Healthy Mind, Healthy Body....and Vice Versa

I know I've blogged about this before... but I haven't really made a "health" related post in a long time, so I'm a gonna write about it again.

I am a firm believer in a healthy mind leading to a healthy body.  In fact, I verge right on the edge of being a gung-ho naturalist in terms of never putting medicines in to my body to fight sickness.  I like for my body to use its natural defenses to fight off infection and viruses.

At a young age, I found out I was a "carrier" for illnesses.  My body may pick up colds and bugs and sickies, but I don't present the typical symptoms but still have the ability to pass them on.  Because of the fact that I never appeared to be sick, my body received very little in the form of any kinds of medicines growing up.  I now have a over-active immune system.  I'm still a carrier, but the doctor told me once that my chances of picking up common illnesses would be a lot less likely for me because of the defenses my body has built up over time.

And I can prove my point a thousand times over.

It's not like I don't ever get sick.  But, my symptoms and problems are mild and last a lot less time than most.  Take the flu epidemic for example.  I sat around while my poor students dropped like flies.  I literally sat under a five year old that was sick close to two weeks with the stuff.  My other two kids got sick and I was taking care of them.  Me?  Nada.

I truly believe that a lot of my health comes from my mind.  I don't let myself get caught up in the possibility of becoming sick, or worrying about it, or thinking about it.  When I do start to feel a little weak, I can usually thank some form of stress that's going on in my life that has allowed me to get off my game...and it comes out through my body.  If that happens, rather than run to the first box of Tylenol or NyQuil I crack open a bottle of honey, make some lemon tea, and sleep.  I can count on one hand the amounts of times I've taken medicine over the past few years.  And that would be two.  Both being for a toothache.

But, the point I'm getting to with all of this is the fact that I am sick right now.  It started yesterday.  I was burning up, even though it was only 40 degrees outside.  I had the windows open in my classroom for as long as possible before the teeth of my students started chattering - and I was still feeling like the room was a sauna.  When I took my sweater off, I started getting chills.  My nose was running.  My throat hurt.  And I could have curled up in bed and slept for a week - I just know it.  A quick check from the nurse confirmed my suspicions...I was running a low grade fever.

And why am I sick?  Because I'm stressed to the max.  My defenses are down because I'm spending so much time worrying about stuff that it's caused my body to break down and require some TLC.  And what happens when my body starts to break down?  I become susceptible to sickies.

Thankfully, my symptoms are mild.  I'm tired.  My nose and throat are sore from sneezing.  And that's about it.. but that's still an inconvenience that I don't want to deal with.  I would consider taking a sick day to recover if I could bare being away from my students.  But, I can't.  And I know that if I were to take a sick day, I'd end up stressing even more and that would just make things worse.  I need to keep myself busy.  I need to stay focused.  And I need to get rid of this stress.

I guess it's good that it's Thursday and I only have two more days left this week.  Then I can get some rest over the weekend.  Plus I can do some de-stressing.  I'll be able to spend some time with my Momma, enjoy some birthday celebrations, and take my mind off of stressful stuff.

Sounds much better than medicine from a bottle.  The medicine of life!  Can't beat that!

I'm going to try really hard today to take a few deep breaths, let the worry slip away from my body, and hopefully it will take away these nasty sniffles.

Take care of your mind - it's what keeps your body healthy!