Is your body feeling challenged?

Have you ever crumpled on the couch after a day that has taken a toll on your limited energies only to feel – how shall I describe this – a bit challenged? Maybe there’s a feeling niggling inside that says, “Whoa! I might be sensing something not good starting to happen”?

Whether we are experiencing good stress – called eustress – or bad stress, the toll on the body is often the same.

Factor in our increased holiday activities, and there’s a recipe for being more susceptible to colds, flu, and the like – not to mention COVID.

Whenever I am feeling overly tired, challenged, or have that niggling feeling, my go-to is echinacea or elderberry.

The coneflowers of the echinacea plant may grace your garden with their stunning beauty and variety of color options. It’s long been used by Native Americans for its medicinal properties when taken internally or used on the skin to treat wounds.

Before you dive into using any form of echinacea, please check out THIS POST for vital information about precautions, interactions, and dosing. All medicines started out in nature – just because we can get them over the counter does not mean we should casually use them on our own.

Echinacea as an anti-inflammatory agent helps to support proper immune function. Its antioxidants bolster our immune response. It is not a treatment for COVID.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicates that many studies have been done on echinacea’s use with the common cold and other respiratory tract infections. This is what I am trying to ward off or lessen when I turn to echinacea.

I have also discovered elderberry syrup can be helpful in boosting my immune response, so I have added it to my ward-off-getting-sick arsenal by either preparing a cup of tea with one dropperful of an echinacea or elderberry containing extract OR by chewing up five Nature’s Way Esberitox Chewable Tabs.

This is anecdotal evidence, but when coupled with a smart approach that includes –

Respecting my body’s messages to slow down

Getting adequate sleep

Eating real food with no additives

Maintaining modest exercise

Then I can successfully keep the wolf on the other side of the door, and can wake up with stable energies and no more niggling feelings of impending badness.

Taking a couple days of down time to catch up and recharge before continuing our vacation explorations – this time in the mountains –

In health –

Deidre

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