I just wrote a post about 15 things you CAN do while you have a cold. I thought it would be kind of hilarious to point out at least 10 things you CAN'T* do while under the same spell....
*Can't in this context means to take with a grain of salt. I am not saying you can't because of course everyone can do anything they please... An alternative title for those that are linguistically picky can be:
5 Things that you probably wouldn't want to do while under the influence of a Cold:
1. Make Out: If you make out you might die. It becomes almost impossible to breath. Your nose drips all over your partner... and you might make weird piggy sounds. 2. Sing for any worthwhile Audition: I don't know about you, but when my nose is stuffed I just sound like a nasely broad trying to sing... would never work if I was trying to win a contest or anything where I need to actually sound like a superstar.
3. Feel motivated: Now... I have had degree's of "Cold Sickness". The last few that hit me were over in 3 days and not bad at all. This current bugger has had me on a roller coaster, each night thinking the next day I would get better, when only to wake up with a more congested head the next morning. It is pretty dang hard to feel motivated to get much shit done, plan my next business move, organize anything, deep clean the house....or anything related to action. So this is when I throw in the towel and allow myself to be the lazy person I usually dread. I usually end up thinking, "well, well, well... look here, I now have ALL this free time cause I feel like shit, and I may as well watch movies that are educational, or you-tube some relevant information." But, when the shit hits the fan as they say, the last thing I ACTUALLY want to do is feel productive or "on top" of it in any way. Instead why not smoke a big bowl, drink some homemade mead, and watch America's Got Talent on YouTube?
4. Look Sexy: Now for most of us it doesn't matter what we wear, do, or say- sexiness just literally oozes from our pores making men and women drool like baby puppies. For the few out there that have a hard time getting that sexy groove on, even in the midst of sickness- there are probably plenty of online programs that specifically speak to you as the target audience. Cause I know that we ALL want to feel hellishly sexy even in the midst of the not so sexy cold. 5. Run Out of Toilet Paper: It might be a challenge. Depending on the severity of your case....
If it seems like you are starting to get low on on that precious TP- you may want to assess your situation quickly. See if anyone in the household feels well enough to run to the store to buy some more. If not, or if you live alone, you could always go knock on a neighbors door and try not to look TOO embarrassed. For an eco-friendly version, you can use old socks, or cloth rags as an alternative to outlandishly wasting so many trees as an attempt to stop your nose from running off your face.
Don't know what hit me.
All I know is that Monday my partner, Phoenix, and I woke up and looked at each other and said "huh, I don't feel too good today".
First time in history that we have been sick with the exact same thing starting on the same day....
Shhh... kind of our secret.... but we enjoy everything together- even being sick. It adds to the coziness and
"I don't give a fuck" factor when your best friend/lover is in the same condition as you. We are double the trouble now folks, and here are somethings you could do if you end up in this same boat
Some DO it yourself at home cold remedies:
1. Garlic Garlic Garlic: - Eat garlic in everything, raw or cooked. Garlic is natures anti-biotic and of course keeps the vampires away!
2. Lemon Water and Raw Honey: - Start your morning off with some warm water, mix in some raw honey (1 tbsp, or to taste) and squeeze in the juice of one lemon. Create this concoction as often as you would like.
3. Spicy Foods:- The heat in spicy foods combat the damp cooling nature of the "cold". Cayenne pepper is a great spice to use, it helps with circulation, breaking down mucus, is anti-fungal, digestive aid, helps with migraine headaches, lymphatic stimulant, and has anti-bacterial properties.
* You can make a kick ass drink from the following:
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar (raw)
1 tbsp raw honey
1tsp cayenne pepper
1 wedge of lemon
Bring water to a boil, add in ACV to the water in a mug, then, add in honey and cayenne and lemon, stir well!
4. Stay away from dairy products and excess sugars: - eat as clean of a diet as you can consisting of whole, organic, pure foods. Plenty of vegetables, fresh soups, and nourishing proteins.
5. Green Juices: Juice some celery, kale, beet greens, green apple, spinach, parsley... anything green and vibrant and DRINK-! Green juices give you much needed vitamins and minerals to help strengthen your immune system to kick that cold!
