Sleep for Immunity

Sleep is so important for building and maintaining a strong immune system ...

I have a routine that helps me fall asleep easily and quickly.

The only problem with a routine is that when it is interrupted or broken (eg when my sister phoned just before I was going to bed and we chatted until well after midnight) it’s REALLY difficult to wind down and your sleep pattern is also disturbed.

Luckily that rarely happens, so my regular routine serves me well. It goes something like this:

• I have a ‘sleep alarm’ set on my phone that gently tinkles to the tune of ‘go to sleep’ at 9pm with a message that reads “time to prepare for bed”
• I confess that since isolation, I ignore my alarm and don’t prepare for bed until midnight 😳
• I finish what I’m doing - could be a TV show, my blog, a words with friends game (whatever)
• I take the dogs out to pee and put them to bed
• Fill my bedside water bottle
• Turn off the TV, the fan and living room lamp
• Brush my teeth
• Pull my hair back
• Dab myself with my ‘sweet sleep’ essential oil
• Climb into bed, make myself comfortable and listen to a 30 minute sleep meditation on a phone app through earpods. I listen to the same app every night, so the sound of that voice now serves as a sleep trigger and I’m usually asleep inside 3 minutes.

Your routine could include your evening shower or bath, drinking a soothing tea like camomile or reading a book. Anything, as long as it’s something that you can do every evening before bed time.

Avoid regular tea and coffee after 3pm because the stimulant in caffeine (which is found in both) can affect you for up to 8 hours after you drink it.

There are 94.8 mg of caffeine in a cup of coffee and 26.1 mg in a cup of tea. There are 43 mg of caffeine in 6 squares of dark chocolate, so you should probably avoid that in the evenings too.

Keep your lighting low in the evenings. Turn off any fluorescent lights.

Research shows that spending time outside between 9-10am and again between 4-5pm helps regulate your serotonin and melatonin levels, which in turn reduces your need for a day time nap and improves the soundness of your night time sleep.

The government provides a 17 page booklet about that research specifically done on the elderly (that’s us!)

OR in a nutshell ...

Yes, I did my breathing exercises today - day four. I find that I can hold my breath for a few seconds longer every day. Is that beneficial for lung function??? I’ll find out.

Here we go ...

Here are the links to the studies highlighted there.

Increasing Life Span
Regeneration of new tissue in the brain
Resistance to bacterial infections

Making yourself feel relaxed this is not a study but a selection of different breathing techniques.

Well, that should keep you busy ... but then it’s not like you’re going anywhere 🤪

Haha

Have a happy Sunday!

Nite all.

Comparisons

Each year, up to 5 million people worldwide catch the seasonal flu.

Each year, between 250,000 - 650,000 people die from the complications of seasonal flu.

In the space of three months, these are the current statistics for Covid 19.

The WHO website only provides death statistics with percentages, as do most government websites. It’s tough to find actual numbers anywhere.

While I am following the rules and self isolating and making sure we are sanitising and wearing gloves in busy supermarkets (which we’ve shopped at only once in 5 weeks) I am still struggling to understand why this is more severe than the seasonal flu.

I’m no expert so all I can do is go against all my instincts and accept the information that the “powers that be” are feeding me.

I continued with my breathing exercises today(day 3).

Physically, I feel quite strong with slightly easier movement.

Mentally, I feel some clarity and don’t seem to be losing my words or stumbling over them during conversations.

I still  don’t feel motivated or enthusiastic about going through my ‘to do’ list though. I’d much rather  binge watch a TV series or go for a swim or research on my iPad or listen to an Audible book.

Maybe that will change after a few more days.

Maybe I prioritise differently to everyone else and I should enjoy my priorities instead of feeling guilty that they are different to everyone else’s. 😳

Anyway tonight I am giving us a break from immunity boosting. Instead, I’ll share my gratitude 🙏

I’m grateful for the technology that keeps me connected to my friends and family, provides distractions when I need it and helps educate me on any given subject.

I’m grateful for friends and family who care enough to check up on me during this world crisis.

I’m grateful for the beautiful weather that we are experiencing and the feeling of warm sunshine on my face.

I had a three hour phone call with my sister on Thursday night. We said goodbye after 12.30am and Adoring Husband woke up at the same time. He took some medication and I made him breathe in some “sleep deeply” essential oil. He fell back to sleep straight away but snored like a trooper for the next 90 minutes!!

I tried essential oil and two different meditations but nothing could drown out that reverberation!!

It was almost 3am the last time I looked at the time. I slept until 8 am.

It’s now almost midnight and he is sleeping quietly so I should take this opportunity to sleep myself!

Nite all.

Grounding for Immunity

Grounding or earthing for good health and building strong immunity.

This is my favourite form of healing and maintaining good health.

When I’m outside in the back yard or down on the beach, I never wear shoes or thongs.

