Intuitive Health Warning

Sickness has been prevalent in my household and my extended families’ households since mid-December. Based upon what I have heard from friends, acquaintances and the media, this is happening all over. The media says it is Omicron, but other viruses are involved also. The “fluvid”, a mixture of Covid and the flu, a regular chest/head cold virus and the intestinal flu are going around.

In my family specifically we were all hit with a cold-like illness around Christmas. My husband and middle son got the worst of it, with my son spiking a 102 degree temp with a sore throat and headache. Both later developed coughing with mucus that lasted about a week. My other son and daughter did not get it and I only developed the coughing part which lasted about a week. For me, the coughing was just annoying (only in the morning and at night) but my husband and son were both miserable. My other son only got a mild cough and runny nose but never once complained and it didn’t slow him down one bit.

Then both my BIL’s families caught the same illness. Since they were tested for Covid (negative) we didn’t bother to test.

When we returned to work, I discovered a coworker had Covid over the break. She told me she wanted to die when she had it, saying, “It felt like I was being stabbed with knives all over.” She took the hydroxy stuff everyone raves about and in three days felt much better, though she was extremely weak and had to have her son’s help.

That same week my step-father got sick, also, but did not get tested because his symptoms were so mild. He had the same cold symptoms as everyone in the family had over Christmas break.

Then this week my middle son (poor baby) came down with the intestinal bug and had that for 24 hours and two days ago my MIL tested positive for Covid as did my BIL and SIL. My BIL and SIL have no symptoms but they also just had the cold that spread through our families (and tested negative for Covid then). My MIL is struggling but okay, her symptoms similar to the cold we all had but a bit more severe.

When I heard my MIL had Covid and so did my BIL and SIL, I immediately wondered about the accuracy of the test. I’ve heard the test is not very accurate and since my BIL and SIL’s family just had what my family had (the bad cold), I can’t help but wonder if it was Omicron all along but the test failed to detect it until after. I’ll never know but it does seem feasible especially since, in my family, my daughter didn’t get the cold at all and I got a very, very mild version of it. We are the only ones vaccinated in our family (except my mom who, BTW, also did not catch the ‘cold’, while her partially vaccinated husband got a mild version).

An Intuitive Health Warning

Prior to and during all this sickness, I’ve been feeling/sensing a need to slow down and listen to my body. The warning has increased in the last couple of weeks and I’m beginning to pay more attention as I notice how tired I am in general and how my body responds to my routine.

My guidance has posed some questions for my consideration. Do I really want to put so much effort into my diet and exercise? How does the exercise I have been doing make me feel? Do I want to feel that way? What could I do that I would enjoy instead?

This consideration comes with a sense that I need to pay attention and follow my intuition rather than ignore it. It isn’t a feeling of “oh no!” like I have gotten in the past, but more of a persistent nudge. 

For the first question: Do I really want to put so much effort into my diet and exercise? My answer is: Not really. I mostly exercise out of habit and boredom. I also exercise because I feel that if I don’t that I will become less healthy, less physically attractive and have less control over my body. I try and eat healthy and avoid eating certain things or indulging. I use to track everything I ate but noticed it was becoming a bit obsessive and not making me feel good so stopped doing it.

I realized recently that my diet and exercise habits stem from a deep sense of worthlessness and need to prove myself. This is in line with my completely open heart center in HD. An open heart center also causes me to tend to agree to and try to stick to plans/activities/etc. but not really have the energy or ability to do so. I have not experienced this as much as the need to prove myself, but only because I have learned to say no more often than yes. In the past, I would say yes, feel pressured to stick to what I agreed to and then have negative experiences.

My diet and exercise habits also come from an open root center that can cause me to feel a constant pressure to do, do, do. I become almost frantic if I do not follow a schedule or routine. This is not just in terms of diet and exercise but in other areas of my life as well. In HD this pressure is from an open root center. It says, “I’m in a hurry to get things done”. It causes me to rush about, trying to get rid of the pressure but nothing I do will get rid of it. I have to learn to live with the pressure. 

As for the second question: How does the exercise I have been doing make me feel? Well, lately not so good. I don’t want to finish or just don’t feel like it. I would rather go for a walk while listening to relaxing music, do deep stretching, do short bursts of cardio, or just do nothing at all. I have already started to shift away from weight training, decreasing the number of days I work out and taking more time to stretch and relax. This week I feel like doing no weight bearing exercise at all. I went for a run on Monday and enjoyed it but should’ve run less and walked more. I’ve since chosen to take long walks and do limited bodyweight exercises.

Lately I am more tired than usual, sleeping deeper and wanting to stay in bed longer. This could be a sign that my body needs more rest. I should listen to my body rather than push it so frequently. It can lead to illness and burnout, which my 2nd line body is prone to anyway.

The final couple of questions: Do I want to feel that way (the way my routine makes me feel)? What could I do that I would enjoy instead? Sometimes I get an exercise high and I love that feeling. Lately, I’ve not been getting that high much. I tire more quickly, feel exhausted or anxious and get low blood sugar more than I like. What other things could I do that I would enjoy? The other night singing came to mind, so maybe I could try singing a bit more. Sleep is always one of my favorite things to do! So that is definitely on the list. 

I feel like I should look back on my youth and what I enjoyed back then. 

If I go to my youngest years, exploring nature, being outside, swimming, fishing, and drawing were what I did the most. In my teen years I enjoyed reading, taking care of the chickens and other birds we had on our property, gardening, singing, baking (and eating it lol), and sleeping (the best sleep ever in my teens!). Most of what I enjoyed back then were solitary activities and I am still like that today. I still enjoy gardening, singing, cooking/baking, nature and animals. It wasn’t until my late 20’s that spirituality came into my life and was added as my favorite past time. 

In my teens I was “chunky” and didn’t eat very healthy. I use to eat whatever I wanted. If it tasted good, I ate it. I weighed on average about 10-15lbs more than I do now because of it. It wasn’t until I got married that I changed after seeing a picture of myself that showed how fat and unhealthy I was. This shifted me into some extremely very unhealthy habits that included binging and purging and exercising too much. I don’t want to shift to that extreme again but I also don’t want to become that overweight, sluggish, unhealthy me either. I need to find a good balance where I keep moving and eating healthy without over or under restricting, and give myself plenty of rest and breaks. Honestly, I would love to not care like I did as a kid. 

This past weekend my family took the RV to a lake I often frequented in my youth. It was beautiful but a bit cold outside. I tried fishing but had no luck. I also went for a walk with my daughter and then with my son. When walking with my daughter I found a couple of cork bobbers and a fishing lure along with a bottle of lighter fluid. I found two fossilized seashells when walking with my son. He found one right after I did and was super excited about it. He said, “This is why I love going for walks! I always find something cool.” He is a 2/4 Pure Generator so it is no wonder he loves being outside and exploring. It’s a hermit thing. 😉

It is times like the above the I really enjoy these days. Spending time in nature with my kids, either all together or one-on-one, can be a wonderful thing. I love that I have two, 2/4 Generating sons that really appreciate the outdoors, nature, wildlife and all that is has to offer. They don’t feel the need to constantly talk or over-think things. We can walk happily together in silence.

So, I guess I am going to slow down when it comes to exercise, replacing it will more enjoyable, peaceful moments in nature and with my children. We will see what comes of this change. It could open new doors by just allowing me to see something I didn’t notice was there before. And considering all the sickness around me, these changes will ensure my immune system remains strong.