7.Gargle with Salt Water: - Make a solution of warm water with sea salt (1/2 cup of water to 2-4 tablespoons salt) and gargle heftily, several times throughout the day. This is particularly useful if you have sore throat symptoms. 8. Increase Water Intake: DRINK WAY more then you normally would. "Normal" should be 1/2 your body weight in ounces. If I way 120 lbs my "normal amount" would be 60 ounces. If I have a cold I could be drinking anywhere from 80-120 ounces in order to help my system flush out all those unfriendly toxins. 9. Cayenne, Raw Honey, Garlic blend: Not the most tasty thing you will try, but this little trick does pack a punch. Mix up 1 tablespoon of pure honey with 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper with 4 cloves of crushed raw garlic- AND eat! NOT on an empty stomach- or it might burn up your stomach a bit!
10. Make Fire Cider and TAKE IT -http://www.mommypotamus.com/fire-cider-recipe/ 11. Make Miso Soup: Miso Ginger Soup 1-2 tbsp organic miso, probably one of the lighter ones like Aka but feel free to experiment with any type
3 cups water 1/2 inch fresh ginger, sliced or minced 1/2-1 clove garlic, crushed 2 cups chopped kale, chard, cabbage, broccoli or spinach 1 cup of sliced carrot, celery, pepper, mushroom or other veg juice half lemon dash cayenne pepper Optional: 1/4 cup cubed firm tofu, tbsp chopped cilantro, chopped green or red onion.
12. Lots of Vitamin C: Best kind ever is getting your hands on some liposomal vitamin c- liposomal vitamin c is actually directly absorbed into your cells instead of going through the digestive tract like most vitamin c supplements do. This stuff kicks ASS- BIG TIME!
13. REST!- pretty self explanatory. Watch movies, read books, and basically just don't give two fucks...
14. Take a bath:Add some yummy essential oils like Eucalyptus, Rosemary, or Frankincense. Add sea salt. Get some nice relaxing music playing. Light some candles. Enjoy....
I think most people underestimate the power of fresh clean water.
I know several friends who buy organic food and are relatively health conscious but still drink their water out of their tap. It kind of drives me crazy...
I go to restaurants and get served water, when I put it up to my mouth all I smell is that delicious smell of chlorine.... I think...."why??". There is no way I am drinking that- it tastes terrible and is pretty darn terrible for me. I am appalled that more restaurants don't bother putting in a freaking water filter. It is not that hard people.
Perhaps it is because there is a general under-education phenomenon surrounding water. Importance of clean water is not something that is taught in schools (at least it wasn't while I was in school) or really talked about publicly. I sincerely hope that most people are aware that fluoride and chlorine are some of the main ingredients in most public tap water, (including pesticides, hormones, nitrates, and salts of many dangerous metals), although I suspect a lot of the American population is still in 2016 totally in the dark about this. Fluoride is still sold in toothpaste as something that is beneficial for teeth, even though there have been so many countless studies done proving that fluoride is linked to: brain damage, lowering IQ in children, arthritis, thyroid disease, damaged sperm, increased infertility, genetic damage, cell death, dementia, bone fractures, muscle disorders, and so much more. It is appalling that in this day and age we are still using such harmful chemicals in our precious water under the "guise" that it is for sanitary purposes. There are much safer and nicer ways to clean our water than to put shit loads of chemicals and toxins into our precious water supply.
Water like most of our Earth has been completely disrespected. It is such a terrible disgrace. Water is life.
When we poison our waterways we disrupt the harmony of life within our own bodies as well as without. Everything is connected. When a dam is put up in a river- it affects the flow of salmon, which affects the migration of bears, which in turn disrupts every single part of that local ecosystem. When we fuck with Mother Earth, thinking that we as mindless humans know better than she does, we are ultimately fucking over ourselves, destroying the beautiful planet that we have the privilege of living upon. Humans are here to be stewards of the land- which means to deeply listen to the environment around us to be able to help nature evolve and transform in an even more elegant way. Our job is to watch over the plants and animals around us, building our lives in harmony with the already established ecosystems where we live. Rather than the opposite that is happening far to frequently, which is to dominate and conquer nature, viewing her as a threat, obstacle, or commodity to sell for personal profit.
