7 tips to strengthen your immune system

7 tips to strengthen your immune system

Don’t relinquish your power. Instead focus on that which you can control - the greatest of which is your mind.

We are powerful and able to make choices everyday to help strengthen our mind, body and spirit.  I am not someone who avoids what is happening in the world. I stay informed, however, I do not internalize or embrace fear. I wash my hands, protect those around me if I sneeze or cough, and stay home when I am ill.  However, the most important thing I do to stay healthy is to protect my energy by focusing on what I want, and not what I don’t want to happen.  

There is a powerful connection between our thoughts and our immune system.  When we become anxious, we trigger our fight or flight stress response and that releases adrenaline, cortisol and other chemicals and hormones into our system.  During sustained periods of anxiety and stress our immune systems are weakened and more vulnerable to infections and illness.  

The great news is that we can make smart choices for our minds and our bodies everyday that can actually strengthen our immune system.  Here are a few tips and reminders:

• Eat a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables to ensure proper vitamins and nutrients to the body. Crowding our sugar, processed foods, and animal products and increasing plant-based choices will help reduce inflammation in the body, a common contributor to disease.  

• Get adequate rest and sleep, which means 7-9 hours for most adults over the age of 18 to ensure your body has time to detox, rest and recharge.

• Increase your water intake to avoid dehydration, which places additional stress on the body.  Adding lemon to your water further helps to alkalize the body.  

• Exercise and move your body daily to slow down stress hormones, flush out bacteria from the lungs, and increase antibodies and white blood cells that help to detect illness and promote healing. 

• Add immune boosting activities like laughing, singing and spending time with loved ones.  Find your favorite comedy or musical on Netflix and watch it with your family and friends.  You can do all three in one!

• Be mindful of alcohol consumption and don’t smoke. 

• Practice gratitude, meditation, yoga and deep yogic breathing to lower stress hormones, stimulate the lymphatic system to release toxins, and promote more oxygen into our systems.   I have recorded a short meditation that you can add to your daily routine.  

Focus on what you can control and not what you cannot. Incorporate some of these healthy habits today and please leave comments on changes you notice. 

Award Season

I love award show season….

What do the winners have that allowed them to believe and persevere when others quit?

I love awards show season.  I mean, annoyingly, obsess about finding the schedule for all award shows and setting my DVR to ensure I don’t miss a moment.  This is my Super Bowl, and the entire day is mine. I get comfortable, pour a glass of wine, change in comfortable clothes, and settle in for the evening ceremonies.  I watch the pre-show coverage on the E Channel, as well as the coverage on whatever network is airing the show.  I don’t remember when I became obsessed, but I can’t remember not watching the Golden Globes, SAG awards, or the Oscars.

While I enjoy watching to see what people are wearing, what really moves me is watching the winners hear their names being called.  Years of auditions, rejections, hard work, and sacrifices culminate in that moment as the winner walks to the stage – many times in disbelief.  Some shake, some cry, some manically talk quickly.  But almost all of the winners begin to thank an army of people who they say helped them get to that stage, holding their award. They praise their fellow nominees, acknowledge their work, and are vulnerable in those few minutes.

Many thank their parents for believing in them, their partners and children for supporting them, and their teams for never giving up on them.  Those things are undeniably true, but what I want to know is what has allowed them to dream so big and believe so deeply in themselves.  And, when things weren’t easy, and the road was hard, how did they hold onto their dreams?  What do they have that allowed them to believe and persevere when others quit?

One factor for those who pursue their dreams and those who settle for something else is their support system.  Children who have supportive parents, teachers, or other loved ones who don’t discourage or try to re-direct their big, bold dreams have a fighting chance of actually believing their dreams are worthy of being pursued.  Merely believing in big dreams doesn’t guarantee that they will actually come to fruition, however, giving up on our dreams is a sure way of ensuring that they never will.

I believe that it’s possible to re-wire our brain and let go of fear, anxieties and lies that have kept us “stuck”.  Even if we’ve spent more than half of our lives playing it safe, there is still time.  

How to dream again:

• Lean on your support system and tribe to remind you of who you are

• Invest in self-care activities that help you recharge and bring you joy

• Spend time documenting your big, bold, audacious dreams

• Sow seeds in others who are pursing their dreams or passions

• Take action daily that keeps you on your path

I am choosing to believe that this will be my best decade ever. I don’t know what my life will look like in 1 year, 5 years, or in 10 years or beyond.  But, I do know that taking action every day in this new direction has brought new people into my life, and new creative ideas to pursue. So, I may not have an Academy award, or thousands of fans in a stadium shouting my name, but I have more hope and joy and peace than I’ve had in years.  And that is my reward.