It’s that time of year again: People making and breaking resolutions, often around health issues. As I’ve made it through another year without getting sick I’m simply sticking with the same program that is working and strive to maintain course. This is a stress free approach and reducing stress is high on my list of health saving activities. Stress depletes immunity resulting in more illness, increases inflammation resulting in more pain, reduces fertility resulting in problems for young parents, impairs physical performance for athletes, impairs memory resulting in embarrassment when you meet a friend on the street and can’t remember their name. I use an herbal supplement to reduce the damaging effects of stress at the cellular level. Another aspect of this is watching TV news. I like to keep up on what’s happening around the world, but the media is saturated with negative images and ideas. I strive to maintain a shield behind which I note events but repel the damaging emotional content. Watch, take note but don’t absorb. This is like the process taking place in deep REM sleep where we filter out the garbage and absorb the useful information. The mindfulness meditation I’ve done for 40 years helps develop this state of being. People with PTSD and other conditions have lost the ability to filter.
How we react to events is also critical. I got ripped off for thousands of dollars this year. How to respond to this unfortunate event was my choice. Freak out, get angry, break stuff? I chose to note the good things in my life and be thankful it wasn’t demolished by storms, fire, war or violence. Manifest gratitude for all the good stuff.
My short term goal is to stay well, avoiding seasonal illnesses. Flu is very bad this year and shots do not seem to be helping much. I personally choose to avoid them, and believe herbs to enhance immunity are another important tool in staying on my feet. The twenty year plan is to remain well for the long term with supplements including antioxidants to protect tissue, adaptogens for stress, CoQ-10 and garlic for heart, enzymes to digest dead tissue and plaque, Vitamin D for many benefits and superfoods to provide optimal nutrition, which form the core of my daily regimen.
Here’s to a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous 2018
Jim Martin, LAc
