remember you are not there. Remember you are sitting on your couch just watching the news, that your family is safe, that none of what is going through your mind is actually happening. Come back to the present. You are safe.

When we live in the present moment, we can experience peace instead of anxiety and fear. Whatever the situation that you can create in your mind that COULD happen, it is still not happening yet – so that’s the good news. We can feel how our body feels and understands quickly when there is a dis-ease. That will allow us to take action quickly towards our health.

**nao comeca frases com because

3- Breathe!

Breathing is one of the most effective ways to bring energy to the body. All the cells and systems in the body need oxygen and the breath is one of the most effective ways to bring that. Even though it looks simple with all stress and running around, sometimes we forget to breathe properly. Stress in the body tightens the muscles making breathing harder and shorter. I can say that because almost 80% of the students that come to my yoga/meditation classes for the first time don’t know how to breathe!! Their breath movement is so short that it is just capable to fill a small part of the chest, whereas the breath is supposed to fill THE ENTIRE BODY. When we breathe deeply, the breath starts filling the lower belly, coming up to the rib cage expanding the diaphragm and finishes by filling the whole chest, lungs and back. Test and see if you are doing it: place your left hand on your chest, the right on the lower belly, breathe deeply and profoundly and check if all these parts are being engaged, expanded and contracted. If not, it might happen that the systems of your body are not receiving the right quantity of oxygen it needs to do its job. So, again, systems get weak and diseases can appear.

4- Eliminate toxins from the body

Have you ever imagined working in a room full of garbage? Imagine you are trying to heal yourself from a disease while living in that full-of-garbage place?

Horrible, right? Yes, your immune system feels the same!

There is no way that the body can function properly while receiving daily amounts of toxins from everywhere. And please, when I say toxins, think about food AND emotions AND thoughts and what you read, talk, think and listen to. Think about all the heavy metals, chloride, fluoride that you consume in tap water, all the perfume and chemicals that are inside of the healthcare products (remember the skin is the biggest organ of the body and absorbs EVERYTHING), all the pesticides that come with non organic foods, all the toxins and antibiotics that are given to animals so they can grow faster and provide the meat that is sold in supermarkets, all the sugar embedded in processed foods, all the horrible things that are happening around the world that you get to know while watching the news, all the interference of computers and other electronics, all chemical products added to the cane food and juices and frozen food to “conserve” them. All the anger and frustration that you ever felt in your life. All sadness, grief and fear. All the stress you ever felt when you had a challenge or when you go to work or have a loved one sick or when you are going through difficulties. All the traumas from the past. All the alcohol, all the drugs, all the medication, all the stimulants (caffeine) all animal protein and their own medication, hormones, energetic charge (emotions and traumas). All of that is stored in your body. That’s your garbage. Have you been cleaning it out or just adding more to this pile? Did somebody ever tell you that you’ll have to do it? Nobody does.

The body was supposed to “autoclean” and that process happens during sleep time or any other time when your mind is not active (sleeping or on a meditative state). Yes, how amazing your body is, right? The problem is that we spend 16 hours “polluting” the body and only 8 hours cleaning it (sometimes less because there are people that sleep less than 8 hours a day), which means that it might have too much to be cleaned than we actually have time to clean.

The human liver wasn’t made to process animal protein. The body takes around 3 days to process all the meat we ingest, which means if we ingest meat 3 times a day everyday, the amount of work that your liver will have will be a little bit higher than the normal, right? Ok so add to that all the list above: alcohol, drugs, pesticides, chemicals, etc. OMG yes all of it is processed by the liver. What it can’t process properly, it stores on a FAT CELL and stores in the body. Where do you think that little belly and cellulite comes from? How do you think that the body sees sugar, excessive carbs, wheat, processed food? “Like toxins”. Too much food, too much stimulation, too much to process. Oh, we aren’t talking about the emotions. Do you know that the liver is where angry and frustration is stored? Hmm…it looks ugly right?

That’s one of the biggest reasons why we have so many diseases. The body is overwhelmed with the quantity of toxins and most of us don’t even know that it works like that. Odors in the body or in the sweat, white coat on the tongue and lack of energy are clear signs of toxins in the body.

Detoxing the body starts with replacing processed nutrition with natural nutrition, drinking plenty of water, exercising, giving preference to organic, fresh aliments. I will talk about it over the next topics.

5- Eat healthy, fresh and “alive” foods

Nutrition plays a big role in our health. They used to say we are what we eat, and I truly believe that, more after studying and practicing Ayurveda concepts. In Ayurveda, an Indian science used for centuries to heal and balance the body, we believe that everything we give to the body has a huge energetic impact – more than that, when your body is well nourished, you can experience feelings of happiness, peace and well being. Talking about energy again (remember, everything is energy), foods contain a huge amount of energy that they absorb from the soil, from the sun, from the wind, etc. All minerals and water that comes with natural food also help to energize the body, and, according to Ayurveda, also contain the same elements. All the minerals we need, all the protein and all the vitamins can be found in nature – in natural foods. Every single medicine was first originated from a plant, which means all the natural resources provided by nature can heal and reinforce the immune system. By maintaining an alkaline diet, we are free from infections and inflammations. By eating natural foods, we get rid of the acidity in the body caused by animal protein and processed foods. From the energetic perspective, “alive food” – which means food that was exposed to soil and sun, fresh food – contains vital energy (also known as prana) that can be utilized for the body in all its processes and naturally “heals” – and is also present in the nature.