In general, and I’m not sure why, people believe they are ‘protecting’ themselves by covering up from head to toe when in actual fact they are preventing the natural environment from giving them life forces that can can heal and strengthen them when they are outside.

Sunshine and Vit D is an excellent example but I’ll save that for another day.

There is a lot of scientific data proving that grounding is incredibly beneficial to our health.

Even the government has created a 24 page booklet explaining the benefits! You can read it here

Some of the benefits include improving sleep, reducing chronic pain and speeding the healing process.

This 3 minute YouTube video explains it very nicely!

“Grounding” is the latest wellness trend

So while we are self isolating, our front or back yards are the perfect places to do some grounding. Sit on the grass with bare feet and place our palms on the grass too. Ten minutes is fine and provides some benefits. 45 minutes has proven most beneficial.

When you’re gardening, do it in bare feet. It’s even nice to go without gloves some of the time - bacteria in the soil is also amazing for our gut health (I’ll save that for another day too!) - as long as we practice social distancing, we are allowed to walk on the beach so try some grounding there too. Ankle deep in the cleansing sea water is wonderful!

Did anyone do their breathing exercises today? I’m onto my second day and I’ve noticed that whilst I feel energised and motivated to do more - it doesn’t change or influence my strong aversion to the many household chores that I regularly avoid haha.

I guess I need to research a natural way to learn how to enjoy the crappy jobs in life!

Also, I slept for 8 solid hours last night! I wonder if the breathing contributed to that? That’s something else to monitor.

My aim for today is to

• Hand wash my delicate silk blouses (I have 5)
• Change the bedding
• Choose which crappy art piece to embellish and begin.
• Watch some more Grey’s Anatomy

A short list is much more manageable and less daunting - besides there are still a LOT more days remaining in self isolation!

This morning I was in bed and, as per usual, Adoring Husband brought my coffee in. I brought it to my mouth to drink it and the lid popped off and spilt hot coffee all over me!

Luckily I was lying partway over my body pillow, so the coffee splashed over the pillow and my white (ugh) pyjama top and some onto my bottom half. None landed on the bed ... whew!

Much bad language also ‘poured’ from my mouth!

What a way to start the day! It can only get better from here right!?

Later at the end of the day ...

Ok so the only thing on my very short list that I actually did was watch more of Grey’s Anatomy!!

I made some chicken and vegetable fritters for lunch with a roasted capsicum, ginger and lime relish.

That’s about it!

It has still been a most enjoyable day!

Enjoy your Friday - I hope you’ve created your own special “happy hour” to replace Friday night raffles. Replace an old routine with a new routine.

I’m going to play free poker machines online while Adoring Husband cooks the usual chicken wings for dinner. I may even drink a vodka and tonic while I play ... not too different from a usual Friday night! I wonder if I should dress up for the occasion?

Nite all.

Working on Immunity

It’s weird to think that Adoring Husband and I, along with all of our friends, are in the age groups most susceptible to Covid 19.

In my mind, and I’m sure I’m not alone, I’m still in my early 20s so it’s a bit of a shock to the system when your kids start worrying about your health and the news stories mention your age in the “vulnerable” group!

So I thought I’d begin posting information about how to increase or build a stronger immune system.

Information other than what you already know (like Vit C, flu bombs etc) and info that is easy to put into practice if you choose to try it.

The first one I’ve selected is breathing exercises.

This man, Wim Hof, can come across as being a bit “out there” at first and he is very animated and very passionate about all the things he has learned and proven with his techniques.

There is nothing genetically exceptional about his mind and body - he has an identical twin brother who does not live the same lifestyle and who has participated in some of the research.

Most importantly (for the non believers) he has co-operated with scientists in some interesting research and studies to prove that his techniques actually work.

His techniques have been proven to alkalise the body and activate the immune system, heal from illness faster, improve mental health and relieve depression and anxiety, considerably reduce pain, improve mental focus and clarity, control your stress response and more.

Since it costs nothing but 5 minutes of your time, I thought it would be a good one to start with, so here are the links to 3 short videos.

The first one is 6 minutes long and has a story explaining one particular scientific study that he was involved in (there have been a few).

The second is a 3 minute video explaining safety when trying this technique (obviously someone tried it while they were driving or something stupid).

The third is 10 minutes long teaching you the technique itself.

Influencing The Immune System | Wim Hof method Science
Wim Hof Method - Safety Information
Wim Hof breathing tutorial - by Wim Hof

I’m going to try it twice a day for the next week.

I had my first session an hour ago and already it has improved my mental focus because it’s 10am Wednesday morning and I’m not only writing this blog post (instead of rushing it at midnight like I have for the past week!) but I’m mentally thinking about what I can fit into my morning before the next round of Grey’s Anatomy binge watching.

