Whether you are self-quarantined at home or an essential worker out in the world, you are probably experiencing a broader range of emotions than usual during this COVID-19 pandemic. Many are being overwhelmed by feelings like anxiety or frustration. Rather than focusing on our helplessness, think about the idea of focusing on things we have absolute control over. Why? Because such focus is empowering and gives us something we can do that will make a difference in our days at home and perhaps even in our health. How to do this, you ask? Consider the multitude of decisions you are making throughout the day.

You make these powerful decisions to do or not do things all day long. Some decisions you are conscious of, whereas others are done automatically, like internal or external programming that has evolved into your “habits.” Think back on decisions you made in just the last 24 hours that ranged from what you chose to eat and drink to how much sleep and exercise actually happened. In reality, these decisions were the results of using your personal power to choose what actions you took or did not take. These decisions were lifestyle choices.

Why make such a big deal about these common, everyday decisions? Because these decisions can impact the quality of your health. When my clinic was founded over 2 decades ago, the government statistics reported that 53 percent of the quality of our health was determined by our everyday choices. Today, it’s estimated to be in the 70-85 percent range. This increase is a result of the medical community’s gradually documenting that what individuals are doing or not doing daily is contributing to the majority of the serious chronic conditions that 50 percent of the people living in the U.S. are being treated for. You have heard this list of lifestyle choices before–eat a healthy diet, get enough sleep, exercise, stop smoking, moderate any alcohol consumption, have healthy relationships, and keep your stress level down. But when did you last consider HOW you can improve the quality of your health by addressing a list of optimal lifestyle choices?

When COVID-19 arrived, the top priority in life became looking at lifestyle choices. Your body was designed to keep you healthy. My body–like yours–is bombarded every day by a long list of nasty things, like bacteria, viruses, mold, fungi, etc., some of which could make you very sick. So why am I not constantly sick? Because my body has an amazing, built-in immune system.

There are many things I might do that would hinder the ability of my immune system to protect me. One example is that eating even a little sugar will weaken an immune system for several hours. Most importantly, there are many things that you can do to support your immune system to be more powerful. One of these steps is to take vitamin C. I recommend Bio-C Plus 1000 or Mixed Ascorbic Powder. Get them here https://www.orientalmedcare.com/natural-nutritional-supplements/

Have you noticed that the human immune system is not even mentioned in the media discussions about prevention or treatment of COVID-19? Most of what you hear is about how to use drugs to kill the virus, not how to support your immune system so that it can kill the virus. Doesn’t that seem strange to you?

Something to think about: the majority of the COVID-19 deaths were individuals who were already being treated for serious chronic conditions before they were infected by COVID-19. This information is an eye-opener. What if some or all of these individuals had low functioning immune systems that allowed them to be so seriously ill in the first place? What if this pandemic could be a wakeup call for all of us to pay more attention to the status of our immune system, and refine our lifestyle choices to boost our immune system’s power? Could the COVID-19 pandemic personally motivate us to commit to making healthier lifestyle choices so we are healthier now and in the future? Could each of us then be an example to those we care about and perhaps motivate them, too?

You may have thought you were doing fairly well with your lifestyle choices before the pandemic, but maybe not good enough to nudge you in the right direction. If you need extra help I offer my assistance as a licensed health professional and certified Life Coach. Schedule here and we’ll take it from there.

Be well,

Steven Sonmore, L.Ac. Dipl. Ac., Certified Life Coach