Posted on

“Time to Rest? What is True Rest?” Part 7

Rest?

What does it really mean to rest?  Is it just about how much sleep we get?  I believe that it goes much deeper than just sleep.  We might go to bed at night but what is our quality of sleep?  There are a lot of factors that come into play.

How much sleep should we really get?  And how can we get the best quality sleep?  I know that there are mornings I get up and I might have slept but I do not feel rested.  If we are not having the sleep and real rest we need it can affect our health dramatically.

As far as how much sleep we need it is different for each individual.  Those who are young and older need to get more hours of sleep.  Also, those who are sick or have a weakened immune system also require more sleep.  There are some basic guidelines that a person can look at and then they can also individualize them.  You can sleep too little and be tired and also sleep too much and be tired.  Oversleeping is not healthy either.

While Sleeping

There are many changes that take place while we are sleeping.   For children, they actually grow while they are sleeping.  Although they are growing all the time it seems that they actually grow more at night while they are sleeping.  It gives the body a chance to work more when the child is asleep.

Our body also restores and repairs itself while we are sleeping.  During this process, it is actually detoxing our bodies so that our immune systems are being built up to be ready for the next day’s threats.

Now if we are not doing the foundational things that I have already been talking about in the previous writings in this series it will affect our sleep.  We need to be eating healthy, making sure we get exercise and doing some other factors that will be talking later in this series that will affect our sleep.  Our immune systems can’t even begin to keep up with the toxins and the repairs each night if we are bombarding our body with things that our poisons to us.  We can’t control everything our bodies are subjected to but we need to control what we can.

Preparing for Sleep

There are things that you can do that will help prepare you for a good night of sleep.  Most people in our society today eat their biggest meal in the evening.  They are usually having harder to digest foods as well as eating late.  Then they go to bed in the hope to get a good night of sleep.  But the reality is that your body has to work so hard at digesting the food that it is definitely not a restful sleep.  And on top of it you’re not burning all the calories that you just ate because you are sleeping, therefore, it turns to fat.

The best thing to do is to make your supper meal the smallest and easiest to digest meal of the day.  And to make sure it is eaten several hours before you go to bed so that most of the digesting is completed.  This seems like a really hard thing to do but if you schedule your day and plan things out it is possible.  I know traditions are hard to break.  But keeping our immune systems healthy is so important.  Ask those that haven’t cared and have gotten really sick with something really serious.  Suddenly at that point, the changes that we needed to make seem very important but it could be too late.

More Factors

It is really important that your bedroom is really dark.  There should be no artificial light, like clocks or chargers.  Remove anything from your bedroom that lets off a light.  Any kind of light affects your sleep pattern which can affect how restful of a sleep that you get.  When there is light, when we should not have a light, it affects our circadian rhythm.  Thus we do not get a restful sleep and we do not have the best day either.  So make sure to remove everything that is producing an artificial light from your room.  If you are in an area where it is light a lot of hours in 24 it would be good to get blackout curtains so that your room can be completely dark.

The last factor that I am going to talk about in this writing is electronics.  The lights from our electronics affect our sleep.  The lights keep us stimulated.  I know that a lot of the devices now have a different color of light going into the evening to help with this issue.  But even that is not full proof.  And then there is the television as well.  The best thing to do is put away those devices at least 1 hour before going to bed but 2 hours would even be better.  You might be thinking, “I can’t do that.  How am I going to watch anything in the evening or keep in contact with my family and friends?”

Here is my suggestion.  Spend time with your spouse or family.  Because I hate to break it to you but watching something is not spending time with your spouse or family.  Do some things that are interactive.  Read together, play a board game, take an evening walk, etc.  There are endless things that you can do which involve more communication, which will draw your family closer together.  Reading (a real book, not on your electronics) before going to bed can get you into the sleeping mood as well.

Helpers

Some people really struggle with calming down at night.  And they may have some imbalances.  I have found some things that have helped me in the process.  God has given us things in nature that can help in the relaxing process.  Taking a stroll in the outdoors in the evening can be calming.  Just being out in nature is relaxing.  If you live in the city this may be a little difficult but give it a try.

I have also found some products that really help me.  Valerian root taken in a capsule can be very relaxing if taken an hour before bed.  Also, if you have the time you can get in a warm bath with 1 cup of Epson salts along with 20 drops of relaxing essential oil like lavender.  Another thing that I like to do is diffuse some essential oils by my bed; my favorite is a Restful Blend.  I put a drop on each foot of Restful Blend and Vetiver essential oil.  The oils help get me relaxed and ready for a good night of sleep.  I feel more rested in the morning.

Another thing that I have found to be helpful if I do it, is thinking about a Bible verse as I lay in bed.  Instead of thinking over the things of the day and maybe worrying about the things coming tomorrow I can think of promises and pray.  I can say I never make it through my prayer.  Even when I wake in the middle of the night, praying helps me go back to sleep more quickly.  So instead of counting sheep spend time praying for others.

Dear Father,

Our need for good sleep is very necessary for us to have a good healthy immune system.  As we make a commitment to get the rest we need You to help us follow through.  Thank You for giving us such amazing bodies.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Commit to getting more rest today.  Your life depends on it.

Love you all!

What do you do to help you relax before going to bed?

