IMMUNITY = I AM UNITY
This post is contributed by One Drop Founder – Kai Tan.
I was blessed to hear this recently. That the word IMMUNITY when broken down to parts present I AM UNITY. Coincidence? I don’t think it is just a fancy play of words in English.
When we typically speak of Immunity, we think about being strong enough so we do not fall ill to strains of virus or bacteria that permeate our world. If we further this conversation, what measures then will truly contribute to the strengthening of our Immune System?
A less-than robust immunity unfortunately does not stop at just giving you the flus and coughs. An on-going tear-down can also lead to way more chronic and life-threathening conditions such as cancer.
So, what would UNITY in our body mean and look like?
I have my humble thoughts around it. And I hope this adds value to you.
1. Unity of all Body Systems
Our body is an integration of 12 body systems – Skeletal, Muscular, Cardiovascular, Digestive, Nervous, Respiratory, Endocrine, Reproductive, Immune, Lymphatic, Urinary and Integumentary. Because of how modern science organise departments of specialisation in hospitals, many of us are conditioned to see these various parts as separate. Truth is, all these system are part of a WHOLE and any part operating in deficiency will affect the WHOLE.
I love how Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) draws connections of the systems all the time and bring attention to the relationships and to scaffold our way into understanding and embracing how to care for our health as a unity of systems.
For example, the Digestive System is well known to be the grounds where more than 80% of the immune cells breed. Simply put – caring for your digestion will surely impact the level of your immunity. A lesser known pairing is the Bladder/Kidney (Urinary system) with the Lungs (Respiratory system) This relationship of Lungs and Kidneys affects fluid metabolism,or accumulation of Fluids in the body.
2. Unity of Mind, Body, Spirit
Countless researches have highlighted that the health and resilience of a human body can no longer be narrowly viewed only on the physical plane. The mind – what we believe in and how we see the world tangibly affect our body. Have you tried this visualisation technique before – to simply see and think yourself through drinking a full glass of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Most of us at that very thought would already be salivating. Our body cannot tell what is vividly imagined vs real. So when the body thinks it, it can lead its sensory system to produce body functions that respond to it.
So let’s take a more practical example – stress. This word hangs at the corner of our mouth so much and often, our lives are entangled in the perception that certain tasks are too huge, certain situations are too risky and certain people are too much to handle. Just the very thought of that can activate your body to produce cortisol hormones that are stress-busters. And if we persistently see situations as stressful or keep subjecting ourselves to stress, our body will run an overload of cortisol. That alone can dampen immunity.
And hey we haven’t even got started on emotions and the very spirit or soul of who we are.
If your goal is truly to establish a body of unity, I invite you to take baby steps today to start by addressing 1 of the 12 systems you feel is seeking some urgent TLC. Start listening to your body, start caring for its needs with wholesome food and nature’s best resources. Care about what and how your think. Watch and monitor how your emotions swing. Let those emotional patterns reveal what your heart may be fundamentally needing.
Write to me at kai@onedrop.sg if you will like to have a chat about your health state and what actions you can take to reverse it.
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