Sheesh– beautiful, unseasonably warm February days and I spend most of them in bed or on the couch! It sounds a bit silly to say it, but I am not comfortable being sick (who is?) I feel I am a good caregiver for my family and I make a good chicken soup, but receiving care is uncomfortable for me. I am comfortable, though, with the idea that this illness was an opportunity to reflect on my overall health, my self-care practices, and and what I rely on for “medicine” in more acute situations. Although, I was initially bummed to be too sick to show up in my “normal” way in my personal and professional worlds, I wanted to give myself time to go through a healing process — however long that would take — and allow others to help me. That was the gift in this as I saw it.

A friend commented “Blair, you are never sick–for as long as I have known you, I can’t remember you ever being sick”. True, for at least five years or so, I rarely have had to take much more than a dose of “Kick Ass” immune support and an elderberry lozenge. I have focused on major changes in lifestyle, diet and incorporated the occasional chiropractic/acupuncture/energy session over the years and can usually nip something before it gets bad. But, this time I wasn’t able to avoid going down. Not getting sick is also “bad” as a doctor once told me. His words spoke to how getting sick every now and then is indeed healthy, like it is to give your ice box a periodic good cleaning. How quickly we can rebound perhaps speaks more to our immune health. Interesting. I heard cautionary tales of this hanging around for six weeks and more even with antibiotics and I did not want to go there.

This past week, though, I went down and I went down hard. Perhaps it was a long overdue cleansing. When I was growing up, I would have gone to see our family doctor immediately if I felt sick, and I would often come home surrounded by various prescriptions. How times and I have changed! This time I threw the “kitchen sink” at it! Tea with osha honey, bone broths, Kick Ass Immune herbal tincture, zinc lozenges, herbal remedies, epsom salt baths, etc. It’s hard to know if it was one thing and it obviously didn’t change overnight, but I am pretty sure that some of them at least supported me in moving through the process and off the couch. Here are a few other things that I felt I had to do:

• First of all, I had no choice but to surrender to the sickness. With a head bursting, body aching, runny nose, sore throat, cough and no appetite, I was not in much of a position to do anything but crawl into bed and attempt to find some sort of relief and accept help for what would turn out to be the next week.
• Second, I cleared my week of all appointments and anything extra. I hated to cancel my Reiki work and yet I did.
• Third, I called on my herbal allies — freshly grated ginger and lemon tea, floral epsom salt baths, turmeric and warming spices, Kick Ass Immune (echinacea), fire cider (garlic, apple cider vinegar). I lay on the couch. I lay on the couch. I lay on the couch. I used essential oil inhalations (tea tree, thyme).
• Fourth, I kept internet and technology access to a minimum, and I sat with my thoughts and listened to the subtle sounds inside the house and the ones I could detect on the outside.
• Finally, I tried to get as much sun as possible, which was not hard given 70º February days. Dressed in layers and a scarf around my neck, I would sit on the front step to just breathe in some fresh air.

I believe that my getting this sick was actually part of my plan — my body telling me to “slow down/stop!” I certainly got the message. I’m also well aware that some of my clients deal with chronic pain, which can be much more debilitating than the temporary discomfort that I experienced. I was humbly reminded of how exhausting on a physical and emotional level something like a cold can be. For my functional and optimal wellness it was imperative to slow down and listen to what I thought I needed and to ask for it. Not easy for me! I have my own thoughts around how much time it should take to move through a cold. What I wanted to do was to learn about myself in the process. What could have I transformed in this process? How am I stronger for having gone through it? I would be fine if it was another five years or so before I felt that crappy again. Just saying.