If there was just one takeaway from last year. If there was just one thing we could do to help us before we get sick. It’s prioritizing our health as a crucial part of a strong immune system and an integral defense against illness.
I’m not talking about looking good, fitness or losing weight. What I mean is a healthy, mindful lifestyle. With good health being the goal, not necessarily losing weight but which could eventually be a byproduct.
What do health goals look like?
- Better overall movement
- Decrease stiffness after sitting or waking up
- Eliminate inflammation and bloating
- More stable and sustained energy throughout the day
- Less stress, anxiety and worry
- Decreasing and eliminating food cravings
- Better focus, clarity, creativity and intellectual power
- Increased strength, endurance, mobility and flexibility
- Better respiratory, circulatory, immune system response and functionality.
Our body is always talking to us, in an effort for us to respond. Part of the break in communication is if we are already suffering from constant inflammation, our mind and body start to normalize that state, where now we don’t realize we have inflammation. Another way we do this to ourselves, is if we’re always stressed out from work, in order to get through the day, we normalize the stress and just consider it normalcy, and tell ourselves “that’s just the way it is”.
The problem is we’ve shut off the response, we’ve silenced the signals our body is giving us for us to act and react to the stress or inflammation. If we feel the onset of a flu or cold, we need to slow down, rest and respond in a way that will help our bodies overcome the illness. I’ll even go for a quick and light, outdoor workout, which seems to bang out any oncoming symptoms.
Sometimes even just sensing or realizing the beginning of a cold or sickness will help hasten the duration or make it milder. Because your body will do the rest. It’s when we have that constant inflammation our body that disables the communication for our body to create an immune response.
But overall, better circulatory, respiratory, nervous and lymphatic systems are all part of a stronger more efficient immune system.