Water is sacred. Native people from around the world have always known this and have worshiped and paid respect to water. They knew that without this precious resource life would not thrive on Planet Earth.
Water is also a message carrier, it crystallizes vibrations into its cells. From the work of Masaru Emoto- we can see that when water crystals are frozen and taken enlarged pictures of, they can either manifest beautiful geometric shapes based on the frequencies of love, peace, hope, gratitude, etc. Or, they can manifest broken ugly not quite anything geometric shapes based on the frequencies of hate, anger, revenge, etc. Can you imagine what ingesting hate water would do to your own energetically sensitive cells, versus ingesting love water? Can you imagine how the lakes or rivers of the world respond when they are raped, poisoned, and disrespected? Can you imagine how this energetically ripples out to the creatures and plants?
Human beings, inherently being the stewards of this Earth have an inherent responsibility to take care of her. Human consciousness is such a profound thing (a whole other blog post- we will just keep it short here). Our consciousness/thoughts have a direct impact on the structure of water. Now expand this idea out further and realize that adult human beings are by weight approximately 65% water. When we think or feel negative emotions it has a direct impact on the structure of the water inside our bodies- turning the molecules of our bodily fluid into dis-organized, chaotic messes. This in turn, affects the energetic flow inside our bodies, disrupting messages being sent throughout the body, and seriously dampening the overall quality of the body.
Water is life- repeat after me. Water is LIFE. Life depends on water. The quality of life depends on the quality of the water, not only the chemical physical breakdown of quality, but also the energetic quality. When water is disrupted from an energetic standpoint due to negative human consciousness, it will obviously affect the physical quality of water. In order for life to thrive and to evolve to its highest capacity it needs the highest quality of water, because water is the building block, the foundation of all life. When the foundation is strong, healthy, and stable (like the beautiful geometries of healthy water), the life that it is growing will reflect health and vitality.
On a purely physical standpoint, I am sure you can imagine what would happen to your body overtime (being that it is made up of mostly water), if you were to consume day in and day out poor quality water ridden with poisons. Yep, you guessed it. The body is so resilient, but eventually over time the detoxing capacities of your body would start to fail due to inadequate water quality poisoning your cells. Various systems of your body would start to become ill and affected. The integrity of your structure would start to match the vibration/quality of your water. Your body would start to look like those broken geometric structures we see in Masaru Emoto's crystalline pictures.
Yet- because we know human consciousness ultimately is extremely powerful and can override and affect our "physical environment", we know that through a sweet and simple prayer we can actually change the crystalline structure of that water. Through loving and positive intention we can heal dis-eased water, as you can see from the above pictures. This also drives home the fact that our emotions and intentions totally affect our body being that it is mostly water. Gratitude, love, acceptance, and joy create beautiful harmonious crystalline shapes at a cellular level which in turn promotes health and vitality!
To tie this all together- lets remember that the quality of our cells and bodily functions will only be as good as the quality of the water it receives. When the water is clean the body can stay clean. When the water is contaminated, the body will struggle to stay clean.
This video summarizes so much of what I was just writing. Leave it to the original inhabitants of Northern America to still understand the inter-relatedness of all of life....
Degrees of clean water:
*Filtered Water: depending on the filter and what it removes effectively, you are able to purify tap water to remove fluoride, chlorine, heavy metals, and pesticides among other contaminates. There are usually no natural minerals that get left behind in the water- leaving it clean but without life force.
*Reverse Osmosis Water: has been forced through membranes that remove larger particles of contaminants but severely lacks minerals and is acidic, disrupting the natural acid/alkaline balance of your body.
*Distilled Water- can be any kind of water that has been vaporized and collected leaving behind contaminants and minerals. This is a very cleansing water and should only be drunk sparingly for it leaches precious minerals from your body.
*Bottled water- is usually hard to trust the source of the bottling and the overall quality of water. Often the packaging contains harmful chemicals in the plastics such as BPA (bisphenol a) that end up leaching into the water making what was once clean- contaminated (especially when the plastic water bottles have been in the sun or heat).
*Deionized water- has ionized impurities and minerals removed but not necessarily bacteria or pathogens.
