Week 5 – Helpful Tips for those Self-Isolating

First - 3 tips for each day

Day 1

Chew your food thoroughly.
Incorporate Sudoku or Wordsearches into the daily routine.
Keep moving!

A Week of Short Posts for those who are ‘self-isolating’.

Day 1

Everything that goes into our mouths needs to be chewed thoroughly, and that includes juices, smoothies, and soups. Mixing our food with saliva is the first step to digesting it properly. My Dad used to say 'chew your food until it's like water in your mouth'. Now that we have a little more time, we can properly install this habit of chewing properly.
It's good to keep the mind active by doing something different, and Wordsearch or Sudoku are simple and quick ways of doing that.
Whatever your move is, do it every day. Dancing, yoga, Chi-Kung, Rebounding, Pilates: whatever it is, keep it up. We feel so much better after we exercise.

Today to keep ourselves healthy, we remember to chew our food properly, to exercise our brain with Sudoku or Wordsearch, and we're not giving into the temptation to lounge about; we're keeping moving.

Day 2

Many of us have gotten into the bad habit of drinking milk, water or alcohol with our meals. This is not such a good idea, as it dilutes the digestive juices in the stomach. While we need to keep our intake of water to at least a litre a day, it's best to drink this between meals. A few sips of a good quality organic wine or water won't interfere too much with our digestion, though.
Looking out at the green patch across from my window, I see a host of golden dandelions. First food of the bees, these golden wonders were not always seen as weeds. In fact, herbalists have great respect for the 'pis-en-lit' (as it is called in France), and see it as having many beneficial properties. On my first visit to my son's in-laws in France, I was given young dandelion leaves (wonderfully bitter) in a salad. In folk memory the white milky juice was thought to be good for warts and it was common knowledge that this yellow beauty caused bedwetting. The big question is, how did Dandelion ever get to be seen as a weed? Herbal practitioners have a great love of dandelion and use it for a variety of purposes including fluid retention and fat metabolism.
Did you learn to sew and repair your clothes when you were growing up? Well, now could be a good time to use those skills and perhaps pass them on to the next generation. Cheap fashion, it turns out, is very destructive to our beautiful blue planet. Guess how many gallons of water it takes to make one pair of jeans? 2,000 gallons. How shocking is that! Repairing those jeans (now that you can't get out to buy a new pair) is good for your purse and for the planet, and if you don't know how to, well, phone your granny!

On day two of this week then, let's remember to drink between meals, to appreciate the humble dandelion, and try our hand at mending some jeans.

Day 3

1. In the pre-cocooning days, we were rushing round madly and 'grabbing a sandwich' at lunchtime. Now we have time to sit down and enjoy our lunch, on the balcony, the back or front doorstep or at the table. What a luxury to actually be able to sit down and simply focus on enjoying our food. And here's an opportunity to break the habit of looking at the phone or listening to the news while having lunch. And, as my nutritionist friend Ali says, 'sit down and sit up', because our stomach needs the space to start to break down the food. So, not sitting hunched over the laptop while eating is another good habit to develop during our days at home.

2. My good friend and co-gran, Anne, who lives in Tasmania, is using this time to learn Portuguese. It's a great time to learn a language. Maybe you've always wanted to learn Italian or regret not carrying through French to the Leaving Cert. Well, now is the time! I've heard it said that actually learning a language with a completely different alphabet like Japanese or Russian will help to develop new synapses in the brain, thus helping to keep us younger and sharper.

3. The smell of baking bread is loved by all. It's a trick sometimes used by estate agents (as is having coffee percolating), and immediately evokes positive memories for almost everyone. Nowadays there are packs needing only milk, water and/or egg added before popping into the oven. And it's a deeply satisfying thing to do and a great skill for anyone to have.

So, let's sit down and sit up while enjoying our food; we could learn a new language; and how delightful it would be to have some bread baking in the oven.

Day 4

It's easy to know when our digestion is working well. We feel good and we eliminate waste easily every day. If this is not happening, we may find ourselves feeling a bit lethargic, a bit sluggish. Having that litre of water every day is vital, as is including roughage in the diet. This can be done by eating things we are inclined to throw away, like the peel of potato and apple. The most nutritious part of the fruit - the peel - helps our colon to function properly, thus avoiding constipation and build-up of toxins in the body.
Since we've been in lockdown, I've found myself naturally becoming vegetarian. I didn't set out to do this, I just feel a lot better eating loads of veggies, fruit, nuts and berries. I feel lighter, brighter, don't have any bloating. For lunch today, I had a big fruit salad: orange, apple, dates, lemon juice, cottage cheese and almond butter for a little protein and sprinkled with Herbamare. Maybe peculiar, but I loved it! Nuts can be a little tricky and always need to be fresh, I buy them from the back of the shelf, as the light at the front can cause the oil to go rancid on a slow-selling shelf.
A few years ago, I was needing a bit of digestive help and I began to take two teaspoons of Molkosan in warm water first thing in the morning. My digestion improved, and I also had a surprise: I lost my sweet tooth completely. Meeting a friend for coffee one afternoon, I didn't even think or remember to have a pastry or chocolate biscuit. My longing for sweet things had just disappeared. Sadly, it did return a few weeks later after I finished my early morning health drink.

