How to survive the Flu The FEEL GOOD Way!
BUENOS DIAS! Boy do I FEEL GOOD! WOO HOO!
Wow, I just came out of almost a week of having the flu, sheesh! You never see it coming and wow, it is so STRONG! Right now, I am feeling glad to be alive, and so GRATEFUL for the good health that I enjoy most of the time! I am also renewed in my belief that we are designed to just allow this process to happen. That somehow it makes us stronger. That sometimes, we are just supposed to stop. Rest, drink a lot of fluids and rest some more.
First of all, when I am sick, I really try to allow that to happen. Many of us have been trained that being sick is not allowed and that we have too much to do and too much responsibility to allow the process to just play it self out.
We also have a multi trillion dollar industry that is driving this and so we take anti inflammatory for the aches and the fever, also to dry up our very wet systems, we take stuff for anti nausea, we take stuff to give us energy where there is none….right? We can mask the symptoms and go back into the work force and not skip a beat. Uff, this is too common.
This industry has also scared us into going to doctors and hospitals with the same illnesses we used to just stay home with, right? We ask for antibiotics when we have a cold. The year after “swine flu” I had a young healthy friend of mine tell me he went to the hospital with the flu and he was given prescriptions for about $400usd in medications to take which he filled and was taking! He was not sure which was making him feel worse, the meds or the flu. I told him to flush them all and drink lots of juice and water, and have someone bring him some chicken soup. Of course, he got better, in about 5 days, which is how long it usually takes to get over the flu, right?
So, here are some things that I do when I am sick: (Disclaimer, I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. I am a nurse, but that does not give me the training to be able to legally advise you on your health. I am just describing my thinking, how I act with my own body, mind and health. You can do what you want, but please do not hold me responsible for your actions. ).
- I allow my fever to be high! With in reason. My fever peaked at about 102, which has no danger in it. If it had been 103 and climbing, I would have rethought that. But good old 102 is time to just lie down, shut your eyes, and drink water every time you can muster the energy. Period. If you have the strength, throw some limes in that water for the increased vitamin C. Maybe better yet, munch down a habanero! They actually have 300% more Vitamin C than Oranges.
Most people are taking anti-inflammatory with any rise in temperature, but my belief is that this fever is here for a reason. This is my system responding to a foreign body that is trying to mess with my health. Fever is I think a healthy response, and not something that we should try to reverse.
- Self massage. Even though I have zero strength I can muster, I find that massaging my feet and hands and face and head can really really really help me pull off some of the really bad feeling I am feeling. If you have someone who can do it for you, even better, but something about doing it myself also feels very healing.
During this bout with the flu, I found that I would feel my head throbbing with energy that was stuck. When I would do a scalp massage, it would start vibrating and throbbing with healing energy. TINGLING! I could really feel the difference immediately! Same with my hands.
For those of you familiar with My FEEL GOOD Way, you know that our hands, feet and ears have reflex points to the whole body, so when you massage and pull energy off of those systems, it has affected the entire system. And feels yummy. I usually use some arnica cream while I do it. It soothes the body. Calms it down.
The more strength I gain as time goes by, the more I do this as anyone who has spent some days in bed can tell you, laying around doing nothing is hard on the body! Also see number 5!
I also stretch. Not actively, but I will lie in positions that stretch me a bit, and when I get the energy, I find another position that stretches me. It really feels good.
- I moan and groan as much as I want. Sometimes it feels like we need to be silent and suffer, but wow, when I allow the vocalizations out, it has a healing quality to it. I have the luxury of living alone, so that makes it a little easier. My neighbor probably thinks I am having sex, hope he gets a smile out of it! That will give me some good juju, right? Hahaha!
- I accept help. People want to help. I let them bring me juice, take my temp, even clean my house. Nobody likes to be sick in a dirty house. The sink can get pretty piled up with dishes, so what the heck. AND I AM GRATEFUL and will do the same for them if they ever need me too! It is not a sign of weakness to accept the help of others, but a sign of Grace. I am about to send thank you notes to them all who helped this time around. SYMPATHY HEALS!
- As soon as I am on the mend, I get a full body massage by a professional. This is a great way to clean out the gunk that has been gooping up the system as well as work out the kinks that you accumulated due to the physical fact of being in bed all day!
- Take one extra day, just to be sure. Not an extra day to do the tada list, but an extra day to rest. Read and enjoy being alive and grateful that you made it through again.
Well, I could go on and on with this, but this is probably enough for now…..I am just grateful that I have lived to write it!
So, thanks for listening, and stay tuned for more from My FEEL GOOD WAY! Sending you big juju when it is your turn.