I know there is a huge discussion about meat and milk, and I am not here to try to convince you to do anything. I just want to bring you awareness to the fact that meat goes through a process of putrefaction – which means that the meat must “die” before being ingested - which means that is lacking prana – the vital force. By understanding that, you can check how much of alive foods you are consuming so you can strengthen your system and give yourself more energy to go through the challenges you must face in life. You like to eat meat and that’s ok but give your body some time to digest it. Help it by balancing your nutrition with foods that help the liver functions.

6- Drink plenty of clear and natural water

Oh yes, do you remember that your body is composed of approximately 70% of water? Yes, water is your primal nutrition. It is the most important thing in your list of ingestions. What is the quality of the water you are giving to your body? Are you aware that this will become 70% of your body composition – meaning the physical you???

It is very important to make sure you are giving your body the best hydration. Natural source water comes from the nature. It is the cleaner, the most energized (remember prana?) and healthy water you can drink. We think people don’t die from drinking tap water, but if you are capable to spend almost $1000 on a leather jacket, why not to invest some dollars to get the best of what makes the most of you: clear, pure, natural, non-toxic water? Make sure you get fluoride-free water. Energetically speaking, water is also the conductor of everything inside the body and our emotions. That’s why we cry when we are emotional. Drinking lots of water allows the body to flush toxins out. Plus, we know that water contains oxygen and we all know how important it is for our cells.

7- Go out in the nature – get in the sun and get grounded

If the sun is capable to generate energy to a whole industry, why would you think it won’t have the same effect on you? Yes! The energy of the sun strengthens the immune system by bringing more energy to the body, and consequently, to the cells. It generates Vitamin A, D and helps with the absorption of other vitamins, reduces the stress, enhances your mood and sleep. That’s it, nature itself has healing properties. Have you realized how difficult is to get depressed in the summer? All trees and plants provide us fresh oxygen and have an energetic vibration that helps the human body heal faster and reduce stress. Have you ever tried to hug a tree? I know it looks crazy but If you haven’t yet, try it. Spend 5 minutes with your arms around a tree (chose one that you find beautiful!!) and check your breath to see how it will expand during this time. You will feel relaxed, calm and very well.

“Grounding” is also something we talk a lot about in yoga and I have seen that it makes a huge difference in people’s mental state, mostly here in Quebec, where we have sometimes a very long winter with lots of snow and low temperatures. Lack of grounding can cause anxiety, depression, weight gain, pain on the lower parts of the body, fear. Grounding happens when you are fully in your body – not in your head. Have you ever felt like a good walk helped you clear your mind? That’s how it works, the nature is the best way to help you ground and by grounding yourself your mind gets clear, lower body pain is alleviated and mood is improved. Taking a 30 minutes walk in nature is much appreciated to keep the body and the mind healthy. Activities like running, dancing, biking, hiking, skiing, skating, grounding yoga and other activities where you use your legs help with grounding. Eating root vegetables that grow in the sun are also very good for grounding and it helps reduce fear, anxiety, depression and some other lower body pains.

8- Exercise – SWEAT!

That’s a very good thing to do for yourself. Exercising helps the hormone production, increases metabolism (which helps the body functions), burns stagnant energy and eliminates toxins through sweat – which helps the body get healthier and free from diseases. Of course, I am not suggesting that you go take a spinning class with 35 people sweating in a closed room – that will be really be exposed to a million of other people’s toxins while getting rid of your own. If you like that, perfect, but you can also find other ways to sweat while you have fun doing something you love, preferably in nature (then you get 2 or 3 benefits at once!).

9-Reduce Stress, Rest and Relax

Most of mental illnesses like depression and anxiety are related to stress. When we are stressed, the body assumes a “fight and flight” response, that literally prepares your body for war – all the energy is concentrated on the core of the body and on the vital life functions. This would be very helpful if we still had to hunt our food or fight against a bear to survive, which is not required anymore in modern times. The problem is that when we are in this state, the other parts of the body that are not vital get compromised and start to weaken. After a long time in this state, the nervous system starts to weaken and other systems as well. The situation gets worst until we realize it and take the right actions to heal and prevent that from happening. We live in a world where relaxing and resting is for “lazy people” where people tend to judge themselves for taking time to rest. We must be able to allow ourselves to take that time to recharge the body, understanding that it is needed for its function. It also helps to have activities as the ones that mentioned above or to look for some other holistic therapies like energetic healing (reiki, Thetahealing), meditation, yoga, massage, spas– they help maintain us in the present moment and bring us to a relaxation state, which helps the body to detoxify and restore its normal functions. Getting good hours of sleep also helps a lot and gives the body time to heal itself.

10- Play, laugh, have fun and love yourself

Although this is the last one, I feel it could be in first, because it’s the reason for many cases of unbalance. We have 24 hours in a day, which would be 8 hours for working, 8 hours for resting and sleeping and 8 hours for entertainment. If you are working too much, you are probably sacrificing hours that should be dedicated to your rest or your enjoyment of life. Yes, that’s the reason why we have to work: so, our finances can support the realization of our dreams and allow us to do whatever we feel like doing to have fun and enjoy life. But life is not always like this. We have forgotten that having fun and playing is a huge part of what keeps us alive – and that’s also what plays a big role on maintaining our balance. Life is about balance. It is about enjoyment. Most people that come to see me are burned out not just because they worked too much and did rest, but also because they didn’t do what lights them up. Yes, that thing that makes your eyes shine. That’s what you must reserve time to do. That’s what you must be committed to. It brings feelings of joy and peace – and again, they are very high frequency emotions that give more energy to the body and make your cells healthier.