Listen to your Inner Wisdom – Be Well
Who has fallen to the autumn ills that are drifting out there?
Who’s spent time coughing, spluttering, working to keep a clear head and pushing your way through the brain fog and energy slumps?
Autumn to spring has caught me out in the past and this time I recognised it early. I felt the first throat ‘tickles’ when I was at a meeting on a Monday night. I began my ‘dosing up’ protocol when I got home. Starting on lemon drinks and my Malcolm Harker remedies, I went straight to bed and ‘beanied’ up after a hot shower. Ahhh – ‘beanieing’ up? Yes – a new word for my spell checker! A wise massage therapist shared this piece of wisdom with me many years ago and it has become a part of how I roll when I’m unwell or feeling under the weather. Did you know that we lose most of the heat from our bodies through our heads? Hence it makes sense when we’re feeling off colour, to ensure we keep our temperature up. This is easily done by ‘beanieing’ up. (Not great for the hairdo ladies, but great for getting well quicker)!
That week I remained ‘beanied up’ both during the day as well as when I was sleeping and made sure I got early nights. My natural natural therapist set me on track with vitamin C and a few other remedies and I made sure I ate only whole foods and drank loads of water. I checked in whether I was viral or not and yay – I wasn’t. I could continue to function and worked from home as much as I could.
Like you, and many others, I wasn’t able to completely stop the merry-go-round of work that week – I still had to deliver several trainings. This involved careful self-management and I made it through to Friday. Thanks to support from a colleague, I was able to completely stop on the Saturday and have a full couch day. Sunday I was back to 99%.
How many of us notice the signs and then choose not to notice the signs? How often do we think we’ll be right, put our undies on over our tights and carry on, expecting our bodies to continue like we’re an infinite superman or wonder woman? The intelligence within us is continuously signalling what we need, like when you’re hot or cold, thirsty or hungry, just like the gauges on your car dashboard. And I well know, it’s pretty hard to keep driving once your tank is empty (literally). Yes – I misread the fuel gauge and ended up on the side of the road just out of Whangarei. I did have to laugh, after I got over my frustration of course, as the song that came onto my iPod at that very moment was Eric Clapton’s ‘Running on Faith’! But I digress … remember that our bodies are designed to send us signals and it’s up to us to heed or ignore to our own detriment.
I want to thank all of my tauira, clients, friends, colleagues and rellies who have taken a step back when they’ve been unwell and removed themselves from their classes, circles, workplaces and communities to their homes to get well again. It’s tough when you work on your own and have to stop the income to look after yourself or whanau who are unwell. Yes – it’s a sacrifice, especially when you don’t have sick leave. Thank you for doing that – it’s a thoughtful and caring gesture.
Remember … Listen to your inner wisdom. Beanie up. Keep warm. Get into the vitamin C. Make time to get well or your body will force you to, usually when it’s most inconvenient.