So when you have a health concern, even if it is just a cold, do you ever think about how you got it? Do you blame your five year old for getting to close to all the other kids in class, maybe they swapped some mucus balls. Do you blame it on your coworkers because they were hacking up their lungs all day? Or do you ask yourself, why is my body allowing itself to get sick? Many people go directly to an outside cause as to why they got sick. Come clean, did you ever do this? I know I have…but I have learned how to use getting sick to get to know my body and the triggers that might allow a virus, infection or whatever else may ale me. Most of us get sick at least once in a while…even if it is just a little belly ache. You know when you don’t want to leave your house…just in case it happens again.

Self-Interrogation

 When I get sick, I start to self-interrogate. It is like being a private detective trying to solve that mystery. And for now, it is a mystery, but once you get well versed in this self-interrogation method, the mystery will fade away.

Here are some questions you can start asking yourself.

• What happened a day or two before I got sick?
• Did I have a stressful day at work?
• Did I only sleep four hours a few nights in a row?
• Did I not eat anything that resembled healthy food in your last six meals?
• Did I lose my temper and blow a blood vessel yelling at my kids?

Once you have answered these questions, you might even come up with some new ones that make sense for your life. Write the questions and answers down…they will come in handy if you need to self-interrogate again.

The Proof is In the Pudding

Take the answers that you wrote down and start playing the situations over in your mind. Which situations might have had a negative effect on you…the ones that stressed you out and added a few gray hairs…or the ones that made you sad, frustrated, angry or hopeless? Can you feel a little bit of the feeling that you experienced when you went through the situation the first time? It might be lessened with time, but the clues are there. Feel the places in your body that tightened up, that felt a little weird when you were playing these situations in your mind, over and over again. You might have to do it a few times to acknowledge the mind to body connection. This is where your answers lie. It is here that you will find out how our everyday world impacts you in a way that could even lead you to get that head cold that everyone else has…compared to the others that might not have gotten the cold. There is more to getting sick then assessing the distance between you and the next person that is also sick.

Believing in Your Body

Your body is a beacon…it flashes lights and sounds horns to let you know that it is getting ready to malfunction…and when you ignore it…it goes down with the other sinking boats. Your body is smart, really it is. Believe in your body and listen to it. There are clues at least one or two days before you actually start feeling the brunt of an illness. Even in cases where someone gets diabetes…do you think one day they woke up and all of a sudden they were diabetic? Nope, don’t think so…there were clues all over the place. So how do you start believing in your body? Come closer…I am going to whisper this to you…come a little closer…come on, I don’t bite…here it is….LISTEN!

Look Inside to See The Evidence Now

The best way to figure out why you are getting sick is right there inside your body. It is the queasy stomach, the once in a while dizziness, the feeling of over tiredness, the ache in your lower back, the little stiffness in your neck, the overwhelm of the day, feeling your eyes get tired of looking at the screen in front of you. There are so many clues I could be here all day listing them. Feel your way to the answer. Any time you feel something a little different, stop and listen. What could be coming if you don’t attend to the ‘little something different’ feeling?

How to Stop Yourself from Getting Sick. Once you get good at knowing the signs…then it is easier to keep yourself from actually getting sick, or at least curtail the worst part of a virus or infection. 

Try some of these ideas out when you get that loving feeling. 

• Get to bed early. Go to sleep at least one hour before your regular bedtime…even if you don’t feel tired.
• Drink a small cup of warm tea before you hit the pillow. Start drinking a bit more water, and adding lemon will increase the vitamin C and detoxing. Upon rising drink a glass or warm water with lemon…this is very cleansing and soothing to the body.
• Even if you don’t take vitamins, you might want to take a few extra supplements for a few days just to give your body an extra gift as it start taking the trek to repair.
• Eat three healthy meals, don’t cheat one this one. Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and appropriate times, don’t make your body wait to get fuel, it just slows it down and takes its attention away from getting your back to tip top shape. Do healthy portions of vegetables and stay away from heavy fats, packaged foods, and eating large meals.
• Cut the sugar out for a week. Your body does not need excess sugar to deal with. Just increase your veggie snacks and decrease your sugar snacks. Say that fast three times. I bet you say sugar smacks.
• Oh, did I tell you to get some more sleep. I did…but it is worth repeating.

Once you get used to listening to your body and then responding with appropriate actions, you will see you will be able to defend yourself from many ailments that might otherwise have sunk the ship. What are some of the way you can think of that would help you identify when your body is asking for help or ways that you can get your body back to healthy? 

Thanks for reading