This week I thought I'd share with you ten tips for a healthy immune system. I invite you to join me in writing these down or maybe creating your own list on what it takes for you to live well, to be well. What does living well mean to you? What does quality of life mean to you? Because when we have more energy, more quality of life, because we feel well, we are more motivated, inspired, or more curious about actually doing the things that we're passionate about, we might have more courage to take that trip, to wear that dress, to create that program, to write that book, to take that job, to go on that date. That is why taking care of ourselves is so important, because it gives us space and energy to live the life that we want to live. Holistic well being isn't just about the food you put into your body. It's not just about exercise. It's actually very multilayered and multidimensional. 

1. Reduce stress.

Even so, the first and most important, I believe, is to reduce stress. Doesn't matter how healthy you eat, how much you exercise, how happy you think you are in certain relationships, if you don't have a way to internally monitor the state of your nervous system, there are so many things happening there.

We have the parasympathetic nervous system, we have the nervous system, we have the vagus nerve. All of these things are important to your well being. And all of those things, being in balance or not, are triggered by stress. It's one of the best things we can do for ourselves. Some of us reduce stress through movement, through exercise, others through venting conversations, maybe others through meditation, through silence. Maybe some of us need a therapist or a coach to just, you know, be able to kind of dump all of our stress on to ask for support. But most importantly, it doesn't matter how healthy you eat, how much you exercise, how much money you make. None of that matters as much as it does for you to bring awareness to how much stress am I holding onto in my body, in my life?

Stress weakens the immune system. It lowers our capacity for compassion. It's really the enemy. So my invitation for you today is to get super clear on how much stress you're holding and where does it come from? Does it come from your job, from your marriage, from your kids? And ask yourself, what am I gaining by holding on to the stress? What is it changing? Like, what gets really clear with yourself. Like, how is it helping you? How is it serving you?

What is the stress, the fear, the anxiety, what is it really creating in your body? Are you able to even really digest and assimilate nutrients from food if your nervous system is not on track? No, you're not. This is probably, at least in my opinion, I would say, from my experience, the number one health problem in America. Because if you're not stressed and overwhelmed, you're choosing to eat well, you're choosing to make time for exercise, you're choosing to make time for the things that matter. But most people are so busy and overwhelmed with stress that they don't even make time to eat well or to exercise.

2. Connection.

Connection helps to improve your immune response, your immune system. Let me give you an example. When a baby is born prematurely, there's something called kangaroo care. They are basically living in fight or flight. I was the mother of a daughter born seven weeks early, and I learned about this kangaroo care and the response that their nervous system, their body had to being held. The healing happened much faster.

It's really important to have deep connections in your life, authentic connections, not just surface relationships. I'm talking about the kind where it's easy, or maybe sometimes it's challenging, but you get to just be who you are and you're still loved. You get to be who you are, and you still love others. Having connection and support and deep healing relationships with people in your life is good for your well being.

3. Giving yourself permission to heal.

Make time for healing. It's not always easy. It's not always necessary. It's a cycle. If you notice a pattern, if you notice you're welcoming the same type of unhealthy partner in your life, some same unhealthy boyfriend girlfriend, the same type of boss, if you have the same type of repetitive, self sabotaging behavior around your health and well being, if you start something you can't finish, if you start to notice a pattern, this is the invitation for you to actually go into this, if you want to transmute it, otherwise, it's going to keep happening. And the thing with the body is we're not.

When things are stagnant so energetically, when we're stagnant in life, the life force energy in our body is stagnant, too. What does stagnation create in the body? You can think of something like an energetic tumor. Stagnation just kind of gathers together and it doesn't know where to go. It doesn't know how to move. It doesn't. It needs freedom.

There is a time and a place to actually go into what is uncomfortable, not to avoid it, not to project it, not to blame other people, but to actually say, yes, I'm willing to look at this, I'm willing to feel it, to heal it. I'm willing to get a coach, a therapist, and support somebody. Why does this keep happening? I'm tired. I'm exhausted. This is a pattern. Do that and you will quite possibly transcend your health to a level that you weren't even aware of before, because you're no longer holding on to toxicity.

Toxic thoughts, toxic energy, toxic relationships. You're not self sabotaging. This is really important, and it's important for your well being.