Day four this week sees us ensuring our 'exit paths' are working efficiently; fresh raw food is what we've mostly eaten throughout history; and using Molkosan Fruit could aid our digestion.

A.Vogel Molkosan Fruit Digestion | Provides gut health support | Suitable for Vegetarians | 200ml

4.6 59 reviews

£8.99 (200ml) In Stock Get it tomorrow, 1st November.

Shop now
Find Molkosan Fruit in a store near you

Day 5

For millions of years, humankind lived on raw food. Although not everyone does well on raw food these days, by starting our meal with something raw – an organic apple for example - we may find that we waken up our digestive enzymes and digest our whole meal better.
We hear such a lot about the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D. With these beautiful lengthening Spring days, we can 'catch some rays'. Get outside and enjoy 20 minutes in the sunshine every day. This is not enough for sunburn, but enough to catch some vitamin D. And enjoy it!
Taking a little 'time-out' to see how we are getting on with this cocooning is a good idea too. It will not last forever; and when we look back, we'd like to know we have enjoyed and used this time to the best of our ability.

Getting into the habit of starting each meal with something raw; enjoying the sunshine and absorb some vitamin D at the same time; and checking in with yourself, asking whether you are spending this time in the best way possible for you.

Day 6

Being at home every day can feel like all the days are the same and run one into the next. With a little awareness, we notice each is actually completely different, fresh, new and not at all the same as yesterday. The sun rises a little earlier and goes down a little later. It may be sunny today, raining tomorrow, the sky may be clear or cloudy, the lilac may be closer to blossoming today. By noticing the colour and shape of each day we can become enchanted with the difference, rather than bored by the sameness.
To spice up the morning shower, you could try skin brushing. Really good for circulation and for stimulating that organ of elimination, the skin. You simply use a loofah or skin brush and brush towards the heart, always towards the heart. You emerge from the shower tingling with energy, invigorated and ready for the day ahead.
Echinacea, which is recommended for colds and flu, can be helpful at this time, when spring colds merge confusingly with hayfever.

My Top Tip:

Support your immune system with a regular dose of Echinacea. Made from fresh Echinacea purpurea, this tincture is well absorbed by the body to help fight the misery of colds and flu.

"Have been taking these daily to boost my immune system and prevent colds. Has worked so far."

Read more customer reviews

Find Echinaforce Echinacea drops in a store near you Add to basket - 15ml for £5.49

Also available in the following size: 100ml 50ml

Day 7

Our roads and streets have become much quieter, our air clearer, our hearing delighted by the sound of birdsong. There's a whole lot of tidying and Spring cleaning going on. Let's further support our planet by using natural cleaning products. Our healthfood stores carry a big range of these, and many sell them online. I was quite shocked recently, while looking for drain cleaner, that all those in my local supermarket said 'may be detrimental to marine life' on the back. I couldn't in all conscience use those and so went back to the old reliable, baking soda and vinegar, which did the job beautifully without doing any harm to marine life.
The essentials of this time include staying home and doing deep and regular hand-washing. What is vital for our health and well-being is deep breathing, especially out of doors, drinking plenty water, and eating good fresh food. Breathing is simply our connection to life: we cannot survive without it. Water is next most important, and after that come yummies. We all know now that we also need to exercise, have some mental stimulation, and have some connection to Mother Nature.
'Betty bought some bitter butter' says the old tongue twister and how wise was Betty to be buying something bitter. We may be going to the fridge too often, or having too big a portion at lunchtime, indulging in too much chocolate or enjoying too much comfort food. Our digestion will pay the price for this, so some Bitters can help here. Bitters are a wonderful digestive aid, to be taken before meals. 'What's bitter to the taste is sweet to the body'. When I was a child growing up in the West of Ireland, buttermilk was my regular bitter, fresh from the dairy with the butter floating on top. These days, not living near a farm, my go-to bitters are Yarrow Herbal Bitters, a great herbal combination if I'm overdoing finishing the Easter eggs.

And so, we have come to the end of our week five of 'helpful hints for homebirds'. Thank you for taking the time to read them and I hope they've been helpful. All the best of health and thank you to all those working so we can be safe at home: our regard and respect for you is beyond words. There are many amazing articles on our webpages and other media which will contribute to your knowledge, health and well-being, so for now, Peace, Joy, Best of Health and Well-Being to all.