3 reasons getting sick can be to your benefit

Before we dive right into it, I wanted to let you know of a few important things!

• For those local to Chicago, I've opened a pre-order form for fall/winter home immune boosting remedies like:

Fire Cider

Elderberry Syrup

• For those interested in wellbeing coaching sessions, but are experiencing financial hardship, I've opened a sliding scale option for both the home remedies and my private "Redesign Your Life" coaching sessions, as we're all in need of a helping hand. Both options are "pay what you can" while listing the full price and minimum price (bottom of the sliding scale). You can access the current home remedy menu the above pre-order link, and for private coaching sessions you can send me a message (regular 1 hour session pricing is $150, minimum price is $60) to schedule!

What to be on the lookout for...

In addition to the (human) home remedies, I'll also be opening up some remedy options for our fur-friends like:

• Homemade Paw Pad Balm - great for soothing paw pads from the hot cement during the summer and the frozen ground or salt covered cement in the winter
• A calming massage oil blend

These will be announced publicly soon, but if it's something you're interested in now, please feel free to send me a message!

3 Benefits of Getting Sick

I had something on my mind to write to you about today, and then just like magic an email appeared in my inbox from an acupuncturist and Chinese Medicine practitioner I follow articulating the very same thing I wanted to write about.

Alignment. I love it when that happens.

As we're heading into fall and then into winter, it can be a very destabilizing time in general. Add in the heartbreak of the world right now to compound its effects and we can easily find ourselves feeling run down from the stress alone, and potentially getting sick.

While it may seem like an oxymoron, I wanted to share with you some insights how how getting sick could actually be to your benefit in the long scope.

Dr. Liz Carter writes:

Getting sick sucks, but here are 3 silver linings:

#1 We start taking care of ourselves again

When we’re sick we’re usually uncomfortable enough that we have to stop unhelpful lifestyle habits and take better care of ourselves. For example, when you’re sick you’ll likely sleep more instead of working and you’ll drink more water and eat more consciously. This shift not only helps you to recover, but it also acts like a reset for your behavior and can help to get you back on track with supportive health habits.

#2 It’s very common to feel like you’re in better health after you’ve recovered than you did before you got sick

This boost in health usually only happens if you treat your acute illness naturally. Meaning you support your body’s process with herbs, sleep, and nutritious food and fluids instead of suppressing it with fever reducers, cough suppressants, decongestants, or pain relievers. If you use these drugs, it usually doubles your recovery time because your body has to fight both the drug and illness, and that zaps your body’s healing resources. If we don’t suppress our healing response, we’re able to move through our illness more quickly AND throw off lots of that junk that’s accumulated from not taking care of ourselves.

#3 The stronger your immune response, the more vital you are

I know that symptoms are annoying and uncomfortable, but they’re also telling you that your body is working hard to get back to a state of health. The stronger your symptoms, the more your body is fighting off whatever it's dealing with. So keep that in mind the next time you feel terrible when you’re sick. Know that your body is working really hard to get you back to health and it’s best to support its process.

Thoughts from Misty:

A long time ago, one of my chiropractors told me that our bodies need to get really sick once a year. Throughout our day to day life, our bodies are constantly at bat with the world around us. We're bombarded by viruses, bacteria and toxins of all varieties daily. When we have a healthy immune system, we're able to fight these off naturally - afterall, if you're exposed to viruses and bacteria every single day, isn't it interesting that we're not constantly sick? What the body does with toxins and such though is very interesting - it can store them in the body. When we get sick, it's like our body is going through a MASSIVE cleanse on all layers to burn off all the gunk we've accumulated.

To Dr. Liz's point about feeling better after you've recovered from being sick, I can track this in my own life. Being diagnosed with autoimmune challenges completely flipped how I took care of myself, and over the course of time I was able to get into a state of remission because of it. Because I rely on food, herbs, supplements and homemade products and remedies to support my overall wellbeing as best I can, it is extremely rare that I ever take medication or go to my normal doctor's office. Unless there's something REALLY wrong (like an emergency) or something I absolutely can't take care of at home (I know the difference), I choose to support my body naturally through what it's going through. One of my doctor's once told me (after he walked into the room and saw me looking... incredibly sick), "I know that when I see you on my schedule, I know something is really really wrong."

Sidebar clarification note to reader: I only see my western medicine doctor when I have to. I see my functional medicine doctor every 3-6 months to get an incredibly extensive panel of bloodwork (we're talking drawing 7-13 tubes of blood for various tests) to make sure everything is holding steady.

What I've noticed over time is I have a sense of empowerment, that there are PLENTY of things I can do in my own home with minimal resources to support my body. I also notice that the actual physical symptoms of my sickness tend to last less days than those of my peers, most likely due to her point about not suppressing the body's healing response with over the counter medications.

It honestly also brings me back to a self-harmonizing place in my life. When I get sick, it's usually after a very stressful time period where I'm probably not eating as cleanly as I should or taking care of myself as I should. Getting sick gets me back on the horse again, so to speak. It reminds me that I have lots of tools in my own home to support my wellness, and building an at-home natural medicine cabinet for life's acute ailments isn't available for an exclusive bunch, it's actually available to everyone and pales in cost-comparison to other approaches and helps you in dividends over the long haul.

Sending you and the world lots of love today and everyday.

Come visit me at www.loveyourlifewithmisty.com