Image credit: Precious Life Wellness Village
Like many of my favorite bloggers, I hesitated to write about H1N1, but I wanted to say a few things, and then no more!
Many of us in the education field, or healthcare field have experienced the complete paranoia about H1N1. As a substitute teacher, I find myself surrounded by other teachers who say, at every introduction, “Wow, you’re still standing? Well, not for long.”
With the children, there are constant reminders to wash their hands, sneeze into their sleeves, don’t touch the other kids, and please don’t touch the teachers. At my last job, I was excited, as a local nutritionist was scheduled to give a 45 minute lecture to my class, as the beginning of a six-week nutrition course. I’m sorry to say that the discussion was almost entirely about germs. The woman began by washing all the desks down with bleach (yuck!), and then having the kids go through hand washing drills to see how fast they could wash up as a class, while still doing a thorough job. It wasn’t what I thought it was going to be.
And hand sanitizer – it is prized at schools these days. There are usually at least 20 jumbo bottles in every teacher’s closet, and the kids are expected to use these about every ten to twenty minutes.
I’ll leave my comments about bleach and hand sanitizer unspoken – for now – and focus on what I really want to discuss: this paranoia.
With the constant media attention, and the kind of attention it gets at work, it is impossible not to have this on your mind ALL THE TIME. And yes. I’m scared. I’m not scared of getting H1N1. I haven’t gotten the “regular” flu since I was 7 or so. I always get colds – and bad ones. If I get H1N1, okay, I’ll deal with it. But I’m scared of getting sick, in general – cold, flu, whatever. Substitute teachers don’t have sick days. Every time we have to cancel a job for an illness, we lose that paycheck. It is scary, especially at this time of year, when we have three weeks of holiday breaks coming up – and we don’t get paid during those times, either. So illness is a major financial problem for subs.
It is hard to be at work where kids want to hug you and hold your hand, and all you can think is: “What germs am I going to end up with because of this?” I hate it that I feel dirty and “contaminated” just from touching a desk or a pencil from the teacher’s desk that has probably been used by countless students. I hate it that I feel the need to wash my hands every 15 minutes.
And did I mention the vaccination frenzy? The past month or so, our schools have been offering both flu vaccinations, and almost all the kids have been getting them. It is “HIGHLY recommended” by the school district, as, understandably, they don’t want anyone to get sick. There is a weird attitude about it, though – the belief that one cannot get sick now that they’ve been vaccinated. However, the paranoia about illness still remains. Hmmm.
Vaccinations are another discussion, one I don’t intend to have, but just to let you know, I have chosen NOT to get vaccinated. I do not get the regular flu shot, either, as I had some weird side effects from it when I used to get it in my early twenties. I don’t feel the need to get the H1N1 vaccination, and I have my worries about it. However, that means I have to be super careful and vigilant about it, as I do not want to bring any illness to the kids I teach.
So back to that paranoia. What to do? I have become so sick of it that I tried to think of a way to frame it in a positive light. How about we take this flu scare and turn it into an excuse to pamper ourselves? (Though one should never need an excuse for that!) I have been realizing how addicted I get to stress, and how I store that stress in my body. I realized how much sugar I really eat (which seriously depresses the immune system). I realized that I keep telling myself to GO GO GO, even when I’m tired and need to rest.
This has to stop. If I want to stay healthy, I have to start taking care of myself. I can’t believe how much I have cleaned up my diet in the past two weeks! I no longer take more than a bite of traditional, processed candies or chocolates (if that) per day. No more sugar or processed/refined foods! I compensate by making raw desserts a lot – full of dates, raw cacao, coconut, and other sweet treats that won’t send your body into a sugar frenzy! I eat ginger and garlic several times a day (in juices, smoothies, nut pates, etc.). I eat fresh veggies or fruit at EVERY meal. I work out nearly every day (sometimes yoga, sometimes walking), and I get as much sleep as I can.
It seems so simple, but these are really the basic building blocks for keeping our immune system working well. Funnily enough, it is often hard to do this because it just isn’t part of our culture. We are taught to go faster, work harder, don’t rest, and eat food that comes in a cardboard box. This also requires us to say no a lot more often, and to cancel social events or other commitments from time to time so we can rest. But this is like the oxygen mask in the airplane – if we don’t take care of ourselves first (despite our instincts to tend to others first), then we won’t be physically ABLE to take care of others.
Anyway, I would like to share with your three posts that I have found helpful about this subject:
- EcoYogini’s discussion on H1N1 vaccinations
- Another take on vaccinations and immunity boosters on Open-Ended Question
- Meghan Telpner’s vaccination opinion, and links to her other great posts on keeping healthy
When it comes to vaccinations, do what feels right for you, based on your risk group, your career, and your personal gut instincts. Beyond that, let’s lay this panic down. I don’t mean to say that H1N1 isn’t a serious and dangerous issue – it is. But I believe that our fear of it will cause it to thrive. I believe that our mental immunity is as (or maybe more) important as our physical immunity. I believe we create what we think. If we walk around in constant fear, then we will manifest greater and greater numbers of affliction. We need to take control NOW, tell the fear to sit down and be quiet, and start promoting health and wellness, rather than talking about how scary the flu is.
