When I reflect on what happened in the month of September, I have experienced the gambit of emotions from concern, happiness, sadness, and relief, and it was all due to getting COVID-19. I have chosen to not get vaccinated because of my strong and steadfast belief in the power of our immune system. Like the chicken pox, measles, mumps, and even the common flu, once you get exposed and your immune system identifies the virus, it builds killer T-cells which destroy that particular virus in the future. Your immune system is your steadfast guardian, but if you are not taking care of your health – burning the candle at both ends, eating refined sugars, junk food, not drinking enough water, lack of exercise, financial and work stress, constantly in a state of fear and anxiety – your immune system is taxed to the point where it becomes vulnerable to being infected.
Furthermore, a virus is not an evil thing that is trying to kill you, but rather, an organism that is trying to find a viable host to survive. Think about this, why would a virus want to kill you knowing that if it does, it will essentially kill itself?
It’s like the old Aesop fable about the scorpion and the frog. The scorpion asks the frog to take him across a swift river on his back and after much convincing, the frog agrees and starts to swim across the river. Halfway across the river, the scorpion stings the frog because he could not fight his own nature not to, so they both drowned.
As long as a virus is not modified, it would prefer to live, so its design is not to kill its host. My point of view is such, that if you keep your body’s constitution strong and hardy, you don’t give COVID-19 or its variants a chance to get a foothold in your body. However, if you do get COVID-19 it doesn’t mean that you failed or that it’s a death sentence. It gives you an opportunity to take care of yourself and/or be taken care of.
Even though I had been taking supplements such as zinc, vitamin C, Vitamin D, B vitamins, to bolster my immune system, exercising regularly, along with keeping a positive mindset and not letting the fear of getting COVID-19 affect my emotional state, I realized that I do have a limit. Creating a safe environment for my practice members and helping them navigate the uncertainties and fears of COVID-19 takes energy, but when I had to care-take my dear, 93-year-old auntie who was extremely dehydrated for two nights and three days straight, coupled with a compromised mother, it set the stage for my body to be open to getting COVID-19. I felt extremely exhausted, and it took energy just to sit up and move. When I had gotten news that my hospitalized auntie and mother were both diagnosed positive for COVID-19, I didn’t think that I got it, and tested negative initially, but two days later I tested positive. Quarantine and isolation ensued for 10 days, which I extended to 14 days, just to make sure that I no longer had COVID, and could maintain a safe environment for my practice members.
I was fortunate in my experience with COVID-19. I didn’t have the typical symptoms such as loss of taste or smell, no fever, no body aches, but I was extremely fatigued and had no appetite. I kept myself hydrated due to my constant thirst for water, took supplements, made homemade hydroxychloroquine, and rested a lot!
After a week, I started feeling stronger and felt my energy returning. It took a while for my appetite to come back, but I made sure that I nourished myself with food and avoided sugar (which causes inflammation). Not being able to just jump up and do things was a new experience for me, so I decided to embrace the resting and allowing my body to recover and heal. I read some books that I had been intending to read, limited my social media, and wasn’t inspired to check out on my phone or surf the web. I took this forced two-week hiatus to reflect and check in with what has been going on in my life. I realized that I hadn’t taken a vacation for more than three days in the past five years and not taking care of myself while care-taking my loved ones, set me up to get COVID. I gained a huge amount of respect for any caretakers who either do that for a living or by choice for a parent, grandparent, or child.
A lot of insights and aha’s came from being infected by COVID, but the one thing that stood out is the need for you to take care of yourself and know your limitations, and be okay with saying NO. Learning to trust yourself and know your truth was another insight that I got from this experience. The bonus was since I got COVID and recovered, my body is producing natural antibodies that will make killer T-cells to attack the coronavirus in the future, and if you are exposed to me, it helps to promote your own immunity to COVID. I will still stay diligent in keeping my immune system strong and I recognize a need to make some changes in my life that will not only benefit me, but my loved ones, friends, and greater community.
I am not downplaying COVID, however if you do get it, how you experience it is entirely up to you. If you have been taking care of your health – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, it doesn’t have to be that traumatic. If you address your fears of getting COVID beforehand, then the likelihood of you suffering or being extremely compromised will greatly be ameliorated.
Remember, your immune system as discovered by Israel is way more stronger and even better than the COVID jab. The power to heal and recover is inside each and every one of you. If you have already gotten the jab, it only behooves you to keep bolstering your immune system and maintain healthy emotional, mental, and physical habits. For those of you that have chosen not to get the jab, due to conflicting information about the potential nasty side effects and benefits, reflect on your life and tune into your intuition and truth. If you honor yourself and your body, health and wellness is the gift.