Life HAS shifted and changed for most of us greatly in the past couple of weeks. We have personally gone from being on the road for about half of each month to self- imposing our version of “sheltering in place”. Our monthly income has shifted along with our much-loved hugs from the spiritual communities we visited. We decided we would make lemonade out of our lemons that have been cosmically introduced into our lives.
First we decided to embrace these changes and stay home not only to decrease our potential of exposure to the coronavirus (we are both of that “SPECIAL” age group…lol) but to hopefully lighten the load of those that are caring for the ill. After all I have never liked being a part of a statistic and sure would prefer to not be one now.
As we have embraced being home, we have found our connection with GOD has grown along with our creative juices. We have revisited ways to boost our immunity, keep our peace and enjoy our lives in a different way.
We have looked at our foods & lifestyle. We are including more of the immune boosting foods such as: oranges, grapefruits, lemons, red peppers, broccoli, garlic, spinach, green tea and papaya. Interesting tidbit is that RED peppers have 2x as much Vitamin C than many citrus foods.
- Please note that some citrus fruits can raise your blood sugar if you have diabetes. Garlic has sulfur properties so if allergic to sulfur medications supplements of garlic might not be a good choice for you but cooking with garlic might be helpful.
- If taking Vit. C supplements some find that they might have GI issues but usually food is not in those extreme levels. Vit. C is water soluble and not retained in the body.
- Another thing to be aware of is if on blood thinners some green vegetables may not be good for you. This list includes kale, collard greens, broccoli, spinach, cabbage and lettuce. There are others so please do research prior to consuming.
We reevaluated our supplements and vitamins including herbal usage. We increased and started the ones that we felt would improve our overall wellbeing. We increased our Vitamin D, added zinc and Vit. C supplements. We take a stress B vitamin to assist with stressors. We added elderberry, milk thistle and astragalus. Some recommend others such as echinacea and licorice, but they MUST BE USED WITH CARE AS THEY CAN AFFECT BLOOD PRESSURE OR ALTER THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MEDICATIONS.
For exercise walking in your neighborhood and nature are excellent, not only for physical health, but your emotional health. We walk daily using social distancing as we wave and speak to our neighbors.
Shopping weekly, we have found most of what we have needed. Being a country girl, I have always kept a little extra in our home.
A very important aspect for us has been to start practicing the habits I had as an infection control nurse. I felt this had always worked for me when I worked in highly contagious areas and was blessed to never catch anything. My family never was exposed or got sick. We wash our hands frequently and especially when we have left our home. I disinfect our doorknobs, bathrooms, counters daily. If we feel our clothing has been contaminated, we remove them, along with our shoes at the door.
We have embraced this change by remembering the things we dreamed of doing “when we retired”. Our ever-growing list includes:
-downloading photos, learning photo shop
-writing our booklets, articles, blogs, books
-video chatting with our friends and family
-taking online classes, meditating, gardening, reading
-having a socially distant coffee/picnic with friends & family
Yes, life has changed but it’s when we can view this as GOD’s way of slowing us down, embrace what’s really important in our individual lives that we can see the gifts in it.
You can reach Susan at her email susan@soulsoothers.org For more blogs by Susan visit our website https://soulsoothers.org/