Now it is time to be peaceful, inside and out – that’s the best immune system boost we can give ourselves AND the world.
Copyright: A Green Spell
http://greenspell.wordpress.com
Excellent point yogawitch! Stress and worry can really impact on the immune system can’t it?
Here in Melbourne, and in the Southern Hem in general, we went through a big H1N1 paranoia just this past Winter. They were closing schools and all the rest.
This round of H1N1 can be devastating to a handful of individuals, but that’s no different to what happens every single year with whatever flu is going around at the time. Every year in Australia about 1200 people die from flu complications. But Swine Flu has become a catch-cry for death and disaster. Sure it’s not something to dismiss, but there’s a lot of panic around it.
It’s just a little balance required (imho). We all need to take care of ourselves, and not soldier on with the flu, spreading it around by going to work/school with it. And also like you say, slow down a bit, eat good food, proper rest etc.
But to be in lock-down mode, and feeding the fear is pretty ridiculous.
ooh. Sorry – bit rant on your blog : )
I am in complete agreement. It is super important that we take this threat seriously – but that we stay away from PANIC!
awesome post! The paranoia and over-talk about this is totally getting to me. I can’t drive to work in the morning or have lunch or drive home without hearing about it….
and i am tired. I’m tired of hearing the panic, i think emotionally and mentally I’ve had enough of the talk you know? i love your take that we should take this opportunity to slow down and pamper.
for me that means decrease stress. i worked late today and am trying to wind down from the week…. thank goodness i get to sleep in tomorrow.
i was going to do yoga tonight…. and i’ve just decided that trying to “GO” when i should simply relax is silly.
i am taking your advice (in a different way) and am NOT doing yoga tonight… but will eat yummy supper, chill with some wine… and watch a show
This has actually affected my yoga practice, a lot, Lisa. Just the way you said – I have stopped pushing myself to do so much. I just came off of a summer in which I was doing 6 to 12 mile hikes every weekend, 4 mile walks in between, and 1 1/2 hours of yoga every other day. Even through early October, I was pushing, pushing, pushing. I’ve been trying very hard to respect my energy levels lately. I now allow myself to do 20 to 60 minutes of yoga for each practice, and sometimes, I just do restorative yoga, and try not to worry that it’s not “vigorous” enough. It is all beneficial in its own way, and that is what matters!
Exactly! A most excellent post! Thanks for the links…
Cheers!
Great post! I’ve been so scared of this flu. Mainly because I’m a mom now and I worry about my daughter constantly. I find myself washing everything down with disinfectant wipes, always putting hand sanitizer on, etc….We don’t have the vaccines available here yet so all I’ve been able to get for my daughter and I are the regular flu shots.
For some reason it never stuck me to clean up my diet to help protect myself more. That’s something I’ll definitely work on.
I think diet is one of the last things we think of changing, oddly. (It’s certainly the last thing I change! I love my sweet tooth, you know!) But it is so important – it’s the most basic building block of our health. And getting rest is so important. Avoiding stress. Etc.
I’d say we need to keep doing what we’re doing (keeping those hands clean, etc.), but just cut out the worry. We are all going to be okay. The more we put that belief out there, the healthier we will be.
I agree, it all starts with us. I do get the regular flu shot each year, not so much for myself but for the little kids I look after so I don’t catch something and give it to them…although, they pick it up elsewhere anyway. I am a healthy 50+ woman who seldom gets sick even though I am constantly coughed, sneezed and snotted on by 2-3 year olds, so I know my immunity is good…the H1N1 shot…I’m still undecided. But by the time I’m eligible, the threat of catching it will have passed.
I think it is all a matter of what works for each person. And it’s definitely good to have some time to think about the H1N1 vaccine. I don’t necessarily think it’s a BAD thing…but I just have nagging doubts. I’d do it, though, if I felt I was in a higher-risk category.
I LOVE this “reframing” attitude…I always secretely think that when my body gets sick it just wants a spa day…So I indulge! Aromatherapy baths, a good book, snuggly socks & a bathrobe, and good quality herbal teas…It’s really how we should treat ourselves regularly, not just when we’re sick!
Don’t stress, please! It’s a flu. A big, celebrity flu.
Take care of yourself and thanks for the shout-out!
Alex
Exactly – we need to pamper everyday!
And thanks for your great post – it was so informative!!
[...] Even though I still think we need to be more peaceful in our response to H1N1 (as I mentioned in this post), I do think it is important to be careful and keep ourselves as safe as possible. However, [...]