I felt like sharing some support and information during what feels like an unusually ‘weighty’ time. Last week, it felt like all I needed was more breathing room, so I have been tuning in quite a bit less to media and I’m feeling so much better! For those of you who are currently tuning-out and happily going about your day, I applaud you – there is no need to read the rest of this post. Just know that I am offering a guided stress-reduction meditation this Saturday 3.14 at 5pm EST, I will also have time for q&a and cover some immune supportive ‘tips’. Stay tuned for a link.
For those of you who believe knowledge is empowering, I wanted to share some quality information from a few perspectives that have come across my path in the past week:
Integrative Medicine Perspective
My dear friend and colleague, Dr. Christine Schaffner at Sophia Institute treats a large population of chronically ill patients with high-level cutting edge methods that are integrative. Their center combines the best of research oriented protocols and bioenergetic interventions. Since they treat such an immunocompromised population, the doctors at Sophia are really at ‘ground zero’ for learning what will be useful in prevention and treatment of COVID-19. They are doing amazing work to keep us abreast of the latest developments and tools that can be helpful. I attended a webinar last week that went heavy into the immune science behind this variant of coronavirus, and based upon this update, I am still recommending the measures I wrote about a few weeks ago.
Tonight, Dr. Klinghardt at Sophia is offering a webinar with more information, feel free to sign up for the call, and you should be able to get a replay.
Chinese Medicine Perspective
This is a great research article of findings from Chinese Medicine practitioners who traveled to Wuhan and treated COVID-19 patients first hand with acupuncture and Chinese herbs. I find it extremely fascinating and very informative. Translated from Chinese medicine terms to layperson’s terms: what they discovered was that the manner in which the virus infects and then affects the respiratory system is unique and requires an entirely different approach. People aren’t getting sore throats and upper respiratory congestion with this illness, they are experiencing fevers, sometimes headaches, and a dry cough with a thicker congestion that settles deeper into the lungs. The acupuncturists were able to help the patients by treating the large intestine meridian instead of the lung meridian (which is typically how a respiratory illness is addressed). The large intestine and lungs are connected after all.
Long story short, if we get this virus, it’s not one that we will be able to ‘cough up’ – it’s almost like we just have to ‘digest it’ – for lack of a better explanation. Since the congestion is ‘sticky’, it will stick around longer, so hydration, warm broths and your herbal teas here will really help. Staying well now goes really far in not only preventing, but also increasing our chances at moving through it more comfortably. Once again, my previous suggestions still apply.
Mental Health Perspective
Check out this supportive blog post written by another dear friend and mental health expert, Dr. Julie Lopez. It offers keen insight about risk vs. stress levels during these times. While COVID-19 will need to run its course, it’s important to dial out and get the bird’s eye view as much as possible. Is keeping up with the flood of statistics more harmful than helpful? Probably. As important as it is to keep our bodies strong and healthy, it’s also important to discern what is helpful information, and what can be ‘too much’ information. Afterall, our DC metro airways are already extra-burdened with politics in an intense election year. This is more than enough energy for my system.
One final note – have you noticed we are heading into Spring? You may be sniffling and sneezing and these are extremely common allergy symptoms, not COVID-19 symptoms. So no need to fear the seasonal allergy sufferer – there are a lot of us out there!
I feel we are all doing our best to contain this, and this is a time for us to support each other in this shared experience – in spite of it being inconvenient. We will get through it!
warmly,
Dr. Marie