That’s a big change from the past week when my only thoughts have been - how can I actively avoid doing everything on my “surviving Covid 19” list? 😝🤪🤣

I’m already feeling good that I’ve created something of value that requires me to simply press the “publish” button tonight.

I’m off now to see what I can accomplish for the day. I’ll do another 5 minute breathing session before lunch - apparently it’s best done on an empty stomach.

Have a fabulous Thursday!!

Nite all.

PS Today I washed clothes, baked a chicken dinner, tidied up around the place, listed some ideas for embellishing my art, culled some clothes from my wardrobe to sell in the shop, checked my emails, partially cleared the fridge, packed away the FROG groceries, watched some more Grey’s Anatomy and felt grateful for my comfortable life 🥰

Fast Quick Rapid

The days are flying and each 24 hours feels like just 8 hours.

I just looked at the clock and it’s already 11.30pm! How did that happen?!

I really enjoyed an hour on FT with my girls this morning.

Adoring Husband mowed the front lawn while I checked my emails. He needed to lie down for a while after that, so I made a green smoothie and chopped up a pineapple for lunch. AH ate some leftover sausages and washed them down with the smoothie followed by pineapple for dessert.

We decided to watch Grey’s Anatomy from the beginning and got through the first four episodes before it was time to cook dinner. I made some chicken and pork meatballs with a spicy dipping sauce which we ate with salad.

Vegan Chickie recommended we watch a series on Netflix called “Tiger King” so we looked at the trailer for it and it looked intriguing enough to watch the first episode.

All I can say is ... only in America 😳

I received this mini hand held diffuser in the mail today.

It works for exactly 60 seconds. Just add water and a couple of drops of essential oil.

And just like that it was 12.30am!

Nite all.

Day 8

This is day 8 for us in self isolation.

This does not bother me one tiny bit.

Adoring Husband suggested tonight that we work our way through our DVD collection, from beginning to end in exactly the order that they sit on the shelves.

That’s approximately 500 DVDs - some of them are series like, Friends, Sex and the City, Will and Grace, ER, Grey’s Anatomy, Batman and Robyn (the original series), The Big Bang Theory, Ally McBeal and more.

I doubt that we’ll be in isolation long enough to get through all of that, but it’s worth a try!

Today was a lazy day.

We had to get a few groceries from the local supermarket and pay our annual PO Box fee so while we were there, we watered the plants in The Happy Abode. That all took about 20 minutes.

I reheated last night’s leftover lasagne and served it with salad and garlic bread for our lunch.

We spent the afternoon binge watching “100 Humans” on Netflix which was very interesting.

Not much else happening on the home front - just like everyone else.

Oh we planted a spike from a Dragon Fruit plant about a year ago and it has produced its first fruit!

Off topic, I’ve noticed that we have a LOT of baby toads in our back yard. It might be tome to get the Dettol out.

Nite all.

Early Mark

I thought I’d try for an earlier night tonight.

Four nights in a row sleeping after 1am which means I’m waking later every morning and this is not a good habit to get into because I’m sure that one day in the not too distant future, I’ll have to return to work! (Fingers crossed)

See, I began typing this 45 minutes ago, at 9.40pm and was distracted by psychotic dog Jack. It’s now 10.25pm.

I was a little bit productive today.

I finally got some washing done. Cooked up a lasagne. Froze the chicken broth. Tidied up the art room. Posted some silly stuff on Facebook. Watched “Self Made” on Netflix.

The spread of Covid 19 has caused the Australian govt to up the anti ...

... now everyone over the age of 70 must stay indoors ...

I must say that I’m enjoying self isolation. It’s not difficult. I have lots to keep me occupied as well as  a lot that needs to be done around our home. I also have a lot of procrastination tools so it will be really interesting to see how well I can use these tools over such a long period of time to avoid all the necessary chores.

Ok I’m off to bed. Now!

Nite all.

Still in Isolation.

Yesterday I was grateful for:

1. A quick uneventful trip into The Bay.
2. A power bill that was lower than expected.
3. Finding the perfect essential oil to help Adoring Husband’s heavy chest.

Today I was grateful for:

1. Some quality time in the kitchen to prep meals for freezing.
2. A brief but enjoyable swim in the pool this afternoon. 
3. YouTube for educating me in all the natural ways to improve our health.

I did not vote today. I boycotted because I didn’t want to risk picking up the virus or risk passing on the virus. I don’t know if I have it. I don’t know if I’m a carrier. I don’t know if the person who would have used the booth before me had the virus. I don’t care and I wasn’t going to risk it because Adoring Husband has a compromised immune system right now and his health is more important than me voting.

So far, my family are all doing ok.

There are lots of fun things happening in Facebook because people have nowhere else to go and they’re creating silly tasks for their friends to try. This was one of them ...

A photo of you as a child beside a current photo of you.

There’s still a long way to go in this self isolation thing. It will be interesting to see what people come up with next.

It’s after midnight again!

Nite all.