Musings: Boost Your Immunity For Free
"The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease."
The author attributed to this quote is the famous American inventor Thomas Edison. What did this very successful businessman and ingenious visionary imagine in the future of our healthcare that we are missing today? No one would deny that healthcare in the United States is in shambles. Two thirds of Americans are overweight, we’re besieged by an epidemic of prescription drug overuse, and medical care has become so expensive that neither the people nor the government can afford it.
This is not healthcare; it’s tyranny. People are living in fear for their health — afraid they will lose their health coverage and won’t be able to afford medical care, but also afraid these same treatments, diagnostics, vaccinations and medications might do more harm than good. Can we really call something "medicine" when it cures some people some of the time but also randomly afflicts others with a Russian roulette of negative side effects, including death?
Somewhere along the line we started believing that prestigious doctors in white coats armed with irrefutable studies, potent pills and flashy equipment had much more power to keep us healthy than we had ourselves. While our common, everyday self-care regimens and homemade first aid remedies might seem downright primitive compared to the repair and recovery miracles Western medicine is able to perform, the truth is that medical technology was never meant to keep us healthy and well. Your body is an amazing miracle of healing potential that can restore itself with minimal intervention. The more we’ve allowed doctors to intervene in the healing of our bodies, the more disconnected we’ve become from our bodies’ natural abilities to heal themselves.
Now we are held hostage by our own fear of a medical industry — not a profession, mind you, but a profit-driven industry — which never cures our diseases but continuously holds out false hope that the next medical miracle or pill is just around the corner. Despite the exorbitant costs, dangerous side effects, mysterious new epidemics and endangerment to all life forms, medical science continues to scale ever more dazzling peaks of technology manipulating body chemistry, splicing genes between species and creating new life forms, all in search of that next medical breakthrough (or windfall profit.)
Give a man a pill and you treat him for the day; teach him to heal and you cure him for a lifetime. True healthcare reform means re-educating ourselves about healing and medicine as part of our everyday routines — the food we eat, the way we think and the way we move through our day. Thousands of years of medical history will affirm that all healing occurs from within.
Your body’s strong immune system is the foundation for your overall health and wellness. Here’s five powerful ways to boost your immune system for free, no health care coverage required!
- Breastfeed your children. A mother’s breast milk contains unique antibodies to boost your child’s immune system for the rest of his or her life. This extra level of protection is available only through breast milk consumed during the formative infant years.
- Breathe into your abdomen. Your breath is the single most powerful medicine available to you. Fortunately it’s abundantly free and available without a prescription! Breathe into your abdomen, the navel area referred to as the third chakra, or dantien in Chinese philosophy and manipura in Indian traditions. Think of this area as your body’s furnace, churning out life force energy, stoked by the fuel of your incoming breath or prana. With laser like precision, the body disperses this energy along its meridian network to maintain health and clear away stagnations before physical symptoms and disease set in. More breath creates a stronger, steadier fire; restricted breath flow yields weaker results. Feel your abdomen expand and contract as you consciously fill it with breath throughout the day.
- Use your brain. The body follows the bidding of the mind. The new, emerging healthcare paradigm acknowledges the larger power of the mind to heal the body, beyond doctors, surgery and drugs. Affirm your body’s ability to self-heal and send positive healing messages to all points throughout the body; try it in combination with taking deep abdominal breaths. Remind yourself how strong, well-equipped and miraculous your body is to perform all its daily functions without your direction or interference. Courageously replace your health fears with confidence in self-reliance.
- Exercise. In addition to cardio-health and weight maintenance, physical movement gives your body’s energy meridians a chance to stretch, open and flush. For maximum health benefits, choose a form of exercise that consciously combines the breath and meridians such as yoga, tai chi, qigong, bioenergetics or other forms of dance, martial arts and energy movement or tapping. This will allow your entire energy system to get an overall workout each session. While an ongoing class and teacher are highly recommended and well worth the investment, you can also learn and practice these exercises on your own at no cost.
- Get plenty of fresh air and sunshine. In addition to the powerful immunity benefits of vitamin D obtained from the sun, what this familiar age-old adage doesn’t mention is that being outdoors gives your body a big healthy dose of "happy" vibrations, being plugged back into Mother Earth and recharged.
Carol Bedrosian is publisher and editor of Spirit of Change Magazine. Visit www.spiritofchange.org
