Ah, it’s good to be back! Back from where you ask? Well, recovering from Covid.
I received tons of warm, healing wishes on my social media pages. Thank you so much, it definitely added positive vibes to my days. The most important thing for me during the phase of dealing with Covid, (initially as a caregiver and later as a patient) was to constantly choose faith over fear and integrate that in my being. The role of mindset in any kind of recovery is very crucial.
Apart from the opportunity to practice this, I also had time to notice and learn a lot of things during this period which I otherwise wouldn’t have. I am sharing my thoughts on various aspects that I felt really had a massive role in our smooth recovery process. From pondering over our immunity status to the daily practices we had been following for over 5 years, this is something I really want to share with you.
Please note that this is purely based on my personal experience. I am not a doctor and this is strictly my individual opinion. Please read the disclaimer below.
Okay, so here are my 6 insights that I personally feel had a lot to do in our quick and easy covid recovery. Do give it a read.
1. Immunity
I noticed that all of us affected (that includes my husband and I who were fully vaccinated and my son who wasn’t) had maximum 2 days of fever and then body ache and mild cold/cough symptoms. Though we were constantly monitoring our oxygen levels and on high alert for any symptom for concern, it turned out to be mostly as any flu condition would be and we are immensely grateful to God for that. And in all of this, my daughter who was staying with us under the same roof, didn’t contract the virus, even though I was primarily the food preparation in charge for her too. So much gratitude for that as well.
As I thought about it, it occurred to me that this may have manifold reasons. Yes, the vaccination part was one of them but my son wasn’t vaccinated and he too had almost similar experience as us. My attention shifted to the next most important aspect – our immunity status. Individual immunity status has a much greater role to play in how this or any infection plays out. And that brought me to think deeply about our everyday practices that that played a huge role in building a healthy immunity. I am listing below.
2. Food and nutrition
High quality food is something I strongly believe in and food safety was the reason I got into organic farming in the first place. Food is not all made equal; let’s first understand that. Any fruit, vegetable, oil, spice, cereal or anything else isn’t all the same. It hugely depends on how it was grown and processed. There is simply no comparison between an organically grown vegetable from seed to harvest and a similar looking one grown with tons of pesticides and chemical inputs. It simply is not the same! I realized that eating about 70% of food grown by us (that includes vegetables, fruits, oil, few spices and herbs) and 10% from known organic sources has really helped in keeping our immune system healthy. We have to buy the other 20% of random things from sources unknown but that’s inevitable and its still much better for us in the long run. I go by the 80-20 rule; 80% of what’s good and what you can control and 20% of things you can’t control. On a side note, I also made an observation that after our introduction to “nature-cure” we had been eating fruits for breakfast for more than 4 years now and that has definitely had great benefits in terms of our nutritional intake.
3. Chemical usage
The next important factor I believe is the amount of chemical exposure; not just through pesticide-laden food but through our indoor environment. That includes exposure to toxic chemicals through cleaning products. I had read a lot about the harm caused by excessive exposure to these 99.9% germ killing cleaning products and how our gut health and immunity is massively impacted by inhaling the fumes these cleaners leave behind in our homes. You may want to read about the “gut microbiome” in detail as there are tons of videos, content and scientific research in this field available. From endocrine disruptors, infertility to autoimmune disorders, many diseases are linked to exposure to these harmful chemicals we ingest unconsciously. I had switched to bioenzyme based cleaners and herbal alternatives about 5 years back. I also started making my own soaps and homemade cosmetics as almost 60% of what we put on our skin gets absorbed into our blood stream. I created courses to teach people how they can switch to these options too. I have to tell you this honestly here that even during the Covid invasion times I had never once bought hand-sanitizers, antibacterial hand-washes or disinfectant sprays. The first time I gave in to buy store-bought hand-wash and antibacterial spray was during this past week when we had to stay quarantined and had to ensure we were maintaining a safe containment zone keeping our community in mind. We use them for this brief 2 week period and it stops once we are out of quarantine.
I believe in having a healthy, balanced ecosystem of good microbes around us for our well-being. In keeping our environments excessively sterile, we are causing havoc to our healthy microbial systems within our gut and around us. This is backed up by science, so do give this a thought and read-up more on this please.
4. Medicine over-use
I realized that in last 5 years or so, as a family we haven’t consumed anti-biotics or even paracetamol for any ailments. We did have our fair share of fevers and colds but we followed nature-cure methods of fasting, wet-packs etc to alleviate the discomfort as much as possible and it had kept us in good stead always. Of course we’d take medications if need be but that was very rare. So, when I thought about it, I realized that it had a major role to play in our body’s way of responding to medications. Our bodies responded better to anti-biotics as we used them rarely. Anti-biotic resistance and medicine over-use/abuse is becoming a real issue right now. I hear a lot from my doctor clients in my workshops about this and how serious this is becoming. Too much use of medications and over-prescribing is making our bodies resistant to antibiotics and other medicines and that is one of the biggest reasons for super bugs arising and the medical field struggling to find solutions to counter it. This is a huge corner stone in our health and immunity building. Again it’s my personal view and I invite you to dig deeper into this through your own research into this topic.
5. Sunlight and water therapies
I also have to stress on this much neglected topic. As weekend farmers we invariably spend a lot of time in the sun of course but apart from this, we try our best to have early morning sun-baths as often as possible. In our modern ways of living we have completely shut-out sunlight from our lives. Sun’s energy is a powerful healer and so is water therapy. Having cold baths and wet packs on aching parts of our body helps soothe and alleviate mild symptoms of discomfort without medicines. This practice had helped us all immensely over these years. Also simple things like opening the doors and windows everyday morning to allow fresh air in, adding indoor plants and spending time with nature helps immensely.
6. Emotional wellbeing
Yoga, nature walks, meditation and exercise has had immense effect on my mind and body. The benefits of having a positive mindset is immeasurable. Practicing stillness and developing an attitude for Gratitude everyday even for a few minutes is very important and I practice it daily. Shutting out the external unwanted pressure and going inwards is crucial for our mental and emotional wellbeing. Doing things we love on a daily basis is also very important for our emotional state. I call it chasing my everyday bliss!
In today’s fast paced life, we are so busy just reacting and responding to whatever gets thrown at us, that we forget to zoom out and see what really matters. Let’s pay more attention to what’s important for us and make wise choices.
Disclaimer – I am NOT a medical doctor. These are not meant to be cure or alternative to medications. This is strictly based on my personal experiences. Please do your own research and use your own discretion. I am simply sharing my thoughts and opinions. If it doesn’t align with your situation or thought process, simply move on. You are most welcome to agree or disagree. Thank you for being a discerning reader.
