Our Immune System, Stress, and Long Covid

Dear Friends,

Did you know about a third of people who have had covid -19, even mild cases, can have lingering symptoms? These range from headaches, to extreme fatigue, memory problems, joint pain, loss of smell and more. It's common to feel unwell for weeks or months. It's mysterious as to why this happens.

In the article I Rested My Way To Recover From Long Covid the author shares that the best treatment for her symptoms were rest and pacing. 

We know that deep, consistent sleep is nectar to our immune system, so it makes sense that rest is incredibly key in recovery from covid, or any other ailment.

Even if we aren't experiencing covid symptoms, some of us have been under prolonged stress for a quite while now.  It's one thing to have prolonged stress for a month or two, but when stress goes on longer there's increase in stress hormones that can create a breakdown of our bones, skin, muscles, and brain tissue. 

It's always easier to maintain health rather than to try to regain it, and feeling off-kilter is a red-flag. When we feel crummy committing to some serious repair work may be in order. If we've been sleeping poorly and dipping into our energy reserves for the past 18 months and have become depleted, that depletion is important to address now before it becomes worse.

It takes courage to change, to stop worrying or pushing, and really rest. It takes courage to begin living the life we want to be living, instead of in a chronic state of stress.

The solution is simple, but not always easy: 

We can take small steps, slow down our pace, focus on sleep, good food, and good company. And in particular we need to look at three things:

--Our diet

--Our lifestyle (including exercise, a medicine we shouldn't ignore)

--How we manage stress

It's not that complicated or hard to learn. Making simple changes in these areas can move us into a life filled with more delight than stress, more health, than breakdown, and more happiness and ease.