Cultivating Inner Resilience in our Body
Updated: Oct 20, 2021
Our bodies are designed to be naturally resilient, with an innate intelligence to self-regulate and self-heal when our nerve energy and communication flows abundantly, without any stressors, impeding nerve flow.
With the rapid changes taking place in our world right now, it is little wonder that many of us are experiencing increased stress in our life. This is exacerbated by the worries around of being affected by COVID-19 from the multiple perspectives, including:-
Ensuring and maintaining our own and family health
Managing financial stress - some of us are unable to earn a living or are affected with reduced income (such as being asked to move to part-time employment), some may have loss a job, etc.
Adjusting to the sudden and ongoing changes to our household routine and rhythm due to stay-at-home, work-from-home and other measures by various government as an outer shield from COVID-19, i.e. to minimise physical transmission.
Our Inner Shield or Defence
Cultivating our inner shield, i.e. our immune system and hence, the longer term resilience in our body, in our opinion could be the difference between zero to mild COVID-19 symptoms to severe COVID-19 symptoms requiring hospitalisation.
What can we do cultivate inner resilience in our body?
Keep calm and your stress level low
This may be a tall order, but it is the most important. There are many studies that shows that stress weakens the immune system, such as resulting in fewer natural killer cells, which fight tumours and viral infections in the body. Stress response impacts not only our immune system but our digestive system as well as respiratory system.
Cultivating a daily routine that helps you keep calm and your stress level low could get you a long way in maintaining your inner resilience. This may look different for different people. For some, daily walks and exercise or daily self-affirmation and meditation works wonders. For some, the very thought of meditation, bring their stress level up. Find out what works best for you. We usually recommend that you plan ahead by considering what you could do if you have 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour or 2 hours and slot these into your weekly schedule.
Some examples that’s all natural and free are:-
a) Connect barefoot to the Earth
Our bodies are made up mostly of water and minerals, which in combination, are good conductors of electrons, enabling us to be electrically conductive. Contact with the ground allows our body to absorb and become charged with electrons from earth, which in turn reduces electrical imbalances and stress in the body and stabilises its basic biological rhythms, including reseting circadian rhythm.
b) Connect to your breath that is available to you at all times
There are many breathwork techniques or therapies to choose from. One that we often recommend to our clients is the 4-6 Technique. We love it because it is easy, quick and effective to move your body from stress to a calm-heal-digest state.
c) Reduce electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure
Electromagnetic field (EMF) of all frequencies represent one of the most common and fastest growing environmental influences and chemical stressor but is often overlooked. All populations are now exposed to varying degrees of EMF, and the levels will continue to increase as technology advances. There are now more than 1,000 scientific studies conducted by independent researchers from around the world concerning the biological effects of radio frequency radiation. At a minimum, we would recommend using wired versions of gadgets and peripherals (e.g. mice, headphones, keyboards, printers) instead of wireless, where possible and switching your WiFi and mobile phone off at night or when you are not using them.
Keep hydrated
This is a simple yet often overlooked daily practice that is vital to cultivating and maintaining inner resilience in our body. Every cell and every structure within the cell has a hydration shell. Water is coating the surface of all the trillions of biomolecules in our body.
Water is essential to keep our body functioning optimally, including regulating our body temperature, lubricating joints, protecting the spinal cord as well as aiding digestion and nutrient absorption.
Water consumption also directly affects energy levels. Just a 5% drop in body fluids could cause a 25% to 30% reduction in energy levels. The next time you feel your energy levels going down, drink a glass of water instead of going for a snack!
Keeping sufficiently hydrated helps detoxify and flush out toxins from our body. Conversely, when dehydrated, airways are restricted by the body in an effort to minimise water loss. To ensure healthy respiratory and digestive systems as well as immune function, optimal regulation of our body processes and maintain energy levels, simply ensuring we are sufficiently hydrated each day may make a huge difference in our lives.
How do you know if you are drinking sufficient water? Many factors goes into this consideration, such as your the intensity of your activities, your age, your weight, climate, your lifestyle choices, etc.. Our recommendation is always to listen to your body. However, as a reference point, the Institute of Medicine, United States recommends approximately 3 litres (about 13 cups) for men and 2.2 litres (about 9 cups) for women in its Dietary Reference Intake for Water in February 2004.
Besides drinking good quality filtered water, eating food with high water content such as, fresh fruits and vegetables (preferably organic or bio-dynamic which are more nutrient-dense) is also a great way to hydrate as well as include vitamins, minerals, fibre and electrolytes to our diet. Some examples of fruits with water content higher than 85% are watermelon, orange and pineapple while some examples of vegetables with water content more than 90% are broccoli, cucumber, cabbage, lettuce and celery.
Food as medicine
There are many researches on foods and spices with incredible healing properties. For example, pomegranate have antiviral activities and beetroot have antimicrobial and antiviral effects and also can inhibit the proliferation of cells in human tumour cells.
Clinical observations showed that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has proven to be effective in the treatment of over 90% of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mainland China. For those specifically interested in research on natural substances that have been studied for coronavirus, here is an article by GreenMedinfo on the topic which includes the use of TCM and liquorice root: Studies find Natural Treatments for Coronavirus.
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How does Spinal Flow Technique help with cultivating your inner shield or immune system?
Your nervous system (brain, spinal cord and nerves) controls and coordinates everything in your body. When your nerve energy flows abundantly without obstruction, your body and mind are 100% self-communicating, self-healing and self regulating. When blockages impede nerve flow, you are no longer functioning at 100% and your health and vitality is compromised. Blockages are caused by our inability to process life’s 3 major stressors. Health problems associated with chronic stress, such as chronic headaches, anxiety, immune system dysfunction, sleep issues, fertility issues, chronic depression, hyperactivity and more are caused by our inability to process any or a combination of the life’s 3 major stressors - physical stressors, emotional stressors and chemical stressors.