I have been living with asthma since I was 14 years old. At the age of 19, I vividly remember a severe asthma attack where I was fighting for every breathes to take. After about 4 hours of struggle, I remember thinking "I can't do this anymore. I am too tired to breathe. I'll stop and die." Fortunately, I didn't! The next morning, my brother took me to the GP and brought it under control.
Even with continuous medication, I continued to have frequent bouts of asthma attacks over many years. When I was in my late 20's, I observed something about this asthma thing. Whenever I was physically weakened, the attacks were more severe and more frequent. When I was in better shape, the attacks were less severe and less frequent. I started to experiment by increasing my level of physical fitness through exercise, rest and eating right. I began to notice that as my physical condition improved, my resistance to asthma also improved. So, I continued keeping myself in shape to ward off asthma attacks.
In the wake of COVID-19, sanitising and social distancing are the means to reduce chances of infection. Additionally, we need to be pro-active to improve our physical condition. Under the current MCO, here are some of the things that I am doing daily to keep fit.
SLEEP - I go to sleep latest by 10:00 pm and wake-up at 5:00 am. This gives me at least 7 hours of sleep to rest, detoxify and rejuvenate.
DIET - I eat between 8:00 am to 7:00 pm; letting my body digest the food at least 2 hours before bedtime and 'fasting' for 10 hours. I deliberately eat less to take into account the lesser amount of physical activity during MCO.
EXERCISE - I love walking, especially going into the forest ❤️. Even though I am now confined indoors, I can still exercise. I do 2 sets of 10 reps of squats, push-ups and leg raises. I do that 3-5 times a day.
STATE MANAGEMENT - I enjoy keeping myself busy doing work. I break my activities into 60-90 min segments to prevent boredom and reduce strain. I'd follow social media/news updates, surf the net, watch TV, video-call my grand-children or nap for 10-15 mins as breaks. I think about the future with hope and prayer.
LIGHT - I pull the curtains and open the windows to let the light it. It helps to improve my mood and prevents depression. I remember my first winter in Harrogate in North Yorkshire, I didn't see the sun for a month! I didn't realise that I was getting down, until one day, the sun came out in all it's glory and lifted the gloom off me 🌞
I felt surprised and encouraged when I read recently, an article written by Professor Satchin Panda stating that doing all these things actually helps to maintain a robust circadian rhythm that boosts our immunity. "A synchronized circadian rhythm in the lungs, heart, kidney and brain ensures that the processes in our body go as planned while the immune system can effectively fight and defeat a virus."
Wow! I didn't know that before. I am pleasantly grateful that I have been doing these all these years.
How about you? How are your daily habits? Are they contributing to your better health or otherwise? How do you feel about trying out these simple habits? You can help your body become stronger and resilient to fight a virus, can you not?
HEALTH IS WEALTH
Please let me know how you are doing. Take care. Keep safe.
Thank you
Marzuki Mohamed
Inside-Out Wealth #insideoutwealth
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