The flu, it’s dreaded, but this is the right time for it to be happening because we are moving towards the spring equinox which is a natural time of cleansing for the body. This is why so many of us get colds and flu’s around this time, because from our perspective it’s meant to be happening. So understanding this movement of cycles that happens, can allow us to get ourselves ready for the detoxification to happen, because this process at this time of year is detoxifying and nurturing. Unfortunately we have become very fearful of this natural process and do our best to suppress it. Detoxifying and then nurturing are 2 fundamental things that the body has to be able to fulfil for it to maintain it’s good level of health. This healing time creates freedom of movement, and allows the body to come into line with the cycles of the seasons, throwing off the winter.
But sadly this years winter illness has almost by the sounds of it brought the NHS to it’s knees due to the reduced bed numbers and respiratory issues they have seen. You have to hand to the doctors and nurses they are amazing considering the pressures they are under financially to achieve what they are doing in what seems to be becoming an increasingly ill society. More people than ever were vaccinated with the flu vaccine in the UK, yes it was 1.5 million higher than the year before, although the numbers of over 65’s has dropped, if we are going to such lengths to suppress this illness, why are so many getting it? What are we doing to our health to be hit so badly by these strains of bacteria which I acknowledge have been more virulent this year than normally.
Probably one of the reasons is because the flu bacterial strains are quite difficult to identify ahead of them appearing, even the vaccine companies agree this is the case. They tend to mutate, as bacteria tend to do, so it’s difficult to put your finger on what is likely to show up. So the vaccine companies are selling a product they hope will work, it’s like buying into a hedge fund, except it’s less likely to give you a return by the looks of it. Even in research it’s not showing to reduce the flu from happening, more that it reduces the likelihood of you dying from it.
If you had that experience of only having a product work some of the time, would you go back time and time again to get something that you don’t know will work or not? Many of us do, and on a yearly basis having the flu vaccine it happens because the local medical centre told you to do it, or more bizarrely now the supermarket has, who let’s face it hasn’t got you health interests at heart. Don’t agree with me about the supermarkets focus on health, well have a look at the kids cereals aisle and all the ends of the aisles where the promotions are. I rarely see health products promoted and down the cleaning aisle as one of my clients so ‘eloquently’ put it, “is a chemical shxt storm” her words not mine I hasten to add, but I can’t disagree with her.
But yearly the NHS spends huge amounts of revenue buying flu vaccines, and is still over run with people getting ill over winter. Last week I pointed out that it’s a long term health focus that is needed in our society and a change in our dietary approaches, that if we aren’t seeding the garden with the right plants then we are unlikely to grow any, never mind strong ones that can fight off pests. Pete Cohen points out that if you want a six pack body you have to have a six pack life, and he’s not wrong. Health is a series of actions that we take each and every day, that give us energy, help us to eliminate our toxins, and build up our immunity. Our immunity has had a hard year, this winter has been terrible for some of my clients, it has been harder to resolve these issues than ever before and I’ve had to use far stronger products for longer than usual, mostly this is due to the fact that people are not living the metaphorical 6 pack life or seeding it properly.
So expecting a vaccine to resolve years of living a 2 pack biscuit, cake, and takeaway life isn’t going to give you the 6 pack health when the you know what hits the fan.
A far better way of hedging your health is to practise good health habits everyday, this not only lessens the likelihood of being ill, lessens the load of the illness when it is much stronger to deal with, making it potentially easier to handle. The reduced toxicity we put in on a daily basis gives the body less to deal with when it gets ill. We need to take control and responsibility for our health, by reviewing our diet and lifestyle choices because it’s clear that we need to because our NHS currently can’t cope. There is much we can do to help this situation and it doesn’t mean paying more taxes.
As we move towards the Spring Equinox on March 20th at 4.15pm, it’s a good time to consider moving your diet into a lighter cleaner diet, to help with the process of cleansing. Spring clean your lifestyle, and body, review what you are eating, and it’s time to wake things up a bit. I’m starting to see the daffodils shooting and the snowdrops are out looking lovely giving you all the signs that change is on it’s way. Your energy should start to change, inspiration comes and you will be able to get out and take more action.
Start to get ready to clear out the environment, get rid of the chemicals in your life and bring in natural products as much as you can.
Have half of your plate as vegetables if you aren’t already. Green is the colour of spring, so remember that your naturopath loves you eating your greens, they are a traditional part of the spring diet, the chlorophyll resembles haematin that forms haemoglobin, which carries oxygen in our blood. This has been found to have positive effects on wound healing,
Are you eliminating? Otherwise known as poo(p)ing? Your bowels need to be moving daily, it’s absolutely key for high immunity. Track your bowel movements and then start to work on getting it moving each day.
Get your sleeping back in balance, stop the late nights, get to bed by 10.30pm. Don’t eat after 7pm ideally.
Drink water, not tea, not coffee, but water, our body needs to be hydrated, most people’s bowels are not moving due to poor hydration levels I find. Once we get enough water in they move properly.
Eat calmly, don’t eat when stressed, for some of you that might be that you end up thinking when can I eat, well if you are so stressed, that’s a good place to start to consider having a cleanse. Cleanse your stress and make this your year to change that.
Get that juicer out of the back of the cupboard and make a commitment to have juice every day for 30 days, or 2, 3, or 5 times a week. Just design a plan that you can achieve and do it.
When we have the flu, fasting tends to be an automatic response to what is happening, listen to the body and follow it’s appetite levels during that time. Fasting might be the right thing to do, once the appetite is coming back, have a vegetable broth first, then make food more substantial.
Spring time is by far the best time to cleanse, and of course it’s a time for nurturing as well so grab a massage, organise sauna’s, and dig out that skin brush your naturopath asked you to use, dust it off and skin brush again!!
In March with a number of other ‘health warriors’( rather than worriers), I am doing a cleanse as always but this time I’m trialling using the doTerra Cleanse and Renew products. Well the vegan ones for me at least! This is a community of us that will just be getting together so we don’t have to cleanse alone so to speak. We plan on using a Facebook group to keep us all motivated, lot’s of us will be including loads of recipes and ideas on what to do during that time. If you are one of my clients ask before you decide to join us, because I might not think it will be suitable for you at this point! But if you do fancy doing this then say, I’m not writing a formal cleansing process for you, I’m not advising, it’s not tailored, it’s just a community of us having cleansing fun! You have to take responsibility for the detoxification that you might experience during that time and there probably will be. I’m purely inviting some of you who fancy trying a different cleansing product to join us. I probably just need to get out more….
