With the rise of much global concern over the continuing spread of the Covid-19 virus (coronavirus), I am sharing some helpful tips and tracks to help you strengthen your immune system.
Tip #1. Fear and Worry Weaken your Immune System
Fear is an emotional state resulting from either a real or perceived danger. It is important to know that your brain does not know the difference between and actual danger and one that you imagine.
The purpose of fear is to keep you safe. It is essential to your survival. Worry, on the other hand, has no purpose at all.
The Amygdala largely runs your response to fear through the sympathetic nervous system. Its job is to cut off access to the thinking brain and revert to the emotional brain and memory so you can react quickly. This is what allows you to move quickly when you step out onto the street and you realize a car is coming.
Because the amygdala works so fast – faster than you can think – it hijacks the thinking brain. It feels like you just can’t think straight. And if the initial fear turns into worry, you can’t because you end up stuck in an emotional loop. Fear and worry stimulate the release of stress hormones.
Study after study has shown that 70% to up to 90% of ALL doctors visits are rooted in symptoms caused by stress.
It is important to increase your awareness of how stress shows up in your body.
It is also important to have a basket full of tools to reduce stress.
Tip #2. The Power of your Mindset
Your mindset has power even over your physiology. It can change objective results.
A fascinating Japanese study demonstrates the power of the mind and belief. This study was described in a 1998 New York Times article called, Placebos Prove So Powerful Even Experts are Surprised, by S. Blakeslee.
Thirteen students were blindfolded and told their right arms were being rubbed with poison ivy. It was actually a harmless shrub, but all 13 students exhibited poison ivy symptoms on that arm. Then they were blindfolded again and told that their left arms were being rubbed by a harmless plant. It was actually poison ivy and only 2 of the 13 broke out in any symptoms.
Your mind has enormous power over your body. A negative mindset increases symptoms of stress and creates or contributes to illness.
Study after study has shown that a positive mindset stimulates wellbeing. One way to nurture a positive mindset is to have a daily gratitude practice.
Purchase a special journal just for your gratitude practice. Every day, write down in your journal three good things that happened that day and three things you are grateful for.
Track #1. Nurture in Nature
Three of the healthiest sounds that there are for the human being are water, birdsong and wind.
The low sounds within water calm your nervous system, slow down your heartbeat lowering blood pressure, slow down your breathing and create a shift in brainwave state to the alpha state. A calming relaxation response.
Birds will stop singing if there is danger nearby. As our human family evolved in nature, birdsong always made us feel safe. We learned to listen for when the birds stopped singing. That’s what told us that danger was near.
In addition to helping us to feeling safe, birdsong consists of high sounds, which charges the nervous system. Also, you never know when a bird is going to sing. Their songs are totally unpredictable.
Your brain loves patterns and constantly looks for them. But the brain can’t find any patterns in birdsong. So the result is, the brain becomes alert, focused and productive.
Wind helps to give you your bearings. It helps you to predict the weather, warning you of an impending storm or allowing you to bask in the gentle sounds of a light summer breeze rustling the leaves of the trees.
Here is a link to download my CD, Woodland Song, which is an hour of gently bubbling water and woodland birds. Explore having this play softly in the background while you are working or during daily activities. Notice is this add more relaxation into your day.
Track #2 Add Vigor to your Vibration
In November of 2009, Calgary was inundated with frequencies of illness and fear over the H1N1 virus. There was a major flu epidemic in the making, and an almost total lack of vaccine.
Ongoing fear compromises your immune system. That’s the last thing you need during a flu epidemic.
As a response to all this fear in the air, I created a track called “Reset.”
My intention in creating this sound was to support people to ‘reset’ their body, mind, emotions and spirit to a higher vibration.
When this reset happens, your immune system is strong, stress is reduced or eliminated, you are relaxed and focused and things just keep going ‘right’.
“Reset” contains some of the most powerful healing sounds I know: gently, bubbling water; the perfect 5th tuning forks; the 528 Hz tuning fork; the Medicine Buddha Mantra; a diamond/rose quartz crystal singing bowl.
Here is a link to download the track, Reset:
Track #3 Old Souls, Old Bowls and Forks
Sound is one of your greatest allies in restoring and maintaining natural healthy patterns. Here are just a few things that it can do for you:
- change body chemistry
- support cellular function
- stimulate hormonal balance
- create mental clarity
- manage pain
- calm or energize the emotional state
- create spiritual connection
Two of my favourite sounds for restoring natural patterns are an old Tibetan singing bowl and the perfect fifth tuning forks.
The many levels of wavering frequencies of an old Tibetan singing bowl act like the restart button on your computer. When your computer is not functioning well, often a restart will get it up and running better.
The old Tibetan singing bowl works in the same way with you.
Remember, sound goes through you.
As you hold and play a bowl like this, the wavering sounds set every atom and molecule into a state of vibration. When the sound stops, your being is stimulated to reset to normal, healthy patterns.
The perfect fifth tuning forks stimulate one of the most important natural cycles for overall health and wellbeing. The nitric oxide cycle in your cells keeps you healthy and natural patterns working as they were designed.
When you are stressed, overtired or ill, this natural cycle is deeply affected. The nitric oxide cycle is so important three research scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1998 for discovering it.
The perfect fifth tuning forks, with frequencies of 256 Hertz and 384 Hertz, were found in experiments to stimulate the nitric oxide cycle in the cells in less than thirty seconds. Completely naturally.
Because Nitric Oxide is involved in almost every metabolic function in your body, it’s healthy function is enormous in supporting your immune system.
So here’s an opportunity to try it out for yourself.
I invite you to click on the link to listen to these sounds and notice their effects on you:
Tip #3 Community Support
Human beings thrive in community. Community supports our health and wellbeing in many ways. Fear and worry encourages us to feel isolated and without support.
Human beings have a brilliant capacity to gather together for support whenever it is needed. In 2013 in Calgary, we had devastating floods that decimated many areas of the city and many smaller communities surrounding Calgary.
There were so many volunteers who showed up to help with the cleanup following the flood that they were asked to gather at the football stadium every morning. My sister, whose property was filled with debris following the flood, had people who showed up every morning at her door to ask if she needed help. As we created piles of debris in her driveway to be hauled away, people just showed up with a truck to take it all away, several times.
There are many ways to connect with and strengthen your own personal community, from staying connected with your immediate family, your extended family, any community in your town or city you belong to, online support, special services in your town or city you can call for support, and many more.