Afternoon, readers! Rob here, after needing to go home yesterday due to some nasty little 24 hour stomach bug. That "norovirus" is a tough one I'll tell you what... I woke up feeling awful yesterday and stayed that way the remainder of the day... I woke up today and felt like nothing happened. I definitely feel like I had the best abdominal workout ever though! This brings me to a pretty important subject given the time of year that I always urge my clients to keep control of. That's your physical wellness during the winter months! Your nervous system needs a lot of support from different bodily functions including your sleep pattern, nutrition, and day-to-day environments; and it is incredibly important to get the best balance of all 3 if possible given your lifestyle!
Sleep is everything everyone! The whole concept "you'll sleep when you're dead" is probably the most naive and frustrating statement I hear on a regular basis. It doesn't help that I'm at the age where a majority of individuals have a "work to play" mentality. It’s rough especially when having a social life means typically within your free time, which just consists of Friday and Saturday evenings. Your body does some healing and repairs throughout the day but a majority of its main growth functions are conducted while you sleep! Muscle growth, metabolics, injury repair... everything! Your body's conducts lots of processes which involve oxidization, and when unchecked with proper rest can run rampant and create an "inflamed" state in the body. Losing out on this key part of your health can lead to one thing and one thing only... A lack of zest and wellness! What do I mean by zest? Have you ever slept very well for a handful of days? If so, do you remember how it felt those days following? You felt fantastic right?! I know when I'm consistent with my sleep patterns I feel like I can take on the world. One little slip and I feel like someone threw a 40lb weight vest on me for the rest of the day. It’s because your body did not have enough consistent rest to help repair and recover from its previous endeavors! If this happens often enough, this will bog down your immune system leading to a higher likelihood of illness!
Nutrition plays another key role in maintaining a healthy body (duh right?)! Conducting any type of bodily function requires nutrients and calories, from cell manufacturing to your metabolism, proper nutrition is needed to maintain and conduct these important processes. I'm sure you can look back to your days in grade school or high school, and remember the idea of white blood cells and anti-bodies. Let me ask you something though... What does your body need to produce such things in your system? Nutrients! Anti-oxidants play another large role in maintaining a healthy Immune System. The effects of anti-oxidants helps keep a balance to that "inflamed" state I referred to before. Keep your nutrition well balanced and plentiful, and your immune system will flourish.
Your environment plays a large role in your physical condition just as much as the internal environment you create for yourself. I'm sure you have stressed yourself sick at some point in time. I know I have more times than not, and that's usually the main cause of a cold for me. Your environment from at home to your work place, takes a toll on the body whether it’s a good environment or not. A positive environment is uplifting, and allows for the person to have a present state of being. A stressful environment is very normal but can be toxic to the way the body functions by increasing cortisol levels and causing significant amounts of bodily inflammation. There are many ways to reduce these effects, and one of which I am very fond of... Exercise! Physical activity is a great way to release stress and put the mind to a neutral point allowing it to relax and in turn lower its release of cortisol. Free Radicals (oxidative agents) run rampant in the system while the body is stressed, so keeping yourself in a sound state of mind through daily means such as exercise or meditation can help prevent it from taking a large toll on your immune system.
A great balance between these 3 aspects is important because they all support one another. A sound environment allows for frequent and healthy eating, and relaxing sleep. Relaxing sleep compliments the eating with great repair and reduces inflammation and stress; while your nutrition helps support both by providing the means for your body to keep the others in check even if they are lacking. Work on these aspects, maintain and control them the best you can and you will avoid a good quantity of these hefty little bugs floating around in these cold winter months!
