These are challenging times worldwide with the novel corona virus entering our communities.
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The COVID-19 Virus
These are challenging times worldwide with the novel corona virus slowly entering our communities.
There are so many unanswered questions regarding the spreading of the infection, incubation period of the virus, and severity of the possible illness.
Unknown facts can cause much uncertainty and fear.
Fear and panic can undermine a smart, level-headed approach to keeping ourselves, our families and our communities safe.
Parris Wellness is SAFE and SANITIZED
At Parris Wellness, our clinic is taking all preventative steps to ensure that treatment rooms, face cradles, countertops, door knobs, water cooler, reception area are safe and sanitized for our patients when coming in for therapy. Having impeccable hygiene is the standard of care at PW. Hand-washing before and after each patient, cleaning the rooms, sanitizing face cradles in-between each patient is the norm. You can trust that our patient’s health and well-being is our upmost concern and top priority. Our office building at 315 Madison has stepped up cleaning procedures using disinfectant agents during the daily cleaning of the building lobbies, all public and high touch areas are cleaned multiply times throughout the day.
Let’s keep in mind the positive things that we can control and actively initiate them keep ourselves safe and stay informed from CDC.
Parris Wellness’s Strategies for Staying Well
For one, we can maintain impeccable hygiene. Washing hands with soap and water; Cleaning high touch items and areas such as, cell phones, computer keys, door knobs, desk tops regularly; Never touching your face, mouth or eyes without washing your hands first; Staying home if not feeling well; Limiting travel for the time being; Avoiding large gatherings for the next few weeks to months. Keep in mind good hygiene is for all times and not just during flu season. Secondly, we can bolster our immune system so if we are exposed to or contract a virus our immune response will be strong and robust to combat the intruder.
Keep nasal passage clean. Our nose and mouth are our natural filters, keeping out pathogens, dust, pollutants and allergens. Saline or Xlear nasal mist every other day can help clear viruses, bacteria and allergens from the nasal passages.
Self Care Recipes
Steaming the face for 10 minutes over a pot of hot water infused with several drops of essential oils such as lavender, tea tree, eucalyptus helps support respiratory health. These essential oils are safe and have anti-viral properties.
Parris Wellness Make Your Own Stay Safe Room & Body Mist
What you need:
- 4oz Spray bottle (Blue or Amber)
- 100% Grain Alcohol
- Essential oils:
+ Lemon Grass 20 drops
+ Lavender 40 drops
+ Tea Tree 30 drops
+ Eucalyptus 30 drops
Mix essential oils with the alcohol!
Now you have your safe mist to spray on your scarfs, jacket collars, your room etc.
Optimizing Immunity
*Eat 2 to 3 servings of organic fruits daily that are rich in anti-oxidants. Fill your freezer with frozen organic blueberries, strawberries, cherries, raspberries, that can be used in smoothies, cereals and yogurt. Fresh fruit is best when in season but for now I find that fresh frozen fruit can be a second best to fresh.
*Eat 4 to 6 servings of green nutrient dense organic vegetables daily; kale, spinach, collards, swiss chard, broccoli etc. Greens are one of the best ways to give our bodies the much-needed nutrients for increased immunity.
*Soups; miso, vegetable, chicken, bone broth soups are good ways of delivering high quality nutrients and hydration. Instant Pot is a great addition to have in your kitchen for quick healthy cooking.
*Hydrate with high quality water in glass and organic teas throughout the day. Drink ½ of your body weight in oz’s of water. Example if you weight 100 lbs. you would need to drink 50 oz’s of water daily. Mountain Valley Spring Water is a great choice.
* Sleep deeply 7 to 8 hours a night. This is our body and minds rest and repair time. Honor and hold scared your sleep. I highly recommend this book about why we sleep. It is fascinating and so educational.
* Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams is a science book about sleep by the neuroscientist and sleep researcher, Matthew Walker. Walker is a professor of neuroscience and psychology and the director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley.
*Eliminate refined sugar, alcohol, soda, white flour and processed foods. These low nutrient foods and drink all feed viruses and this is the last thing that we want to do is feed the viruses in the body!!
Supplementing the Diet!
Anti-oxidant supplements; Pure Encapsulated and Garden Of Life are trusted brands that I often recommend to my patients.
Vitamin C 500 to 1,000 mg daily, zinc picolinate 30mg, Vitamin D 1,000 – 5,000 mg every other day are anti-oxidants that can be helpful for optimal immune function.
Adaptogens herbs and medicinal mushrooms are powerful allies for enhancing our immune system in times of stress and disease.
The herbs that our clinic relies on are; ginseng, astragalus, schisandra, & cordyceps, shitake, chaga, reishi and maitake mushrooms. Excellent brand is OM Mushrooms.
Golden Tread Plant Based Tonics are excellent premade blends.
Many of my patients are taking Chinese herbal formulas that support immune function.
One of my preferred immune enhancing formulas is the Jade Screen Formula. It has been effective in immune enhancement for over 2,000 years!
There are many effective adaptogen herbs that you can find at your local health food store as well, Wilners Chemist at 41st and Park has many excellent adaptogens formulas to choose from.
Maintaining good gut microbiome is vital for healthy immunity as well as for physical and mental well-being. Gut health refers to the balance of microorganisms that live in the digestive tract. Maintaining the right balance of the microorganism is crucial for optimal health. There are over 100 trillion of these bacteria, yeasts, and viruses that support a healthy gut while preventing gut inflammation and other intestinal issues as well as having a positive effect on immunity. Chose a daily serving of;
- Fermented vegetables (Sauerkraut, Natto beans)
- Kefir
- Kimchi
- Kombucha
- Miso
- Coconut living yogurt (such as COYO)
Dr. Ohhira’s is the probiotic that I recommend to take 1 pill in the evening.
And the RX immune + probiotic in the morning. IHERBS is selling them for discounts.
Acupuncture can help the body’s resilience in fighting viruses and pathogens. Weekly acupuncture can be a powerful investment to make towards your health and wellness.
Infrared sweat has been shown to increase the immune function. Virus can’t thrive in elevated body temperatures. We offer private infrared body wrap therapy at PW.
Stress reduction goes a long way in improving immune function. Stress and anxiety cause cortisol levels to rise, which in turn can lower immune response to disease. Mediation, breath work, yoga, community service, singing, warm baths, laughing, all can help immune function and reduce stress responses.
