Wanted N O T: Another Cold ever again!

Child's Pose with Fitness Ball - Hugging that big ball!

When I had a bit of energy during the worst of my most recent cold (the 2nd or third bad cold ever), I wrote some notes on my i-phone which I am sharing below; although I was trying to pay attention to the details, it was impossible.  (The healing artist in me is very curious about pain, its patterns, alleviation so part of me was observing the symptoms which helped me get distance from the pain rather than completely be consumed by it).  However, there was just too much going on so I just let go and rested as much as I could, I needed to get back on my feet.  I was generally very weak for two days and there was no way I could do all the self care I wanted to do, so I did something whenever I had a bit of energy, whatever I needed most then.  Connecting to my breath was the one thing that I did the most because it allowed me to simply rest and close my eyes.

I think I would have gone to the doctor but due to what happened last time (the prescription caused side effects that were scarier than the ones I started out with) I decided not to.

I-Phone Note

You, you, you COLD you! - title for blog post

Friday (April 27): it got very cold after intense body work session in Chinatown, and lengthy dinner with friend

Saturday (April 28): long walk am with Mowgli

Saturday evening: don't feel right (time for an Epsom salt bath)

Sunday (April 29): clogged sinuses but out for nice healthy breakfast - neti pot resulted in non-stop sneezing while painting Harlem red (hearing friends perform, drinking seltzer water) with visiting friend - feeling depleted not much appetite - don't know how I made it home, dead tired; exhausted, but happy about the quality time with friends.

Monday (April 30) morning: sore throat, chest pain, jaw pain, eye sockets and behind eyes tension, ears, neck pain, dry cough, slow walk in the park at night-the doggie needed to go (I was at home by myself) and I am a good "dog mom"; chills and some dizziness, but my spirit needed this walk as much as the dog - focus on the breath got me through this (a small miracle) - Thank you BREATH, you are my best friend!

Tuesday (May 1): (hello period) some cramping added; very weak still in the pm, oh wow headache finally eased up (thank you, Ikuko, for sending healing vibes, and for your feedback about the cervical spine, are your sure you are not psychic?) my ear pain almost disappeared completely just be rubbing the area where the ears meet the face (another miracle); other symptoms alleviated earlier in the day,after qi gong, kriya, and 2-hour nap neck pain gone (also mild neck exercises); neti pot at night: lots of nasal discharge (:-) yeah, it's coming out - (eats/drinks during the 2 days included spicy Thai soup, ginger tea with lemon; homemade white miso soup; no coffee (which in retrospect I believe was in part responsible for the prolonged headache-withdrawal symptoms); fresh juices from juice generation diluted with water (1 green, 1 red to build much needed blood)... an easy to prepare meal: eggs with kale and Herbs De Provence)

Tuesday late night: some opening of the frontal torso with exercise ball;

lymphatic breathing (as taught by the amazing Lakshmi Voelker, love it; note: must do it every day).... afterward nice exfoliating shower/moisturizing-felt like work, but left me feeling like a mensch! 

to bed at 5:11am when the birds started singing - in great spirit.

Wednesday (May 2) 1:09pm: taking a nap - took another day off - lovely, I can take care of this baby some more holistically...what a ride!

When it Rains it Pours-bad, bad cold joined by food poisoning,  cramping ...

At one point, I think it was Wednesday, I had food poisoning on top of all of this; I had enough strength to do an easy lentil dish at one point on Tuesday (I think) but forgot to put the leftovers into the refrigerator; once my belly started cramping up, I lied down trying to speed up getting it through my system by massaging my belly in a clockwise fashion - well the response was immediate, the lentil dish went the other way (miracle 3), I just made it to the bathroom sink, where I spent the next few minutes throwing up, it was very painful.  For round two I was lucky to have an empty plastic bag next to me on the couch.  Luckily, the entire food poisoning episode was over in less than 2 hours! 

During the worst of the cold I definitely did some Dien Cham  (standard protocol and individual reflex areas I remembered or massaged directly the areas that hurt) nothing then seemed to result in an immediate shift that I was hoping for and that I often achieved with DC - however, the self care kept me from despairing and "entertained me" - I could not watch tv, could not read, I texted a bit with my friend Ikuko and others I needed to speak to.  Did some light tapping on the chest, but do not remember how much; what I do remember is, that the bridge of the nose, a throat reflex area was extremely painful for about two days, once it was gone, the sore throat was gone.  To alleviate the cramping I draped my back over the fitness ball but that took a while as well.  Once I decided that I was going to cancel my clients for the week and take off for at least two days, I allowed myself to sleep whenever I could, not worrying whether I would be able to sleep at night.  That is why I wound up doing very light yoga and qi gong in the middle of the night and literally went to bed when the birds started singing at 5:11am, I even did a little video.  Afterward I slept really well, as a matter of fact, whenever I did sleep, I slept well.  Keeping my breath from becoming too shallow (due to stress/pain) kept me as relaxed as I could under the given circumstances and that was the only thing I could do and I cherish the day I started doing yoga way back when in the early nineties!   

This is what had preceded the above and yes, I saw it coming and asked for it...

After some unseasonal warm weather in March, we ultimately had some typical April weather and after a bit of denial and being cold, I ultimately wore my coat again when outside.  The fact that R. stayed in bed late one morning due to a sore throat, was a signal, he never did that.  I made him ginger tea with lemon and honey; that afternoon he took a nap; hence it was official, we were coming down with a cold; I had been having occasional tightness in my chest for a while and my throat had been tense on and off (the usual suspects); there had been some hectic days and one day with 18 hours of being on my feet.  It was an amazing day, but it was very intense, adrenaline overload!  The next day, I finally rested for the first time at about 10pm; I was lying down and did the basic session followed by the standard session, then did some additional throat/chest reflex work.  Ah, it felt lovely.  I used my Shiva's Lingham, which I have fallen in love with, I fell asleep and woke up a few hours later, refreshed for Mowgli's last walk.  That morning there was no throat tension, but once in Central Park with Mowgli, I had a bout of allergy - a sudden sneeze attack, there were lots of blossoms - I immediately did the allergy protocol on the face with the knuckles, I would not have used the fingers, naturally they were all dirty.  Then I had fresh ginger tea with lime and honey (many thanks to my friend Takako for reminding me and suggesting to grate the ginger, which improved the taste immensely and did not require steeping unlike when you cut it into thin slices) and I did some qi gong which included tapping on the chest area, tapping on the sternum (the thymus is in that area), and the savasana was done in goddess pose, with my upper body draped over a bolster so my chest was very open...if I had continued that routine, I may have fended it off perhaps.
I should add that I did the standard session on Royal which was important because he left town for a few days.  Unfortunately he did not do any self care, so it kept dragging on, but the standard session got him through the worst.    

All in all, I have been so lucky to have been spared of colds until a few years ago.  I need to get even more serious about self care and my diet needs to be improved: more veggies and listening to these first symptoms are to be top priority.  Again I was reminded of the Japanese saying Marie-France Muller mentioned in her book - so true.  While this was a severe crisis and lots of pain involved, I did not feel lost despite the fact that I could not imagine myself being without pain ever again...my breath was indeed my best friend. 

And Birgit the healing artist ...

She will foremost continue to stress the importance of working with the breath... P R A N A Y A M A!