Influenza spreads around the world in a yearly outbreak, resulting in about three to five million cases of severe illness. I am now one in those cases for 2018.
It struck without warning, vertigo and trips to the porcelain confessional in the middle of the night. I remembered I walked past the $0 Co-Pay Flu Shot signs at the Walgreens for weeks. I was consciously tempting and now succumbing to my fate.
I’ve had the flu before and knew I was in for a wild physical ride. It was a good day to practice classic yoga philosophy. Identification with the fluctuations of mind is stopped by practice and non-attachment. abhyasa-vairagyabhyam tan-nirodhah Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras I.12
Detachment allowed me to know my suffering was temporal, and to keep my sense of humor. I was able to rise above the various feelings and functions.
And let myself moan and cry if I couldn’t.
In my research on the benefits of chanting and humming on the vagus nerve, I figured moaning and vocalizing pain might have the same benefits. Turns out moaning and complaining “synthesizes and expresses internal feelings, thus increasing individual’s understanding of them.”
Deep Breathing in Savasana helped calm feelings of nausea. Breathing deep with hands on either side of the navel until you can’t breathe anymore. and holding for three seconds then relaxing on the exhale.
As for asanas lying down knee to chest, twists & legs up the wall Viparita Karani poses help keep the lymphatic system flowing while being bedridden.
I did take ibuprofen for a headache in the middle of the night, but as my many children would tell you, I’m a big believer in bicarbonate of soda for treating illness. I have a theory that Ph balance has a lot more to do with health than temperature. For the flu, it soothes inflammation, neutralizes stomach acid and is harmless even if it doesn’t work.
In a healthy body, the natural biochemical balance is four parts alkaline to one part acid. To achieve this balance, a person needs to consume roughly 80 percent alkaline foods and 20 percent acidic foods. Many experts, in fact, deem an overly acidic diet to be a key cause of chronic inflammation.
In their booklet “Arm & Hammer Baking Soda Medical Uses,” published in 1924, Dr. Volney S. Cheney recounts his clinical successes with sodium bicarbonate in treating cold and flu.
“In 1918 and 1919 while fighting the ‘flu’ with the U. S. Public Health Service it was brought to my attention that rarely anyone who had been thoroughly alkalinized with bicarbonate of soda contracted the disease, and those who did contract it, if alkalinized early, would invariably have mild attacks.
Consume Tamal jal copper water during illness to take advantage of it’s anti-viral properties. It’s convenient to have a container near the bed to stay hydrated and while laying flat from fatigue and getting bed rest needed to heal.
When I was ready to eat, Loving hubby went to late to work so he could go to the co-op and get me bananas, rice, applesauce, tea and toast. BRAT diet
Many of the most serious complications from the flu are in the respiratory system. The Neti pot saline nasal rinse is a yogic purification technique that cleanses the mucous membranes. I use boiled and cooled tap water, make sure it is boiled for three to five minutes then cooled until it is lukewarm.
At the beginning of winter, I invested in a Sperti Vitamin D lamp. I’ve been curious and researching these lamps since I saw one in Israel. Michael Hollick, M.D., Ph.D., of Boston University, a noted vitamin D researcher, has reported that the Sperti lamp increases or maintains D levels in healthy people with fair skin. I am very fair so only stand in front of it for 2 mins every other day.
For binge watching I recommend westerns and period dramas. The White Queen is quite good and there’s two seasons.
I had to cancel classes at the Kroc, which I never had to do in the seven years I worked there.
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