4. Eat right for you.

We refer to it as bio individuality. It's eating right for your body type, your blood type, your lifestyle, your genetics, your epigenetics. It's different for everybody. There is no one diet. There is no one type of food. There is no one supplement that works for everybody. It's not possible. If you look at animals in nature, they all eat differently because they're made differently. Some of them are vegetarian, and some of them are fruitarian, and some of them are carnivores, because they eat based on what they need and we should also do the same.

There are foods known to cause inflammation for many, many people. I would say that universally, sugar does not really support anybody. It weakens the immune system and creates an environment for pathogens to survive and thrive.Candida, it just increases inflammation in the body.

When you're eating right for your body type, hire some support to help you figure out what that is or take yourself through some type of awareness where you try things out. If you don't feel good when you eat them, maybe they're not the best foods for you.

Everybody's body responds differently. If you get super tired or have an achy or stuffy nose after you eat, certain foods might not be the best food for you. You may spiritually want to be a vegan, but your physical body might need to actually have more protein, animal protein. So it's really important for you to listen to your body.

You have to connect to your body to do that. There are foods that knowingly reduce inflammation. Turmeric, garlic, there are foods that may cause inflammation for many people, not everyone, but we've all heard of them before. Gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts for some people.

Really learning to eat right for your body type is so empowering and having a healthy relationship with food too. Not restricting it, but just knowing and choosing from a place of what serves me and what doesn't. It'll give you energy. It will reduce inflammation. You will get sick less often if you can really figure out how to eat right for your body type.

5. Rest.

Rest is important. 

We live in a world where everything is a 24 hour clock. Twelve months a year, seven days a week. That's not really how nature created us to live. Nature is very cyclical. When you look at animals in the wild, they hibernate. They live very cyclically. They eat more at certain times. They have a mating time. They do all these things very cyclically. The moon has its own cycle. The earth has a cycle. The seasons have a cycle.

Everything has a cycle, except for humans, who've created the 24 hours clock.

It's really important for us to just understand that we are natural beings trying to live in a world with time constraints, and that rest is important. Take rest when you need it. Try to get 8 hours of sleep at night.

Understanding how our body and emotions respond cyclically to even just our sleep cycle. And so the sleep cycle is a really important part of your well being, trying to sleep at night. Now, I know some people, like my husband, even have jobs where we are not able to sleep at night.

And so for those people really taking the extra time to get extra rest, giving your body the rest that it needs, especially with where you are in your life, you might notice that as you get older, it's harder to sleep in. Maybe it's harder to get good sleep. So maybe you need more sleep because your quality of sleep isn't as great as when you were younger. Or maybe it's different. Taking time to rest, which might mean saying no to things, saying no to other things and saying yes to rest.

6. Joy and fun.

Freedom of the heart. It's really something that we forget as we become adults. It's such a part of who we are as children. I keep telling my children, don't be in any hurry to grow up and be a boring adult and take things seriously. Don't take things seriously now. Have fun.

But the truth is, that we, as adults, can choose that, too. We can choose to allow ourselves to be led by joy and fun. It doesn't have to be anything outside of us. It can be very much in the moment, just finding the joy in the moment, whatever it is. Give yourself permission to just be silly. Give yourself permission to choose from a place of joy. What lights you up, what makes you happy. Maybe it's putting on music and dancing. Maybe it's playing in the dirt and gardening. Maybe it's baking a cake or decorating cookies. Maybe it's skydiving or surfing or riding horses or playing soccer. Maybe it's telling jokes. Maybe it's playing games, watching movies, going to an amusement park, anything that brings you joy and helps you to reconnect with your youth.

Joy and fun have been so forgotten in this American culture. There are lots of people trying to bring it back to you. Find somebody, if you're really struggling with this, to navigate what your relationship is with joy. Maybe somebody told you that you were too annoying because you were too happy or something, or that it was unauthentic. Some of us are experiencing blocks with joy. If you're experiencing this, find somebody to support you, to understand what that is, because it's really good for your health. It's really good for your well being to allow yourself to experience joy, fun and freedom.

