Cobra Kai Never Dies But Miyagi-Do Are Way Less Likely to Get Sick!
I’m so caught up in reliving my childhood by watching “Cobra Kai” on Netflix! I absolutely love martial arts movies. I’ve really wanted to do a post about immunity and I thought, “Hey! What an awesome example this could be AND I can justify my 2 hours on the sofa last night watching Netflix!” Let’s delve into two ways of life and how those philosophies lead to health or to sickness.
What’s Cobra Kai’s M.O.? The way of the fist. Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy. That’s the way we live now, isn’t it? That’s a really 100% Yang philosophy——it’s hot, fiery, pushes forward no matter the cost. No rest. Always be monetizing, hustling, “productive”. Constant DOING. Well, the “yin yang symbol” (Taiji) shows us that there are two energies making a constant circle around each other and that each contains a speck of the other. Without the Yin wood, the Yang fire has nothing left to burn. What happens to a fire when there’s nothing left to burn? It dies out. Yin comes from stillness, from rest, from nourishment. No, it does not come from Red Bull or any other energy drink. (Those are another blog post. Yikes!)
What does Miyagi-Do do? They do not strike first. They are in a relaxed readiness; if they need to defend themselves, they will. Rather than a closed fist style of fighting, they have more often open hands, gliding through the air. They can strike but are even able to wear down their opponent simply by blocking him or her and letting them wear themselves out. THAT, my friends, is strategy! THAT is what your immune state needs to be. A deep well of bodily and mental resources to handle any illness.
In Chinese Medicine, our immunity is called our Wei Qi (“Way chee”). The root of its source is our good digestion of good food. The Qi created by this digestion is then sent out to the surfaces of our bodies to defend us through our heart and lungs. This involves our outer surfaces such as our skin, and the inner surfaces, such as the linings of our noses and lungs. If the Wei Qi is strong, pathological Qi such as viruses and unfriendly bacteria cannot affect us, or only affect us weakly. This is what we’re aiming for, right? Underlying Qi deficiencies and other pathologies are what make us vulnerable to whatever is going around.
OKAY, I will stop being so theoretical because I know you’re likely thinking, “Great, Jen, but what do I DO???” Here goes:
Realize that your fire will burn out if you do not provide the wood it needs. It is the law of nature.
Here’s how many of us live:
Wake up.
Check our phone, which sets our stress hormones racing as we get triggered by social media and comparing ourselves to others.
Drag ourselves out of bed and drink caffeine to charge us up.
Eat cold cereal with milk or a cold, raw juice or smoothie (which guarantees we’ll be low on energy because the body has to work too hard to get those nutrients out).
Rush to work or school, driving aggressively or encountering a lot of aggressive driving.
Burn through our To Do lists while checking our phones 150 times.
Eat processed food at our desks, using up all the vitamin B12 in our bodies that was going to give us energy but now can’t.
Return home through stressful traffic to find a nutritious dinner didn’t magically appear.
Veg out in front of the TV, getting our emotions way overstimulated.
Hop in bed, look at our phones (turning off all natural melatonin production), and then
Flop around restlessly all night, worried and anxious.
THAT is Cobra Kai life. Always stressed, always triggered, always moving. I’m not saying I don’t participate in slices of this several times a week, by the way; I do. But I’m always trying to add in the Yin “Wood” so that my fire can steadily smolder rather than burning me out.
What creates Yin?
Fruits and vegetables. Grains. Very small portions of meat if you choose to eat any.
At least 7 hours of sleep in a totally dark room. (Or use a sleep mask!)
Making sure you’re asleep by 10:00 so that the massive physical repairs your body undergoes can take place. This is important! Remember how you were told Santa Claus wasn’t coming if you were awake? Well the Tissue Repair Fairy isn’t coming for her nightly overhaul between 10:00 pm and 2:00 am if you aren’t asleep! The Psychological Repair Fairy whose shift is from 2:00 am to 6:00 am isn’t coming either if you’re staying up all night.
Leaving some time in your day that is not spent looking at a computer screen. Looking at a computer screen drains our Liver Blood/Liver Yin, leading to poor vision, glaucoma and hypertension, as well as tight tendons.
Ideally each of us has something we do with our hands, such as chopping vegetables, knitting, building model aircraft, or something like that. It allows your mind to relax and get creative. Give your Left Logical side of your brain a rest and let the Creative Right have a little run. Miyagi-Do balance!
Some stillness just for the sake of stillness. If you are prayerful, say prayers or even a rosary. If you’re not, try guided meditation such as the Headspace app.
Qigong! Lee Holden is my absolute favorite and he generously has gorgeous free videos on YouTube. We all have 7 minutes.
Winter-specific strategies for Immunity
First off, your nose and skin are The Wall against the White Walkers. (Yeah, I did that, I went from Karate to Game of Thrones.) Your nose has a huge role to play. The nose’s job is to catch and defeat would-be invaders.
How you can support your nose: Keep your nose moist! Even generic Ocean nasal spray can go a long way towards keeping your nasal passages moist. We’re using heaters and that dries out the air and thus your nasal passages. Cracked, dry nasal passages cannot defend you; Instead your nose becomes a welcome wagon to bacteria and viruses. A humidifier in your home or office will also greatly help this.
Your skin: Keep it moist! Don’t take super hot showers. Pat the water off your skin and use moisturizer. Ones that contain hyaluronic acid, urea, and/or glycerine are great since those add and draw moisture to your skin. In addition, shea butter, coconut oil, olive oil, and sesame seed oil are great to seal in moisture long term.
Cuticles: Do not cut them. They are doing a big job keeping nasties out of you. Keep them moisturized. Qtica is my absolute favorite cuticle cream but coconut oil or olive oil are also fantastic. Qtica contains lanolin, which is nice and thick, holding it onto your skin.
Keep eating juicy fruits and vegetables. That will hydrate you from within.
This stuff isn’t sexy by a long stretch, but it IS the stuff that will ACTUALLY result in better skin, better health, less stress, better immunity, and even more fulfilling intimacy.