If I were to use a metaphor for what the start of this year has felt like, I would compare it to excitedly walking into the ocean on a hot day, turning around to wave at my loved one on the shore, and immediately getting taken down by a wave that seemingly came from nowhere. Know what I mean? I’ll spare you the details, but needless to say, I spent the first few weeks of the year in a permanent state of fight or flight with one crisis after another pilling up.
The day after Christmas was when it all fell apart, and that also happened to be the day that I booked a spontaneous trip to Mexico in just a few short weeks. The chaos of the weeks that followed had me seriously doubting that the trip would come to fruition, and it truly wasn’t until a couple of days before the flight that I was (mostly) certain I would be going. Fortunately, the chaotic period came to an end, I had a beautiful and magic time in Mexico, and lo and behold, right at the end of the trip I caught a cold. Now I am back at home, nursing my sickness, and ready to try to enter the new year again. This time around I’m dipping a toe in to test the waters and taking my time to get properly acquainted.
I haven’t really been sick at all in the past two or three years. That sounds like nothing to complain about but lately it had been somewhat bothering me. I felt like my body was unable to relax enough and let down my guard to let sickness in. Now don’t get me wrong, being sick sucks. Really, I know! But having that period of forced rest and reset has its benefits. It’s a valuable lesson in accepting where you’re at, and trying to find peace in that. Let’s face it, unexpected situations will continue to arise in life in one form or another, so the key to work on here is to adapt to the unexpected. That’s what I kept reminding myself during the myriad of chaos at the start of the year. My mantra was “this is where I am at right now. This is what I am doing.” It’s really about surrendering and that’s what being sick teaches us so well. I am sick, I surrender to this experience and will let my body lead the way. You can’t out think the cold. It will run its course and, try as we might, all we can truly do is support our bodies in recovery.
What does supporting our bodies look like? Well, to begin with it looks like not suppressing the symptoms. In my vitalist herbalism training this was drilled deep into me. A symptom is a language your body uses to communicate when something’s not right, and they are incredibly important. Take the symptom of pain for example. Without it, you might keep running on a foot that’s broken because your body isn’t sending the signal to tell you to stop causing damage. The symptom is a signal that something is going on that needs attention, and by suppressing these vital messages we are completely ignoring what our body is trying to say. Last week I had a fever, a clear symptom that my body was trying to fight off something. I found it so interesting to observe the process as my body heated up. I was convinced that I was so cold and was shivering, which was helping my body to heat up even more. After a few hours the fever broke and I felt immense relief. Of course this is nuanced and there are definitely times when stopping a symptom in its tracks is necessary. But the general idea is that suppressing will only cause the illness to be driven deeper into the body, and will often extend the time it takes to heal.
Supporting the body most importantly looks like rest. It looks like hydration and simple nourishment. I’m sorry to say but there’s really no cheat code for this one. Herbs can be a wonderful addition, but without the main building blocks you’ll get nowhere. I’m a big believer in the power of some lemon+ginger+honey tea, as well as a herbal steam, usually consisting of some variation on rosemary, sage, pine and cedar. I also love to make a garlic and ginger shot by throwing some cloves in a blender with ginger, the juice of a lemon, warm water and honey. If you’re faced with a fever a great and classic remedy (to support the fever) is YEP tea, which is a blend of equal parts yarrow, elderflower and peppermint.
I’ll leave you with a few photos from my time in Mexico, including a photo of a remarkable cheesecake recommended by friend and fellow substacker, Karolina (check her out here). We went to a flower market in Mexico City, which smelt heavenly. We stayed in an off grid cabin on a cliff above the ocean and watched the sun rise and set everyday. We drank agua de Jamaica aka hibiscus iced tea all day long. It was bliss!!
Be well!
Anika