7. Educate yourself.

Become curious about herbal wellness. Herbs are food and they're medicinal at the same time. There are so many amazing herbs out there that can support your well being, whatever it is that you are struggling with. If you need a liver, detox, if you've got anxiety, if you, you've got kidneys that are struggling to work, even emotional well being, there are herbs that can help with everything. And this is something that has also been forgotten, specifically in our country. But it is so much a part of ancient healing traditions. But plants can be medicinal, so find a naturopathic doctor or an herbalist that can support you with where you are now. The challenging part with them is that most of them are not regulated by the FDA to be approved for medicinal use. So 100%, whatever you do, whatever resource you get to support you in finding out more about herbal wellness, also check with your doctor. 

Herbs can be absolutely amazing. Just so amazing. They can be detoxing, they support your immune system. And you can just put them in your food. We're talking very basic. Basil, Rosemary, sage, cilantro, all of those are everyday. Herbs are super great for your immune system. Then you can get all the way into like ashwagandha and Burdock and Catskill and all kinds of other things. There's so many different levels. But start thinking about herbs and also adaptogens, like start welcoming in things to your diet, beyond just the food on your table.

8. Maintain alkalinity in your body. 

Alkaline would be the opposite of acidic. Acidosis creates inflammation. Inflammation is the underlying cause of all disease. It's important to stay alkaline.

If most of us are eating very acidic foods. White foods, coffee. Every day people are starting out with coffee, it's very acidic. Teas, processed foods, meats, dairy, all acidic. What is not acidic? Most greens. So just think about creating balance in your diet, welcoming more alkaline.

What else is acidic? Stress. The cortisol in your body produces inflammation. So understanding that, it's important to stay in balance. Drink alkaline water, even. If you really want to take it to the next level, it's super important to have your water tested. Get some type of water filter that creates alkaline water in your home so that you can reduce acidity from the water you're drinking.

9. Movement.

Super important, we talked about stagnation. Find some type of movement, even if it's just  getting up every morning and doing a quick ten minute routine, breath work, sit ups, push ups, walking your dog, maybe you're going to the gym three times a week. Many of you know that as we continue to age, it is so much harder to get back into shape. And it takes so much longer than it did just one year ago, two years ago, five years ago, ten years ago.

It's important, got to keep that chi, that energy moving through your body, because we don't want stagnation. Stagnation and acidosis and inflammation create severe discomfort, dis ease. It creates a breeding ground for pathogens and candida and viruses and all kinds of stuff that we don't want. Keep the body moving, flushing it, detoxing it, drinking water, but also exercising.

10. It's all about your connection to God, your connection to source.

If someone still really feels out of balance, if they are still really unhealthy, meaning they don't feel well, they're tired all the time, they're exhausted, they're eating the right foods, they have healthy relationships, they have money that they need to support themselves, but they still, they just don't feel right.

They feel disconnected, they've forgotten where they came from. It's all about your connection to God, your connection to source. Who you were created from remembering that you're created from love, that you have never, ever been separate. You've never been separate.

When we perceive that we're separate, I like to call that the fall from grace. Then our head starts spinning, our body starts hurting. We think we have to control everything. We think we have to do this, that, that, that, the to do list. I've got to accomplish this and do this, and this is not okay, and this is okay, and there's not enough, there's scarcity. And if you just take a deep breath and just remember, seriously, honestly, authentically remember that you were created from love. Know God. Take time to pray, take time to meditate, take time to journal. The mornings are the best in the yoga tradition, the yogini has a practice of morning reflection either through yoga or journaling, prayer, meditation. We've just spent the whole night resting. We're open to receiving. We're clear. 

Take that time for yourself. Find somebody to take you back on that path. You are not alone. If you don't align with this, you're either struggling to remember this, find somebody to support you, spend some time in reflection. Where do these beliefs come from? Or just know that there is somebody that supports your beliefs and your values. 

You can trust that God will bring you the people that you need to support you when you need to. You can trust that sometimes he's ready to take people home before you're ready to and it's okay. You can trust in your body. You can trust that you are loved, that you deserve to have everything you need.

P.S.

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Jen Mons is an author, speaker, mentor and coach for high achieving purpose driven ready to shift the paradigm of feminine leadership and redefine excellence and wealth through 5 Element Wellth, Prosperity, Journaling and Soul Wisdom Imprinting.