*Well Water- comes from a hole drilled into the ground that taps into a water source- it is usually best to filter this water even though it comes from a well, because most soils have been totally polluted by pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides which naturally also seeps into the water. Best to check the quality of the well water before drinking.
*Spring Water- in my opinion is the best water one can drink if you can get it from a clean spring and ideally fresh. In an ideal world we would all have access to a fresh clean spring where we can just go and drink straight from the source (Utah is amazing for that kind of experience). Spring water is usually pushed up through many layers of rock (natural filter) and rises to the surface as pure as can be complete with naturally occurring minerals and vital life force energy, structured from mama Earth.
So my friends, not only is it important to drink enough water (1/2 your body weight in ounces)- but more importantly let us concern ourselves with the QUALITY of water that we are drinking. Let us also practice more loving kindness and respect for our natural waterways and our own drinking water. It maybe a good practice to start blessing and thanking our water before drinking it. Even putting positive words (love, gratitude, acceptance, respect, joy) on a water bottle, or a large water container will help increase the vibration of that water.
The Problem with Government Mandated Urban Water Treatments
If you live in a city and rely on the local water processing plant to provide you with clean water, I have some disturbing news for you: You simply cannot trust municipal sources or government agencies to keep your water clean.
Further, more than 20 percent of U.S. water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last six years, yet fewer than six percent of the violations were ever fined or punished! This is to say nothing of the violations that go unnoticed in this time of budgetary restraints and lack of regulation and oversight!
Is there Sewage Spilling into Your Drinking Water?
As a result, sewage spilling into waterways is a common occurrence. In fact, the New York Times reported that in the last three years more than 9,400 of the 25,000 U.S. sewage systems have violated the law by dumping untreated or partially treated human waste, chemicals and other hazardous materials into rivers, lakes and other waterways.
Some natural lakes and bodies of water are now either approaching "dead", unable to support life, or are dead. And these dead bodies of water continue to be the source of drinking water for millions of people!
Male frogs and bass are now found in nature with ovaries growing on their testes, and seven year-old girls are now reaching sexual maturity. Scientists have linked both of these phenomenon to the estrogen mimicking hormones now commonly found in our lakes, streams and drinking supplies.
Nearly every municipal water supply also has fluoride (a highly toxic poison) added during water treatment, which is detrimental to your health. Europeans have known for many years that fluoride is toxic and have long since removed it from their water supplies, but it still is used in the United States.
And then there are disinfection byproducts, or DBPs. If you have not heard of DBPs before, you need to pay close attention as it turns out that DBPs, not chlorine, are responsible for nearly all the toxic effects of chlorinated water. Chlorine by itself is relatively harmless, but its side effects, by producing DBPs, cause nearly all of the problems -- including reproductive disorders and cancer.
So when you help yourself to a glass of water from your kitchen faucet, it may look much more pure than it actually is.
The Hazards of Chlorinated Water: Disinfection Byproducts (DBPs)
The main chemical used to disinfect the tap water you receive at your house is chlorine. While your local government is quick to assure you that there is relatively no danger from drinking chlorinated water, that simply is not the case, because the levels of chlorine disinfection byproducts (DBPs) that are produced by this process are both dangerous and alarming.
There is actually no safe level for many things found in drinking water, including heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, hormones and DBPs. The truth of the matter is it would cost the government trillions of dollars to provide truly clean water into the pipes of your house.
The resources to provide this just aren't there. It never has been and it probably never will be, especially with the downturn in the US economy.
The government is much more concerned with providing water that doesn't kill you through diarrhea and it does a good job at that, although some microorganisms (cysts and parasites) do survive the chlorination process (cryptosporidium, Giardia, for instance) and can lead to isolated outbreaks of disease and even death to those with compromised immune systems.
If you have not heard of DBPs before, you need to pay close attention as it turns out that DBPs, not chlorine, are responsible for nearly all the toxic effects of chlorinated water. Chlorine by itself is relatively harmless, but its side effects, by producing DBPs, are what cause nearly all of the problems.
As it turns out, DBPs are over 1,000 times more toxic than chlorine, and out of all the other toxins and contaminations present in your water, such as fluoride and miscellaneous pharmaceutical drugs, DBPs may be the absolute worst of the bunch.
