Care For Corona
Immunity Boosters
These 3 tips leverage the body-mind connection to keep your immune system robust. Remember: fear and stress lowers our immunity while happiness and love boost our natural defense systems. What you think and feel matters.
Tip #1: Calm the stress in your body.
Is this you? You say you’re not angry/worried, but your muscles feel tense, your jaw is locked, and your heart is racing. All these signals below your neck are sending rapid-fire messages to your brain, telling you it's in distress. What happens in your body below your conscious awareness has a much more powerful effect on your well-being than your thoughts. Knowing this simple fact about ourselves helps us prioritize what we do.
Try this next time you feel anxious. Give yourself a special hug. Take your hand and place it under the opposite armpit. Take the other hand and place it over your opposite arm. It should look like this.
This special hug sends signals to your core (where your heart, lungs, and gut reside) that "All is calm and well." Hang out here for 1-3 minutes and notice the results.
Tip #2: Laugh much and Laugh often
There's plenty of research out there to suggest that laughter has many beneficial effects, including healing people of their cancer symptoms.
Here’s one of my favorite funny videos to get you started. There’s a treasure trove of funny animal videos out there on the internet, all waiting to cheer your heart —and boost your nervous system in the process!
Photo by The Honest Company on Unsplash
Tip #3: Be altruistic
Altruism means instead of thinking, “What about me?”, we shift the focus to “What about you?” This simple shift in focus relieves us of the tight and often suffocating experience of fretting about ourselves. Our bodies respond to these negative thoughts by holding our breath and gritting our teeth. These actions signal to the brain that we need to be in protection mode, which then further tightens our muscles and narrows our focus to survival. Focusing on kindness expands our breath, softens our gaze, and relaxes our muscles. This shift allows our bodies to bring more blood flow to our viscera and help them better function.
Try this: Think of someone that might need your help. All of us, at any given point in time, has someone in a worse position. Simple things you can do that have a big impact: remember a kind act that you’ve received and thank the person; offer someone a compliment; smile before you answer the phone.
The hardest hit among us right now are service workers. Many do not have the health insurance, paid time off, or money to pay the rent or feed their families if they don’t work. Mindful Living, Inc. donates to Canal Alliance, a nonprofit that has a special fund for clients who need help during this time. Even donating $5 can offer your brain and body a positive endorphin boost, so give here.
Free Gift: 10 days at 10 am meditation
If you find that it’s hard to remember activities like self-hugs, laughing, or being kind, then do it with a buddy. For 10 days, I’ll be offering a daily compassion meditation at 10 am.
These short sessions include: 1) a somatic exercise 2) preparation of attention 3) focused compassion meditation.
Compassion refreshes our spirits, minds, and bodies. I will be hosting this meditation at 10 am every morning, starting March 17,2020. Sessions will last 10-15 minutes. It’s free and you can dial in and out as you wish. This is my gift to you to help you remember: You’re not alone. Together, we’ll grow stronger.
Were these tips helpful?
Please forward to a friend. As always, I welcome your thoughts, so please email me.
In solidarity,
Laurie Phuong Ertley, LMFT
Owner & Founder of Mindful Living, Inc.