How do you spend your time between the storms?

 

Our life will be full of ebbs and flows. There will be times of ease and times of trial. Times of joy and times of sorrow.

There will be robust health and times when we fight off illness. This concept of whole-body wellness is where we like to focus at Collins Chiropractic. We want you to lead a life of robust health…and yet we know that there are times when our bodies must endure the storm of illness.

There exists this common misconception that if one falls ill with a cold or flu that their immune system has failed. Or worse yet that they have failed. But is a ship considered a failure if it enters into a storm? Or are storms just a reality of life at sea and the test is how well the ship fares through the storm? Those feelings that accompany an illness are simply a healthy immune system responding to an invading pathogen, a ship surviving a storm. Coughing, sneezing, fever, mucous, vomiting and diarrhea are all uncomfortable, but during an illness are signs of a healthy immune response. If you eat something containing a foodborne pathogen it is in your best interest to get rid of it immediately and forcefully! These are times that vomiting and diarrhea are vital. To retain that pathogen could be deadly. To expel it forcefully from your body is your innate intelligence waking up and responding to danger in the best way it can.

Too often we try to stifle these storms with medications – those that reduce fever, dry up mucous, inhibit diarrhea and otherwise inhibit natural, albeit uncomfortable, symptoms of a healthy immune response. But what would it look like to just ride through the storm without trying to calm it? What would it be to batten down the hatches, like a sailor caught in a storm at sea, and ride through it with grace? And what would it look like to prepare and strengthen the ship between the storms?

Storms are a good thing. Storms are healthy weather patterns, which often come seasonally, and make up the balance of this world. Illness, most often confronted seasonally, makes up a balance in our bodies as well. We are given an incredible immune system, born out of intelligent design, that knows how to attack invading pathogens. But it needs practice. We practice against illnesses like colds and flus so that when we come up against the really tough stuff like MRSA or tuberculosis we have an immune system that knows how to fight. Can you imagine sending a young soldier to war without first sending him or her to Basic Training? It wouldn’t make much sense, would it? Flus and rhinoviruses are our immune system’s Basic Training. Superbugs are the war. Who would you rather encounter first?

So what does it look like to batten down the hatches and ride through the storm? First and foremost, it doesn’t look like what so many of us do: take a fever reducer and decongestant and power through. It requires that we hunker down and rest. It requires hydration and whatever amount of nutritious food you can stomach. Things like smoothies and bone broths pack a powerful and nutrient-dense punch. For colds and sinus infections, inhaling a warm steam enhanced with essential oils can be quite soothing. But first and foremost it all starts with rest. Mounting an immune response is exhausting and our bodies need as little stress as possible. We will offer a workshop in December on Natural Remedies for Common Illnesses where we will present more great ideas…be sure to check out our events calendar and join us there.

Just as important as successfully riding out the storm is what we do between the storms to tidy up the ship and prepare for the next one. How do you care for your vessel? Do you get enough sleep? Do you drink enough water? Do you feed your body nutritious food since our cells are literally built from what we eat? And do you get adjusted? Do you make sure that every part of your vessel is strengthened because your master communication system is in working order and putting all the pieces of your immune system back together?  Does your brain communicate and direct the rest of your body?  It can’t if you are subluxated.  Get checked by your chiropractor!

Preparing between the storms is massively important. What are 3 changes you can make today that will have you sprucing up your ship between the storms and preparing for whatever seas lie ahead?

Looking for ideas?

 

Boost your Immune System!

Boost your Immune System!

Take charge of your health so you can weather the storm.

 

Here’s to smooth sailing,

Dr. Collins

 

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