The most common disinfectant byproducts formed when chlorine is used are:
trihalomethanes (THMs)
haloacetic acids (HAAs)
The EPA takes the dangers of THMs -- which are measured in parts per billion -- very seriously and regulates these compounds. The maximum annual average of THMs in your local water supply cannot exceed 80 ppb (parts-per-billion), and the maximum annual average of HAAs permitted by EPA regulations is 60 ppb.
However even though these are allowed, ideally it would be best to have zero. These levels have been regularly adjusted downwards over the years as science progresses and gain a deeper appreciation of their true toxicity. If you are like me and obtain your water from a private well, then DBPs are a non-issue as they are only produced when chlorine is added, and it's highly unusual to add chlorine to most all private well water systems.
How Can DBPs Harm Your Health?
Trihalomethanes (THMs) are Cancer Group B carcinogens, meaning they've been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals.
DBPs have also been linked to reproductive problems in both animals and humans, and human studies suggest that lifetime consumption of chlorine-treated water can more than double the risk of bladder and rectal cancers in certain individuals.
One such study found that smoking men who drank chlorinated tap water for more than 40 years faced double the risk of bladder cancer compared with smoking men who drank non-chlorinated water. A second study found that rates for rectal cancers for both sexes escalated with duration of consumption of chlorinated water. Individuals on low-fiber diets who also drank chlorinated water for over 40 years more than doubled their risk for rectal cancer, compared with lifetime drinkers of non-chlorinated water.
As the vast majority of the U.S. population continues to receive and consume disinfected or chlorinated drinking water, we can assume that Americans are consuming disinfection byproducts every single day, and the number of related cancer cases could be substantial.
Drinking Chlorinated Water is not the Only Health Concern
But the sad truth is, the chlorine, DBPs, and toxic chemicals found in your urban water supply also pose a health threat to yourlungs, and it can damageyour appliances.
Why?
Because when you heat the water, in your shower, your bath, your dishwasher or your sink, you are releasing chlorine, DPBs, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pesticides, herbicides – all of it – into the air you breathe! And onto your skin, your body's greatest tool for absorbing chemicals. It's true. By taking a seven-minute shower you are exposed to more chlorine, DPBs, and VOCs alone than by drinking a gallon of tap water.
And this is significant for two reasons:
The chlorine that enters your lungs is in the form of chloroform, a carcinogen, and chlorite, a byproduct of chlorine dioxide. These forms of chlorine hit your bloodstream instantly before they have a chance to be removed by your organs of detoxification.
The DBPs that enter your body through your skin also go directly into your bloodstream. And the warm or hot water maximizes absorption by your skin. So unless you are regularly taking one minute cold showers, your body is like a sponge for these airborne toxins every second you spend in a shower.
In fact it's estimated that only five percent of all volatile organic compounds make it down the drain of your shower. The other 95 percent are sent into the air you breathe, or directly into your bloodstream.
By the way -- bathing in municipal tap water is not a solution to avoiding the damage done in the shower, because the hot water on your skin facilitates absorption, and your skin is drinking in all those harmful DPBs every second that you lay luxuriating in that hot bath.
Now, this is painful news to a lot of people. Because you don't really want to look at your shower as your home's greatest source of toxic indoor pollution, do you? For some people, that long morning shower or that luxurious nighttime bath is one of the highlights of your day!
Additionally, the chlorine and DPBs are not great for your skin and hair, either. You know how you feel after you swim for even a little while in a chlorinated pool? The dry skin, the red eyes, the damaged hair – all of this chemical damage is going on in your home's shower and bath as well!
And the harsh chlorine and disinfection byproducts that assaults your skin in the bath or shower is also doing unnecessary damage to your appliances!
Your dishwasher, hot water heater, sinks, tubs, faucets, toilets and washing machine all have metal parts that chlorine, a harsh oxidizer, will actually slowly eat away with every drop of water. So another reason to eliminate the chlorine and disinfection byproducts is to minimize the damage you are doing to your appliances, which will help them last longer and let you avoid costly repairs that you could have prevented by filtering the water coming into your home.