This is part 7 in a several part series “Maintaining Healthy Immune Function”.  There are many things I will be sharing with you on how to support your immune system, both physically and spiritually.  Although what I am sharing is not exhaustive, I am sharing just a taste from my own experience.  In part 6 I talked about how prayer is the breath of the soul and how it helps us maintain healthy spiritual immune function.  Coming up in part 8 I will be talking about another kind of rest and how it helps maintain healthy spiritual immune function.  Stay tuned!

Posted on

“I Don’t Want to be Sick!!!” (Part 1)

Sickness!

I don’t know about you but everywhere I go there is someone sick.  I keep thinking that maybe I can let down my guard a little because everyone at my house is well.  But then someone gets sick at work, home, church, or I run into someone at the store, bank, or post office that is sick.

Because I have a compromised immune system due to the different health issues I have had over the years I have to work really hard to stay on top of things.  I cannot step aside from right health principles and get away with it like some people seem to do.

I am not able to diagnose, treat or cure.  But I do believe disease is an effort of nature to free our bodies from conditions that result from violating the laws of health.  So when a person does get sick, the cause should be discovered. There should be changes made in the unhealthful conditions.  And make sure to correct wrong habits.  Then nature is to be assisted in her effort to get rid of impurities and to reestablish the right conditions in the body.

God has made our bodies to be an amazing machine and if we give it the right conditions by following His laws of health then our bodies can heal themselves.  I believe that nature must have an opportunity to do her work.  Any obstacles must be removed, and a chance must be given her to exert her healing forces, which she will surely do if every abuse is removed from her and she has a fair opportunity to do so.

I believe nature is God’s physician.  And the Lord has provided us health-giving properties in the flowers and trees.

Invite God to join you as you read and learn ways that you can assist your body in supporting your immune system.

Foundation

The foundation of a healthy immune system is in how we eat.  We are bombarded with so many toxic things in our foods today.  It would be good for us to stay away from as many processed foods as possible.  So when it comes to shopping get more of those things that are on the outside isles.

Eating lots of fruits and vegetables is great in helping to build the immune system.  The fresher you can eat the better.  These should make up the majority of our diets.

The meats and dairy products have become so diseased that it would be better to choose legumes, whole grains, and nuts.  Instead of getting the mostly white bread, choose the whole grain bread or make your own.  And instead of buying dairy products you can get alternative milk and cheeses.  Or if you are like me I like to make them myself.  There are some great recipes out there.  Eating a plant-based diet helps keep our body healthy.

Real Food

We need to be staying away from all the refined foods and making sure to lower your sugar intake or just throw it out altogether.   Instead of eating or drinking something full of sugar just eat a piece of fresh fruit.  Sugar can lead to insulin resistance, it promotes inflammation, can lead to weight gain, contributes to non-alcoholic liver disease, appears to act as a fertilizer for cancer, among other things, it also lowers the immune system.

I remember hearing a story about a person getting pulled over and they had an alcohol level.  They were not a drinker but had just come from a party where they had consumed ice cream.  Sugar and milk together actually ferments in the stomach and therefore turns to alcohol.

Speaking of cancer, did you know that the stuff they have you drink before doing a scan to see if you have cancer is sugar because it makes the cancer light up like a Christmas tree?

When you eat sugar it lowers your immune system for several hours while your body tries to deal with it.  If you have a sugary drink or food several times a day your body does not have the defenses it needs to fight against anything it may come in contact with each day.  It seems best to stick with what God has given us to eat.

Supplement

Also available in vegan

Even if we are eating the healthiest food we cannot get all the nutrients that we need.  Everything is so depleted.  To help support a healthy immune system taking a good supplement is very needed.  Making sure it is a good quality supplement is important as well.  I know that I have tried many but when you find a supplement that is good quality what a difference it makes.  It changed my life.

Digestion

To keep our healthy immune systems functioning properly we need to make sure our digestion is working well.  Taking enzymes to help with the digestion of our food is needed.  The only food that we get enzymes from for digestion is raw.  As soon as you cook it you lose the enzymes.  And the raw that we get from the grocery stores, even if it is organic, is only around 20% due to the fact that it is picked green.  The more we can eat directly picked ripe the better.  We have two types of enzymes our metabolic and our digestive enzymes.  If we do not have enough digestive enzymes it steals from our metabolic enzymes.

So what exactly is the difference between metabolic and digestive enzymes?  Simply put the metabolic enzymes are responsible for the functioning of our bodies at the level of the blood, tissues, and organs.  And of course, the digestive enzymes digest our food.

The fact is if we are stealing from our metabolic enzymes to digest our foods it can lead to many problems happening in the body, thus lowering our immune function.  We have got to get our digestive system working well.  Probiotics are another one that helps keep our digestive system flowing well.  A probiotic keeps the good bacteria in the gut that helps improve our digestion and elimination process.  I like to take enzymes and a probiotic, one of each before bed to help move things through the body by morning.  And for me, I take enzymes at each meal as well.  If our digestion is working, as it should, it helps us maintain a healthy immunes system.

Dear Father,

As we strive to do those things that will give the best nutrients to our bodies we ask for Your blessing.  You have given us such an amazing body that runs in perfect order if we supply it with what you have given us.  Thank You for such a blessing.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Make some changes in your life today to support a healthy immune system.

Love you all.

This is part 1 in a several part series “Maintaining Healthy Immune Function”.  There are many other things I will be sharing with you on how to support your immune system.  Although what I am sharing is not exhaustive, I am sharing just a taste from my own experience.  In part 1 I have been talking about the foundation of how to support your healthy immune system.  In Part 2 I will talk about the foundation of spiritual nutrition.