There is no denying it, globally we are experiencing a health crisis. We take the health and safety of our clients at Morning Light Studio in Bokarina very seriously and wish to share with you some insight into how we are working to minimise the risk of illness spreading throughout our community.
Morning Light Studio in conjunction with the Sports Hub Bokarina Sunshine Coast pride ourselves on ensuring our studio and the space that surrounds is cleaned regularly to the highest standards. We understand it is apart of our duty of care to ensure the upmost hygiene in normal circumstances however, we will be increasing the frequency of cleaning at the Hub and at Morning Light Studio. As a collective we are working closely with best practices of government standards to ensure your safety during this challenging time.
We wish to ensure you we are taking extra precautions to clean bench tops, props and the Barre which are subject to regular touch. We have alcohol hand sanitizer that is on the bench top of the water station and sign in desk available for your use, and have increased the level of disinfectant to our mat sprays. The Hub is also taking extra precautions and will be upping their sanitizing of high touch points in common areas like hand rails, door handles, elevator buttons etc
We understand that there is a lot of fear circulating regarding the spread of coroner virus, meaning on an internal level there is inflammation and stress harvesting within the body. Many government resources suggest that for those who are healthy and robust and fall ill with the virus are only experiencing mild flu like symptoms, whereas those who are immunocompromised (poor immunity) and have some other co morbidities are likely to experience more serious effects of the illness and are at higher risk.
How to support our immune system during a world health crisis:
Our immune system is an incredibly complex system within the body that when strong and robust has the ability to fight away foreign bacteria and viruses from the body, however when weakened our body has less of a chance to defend itself. For the average person of good health our immune system has the ability to keep us safe from illness and if we do happen to fall ill, the recovery time is generally far quicker.
Managing Stress
We have all probably heard the effects of stress on over health, but did you know stress has been directly linked to lowering our immune system? Your brain and immune system are constantly communicating with one another, meaning an upset psyche begins to trigger stress hormones and alerts our body to enter into the sympathetic nervous system of fight or flight. Over time if we are constantly stuck in this state our adrenal glads become incredibly fatigued, our immune cells become suppressed and our tissue becomes inflamed which is linked to many chronic illnesses.
So how do we minimize stress and maintain a healthy immune system
- Yoga – Yoga is well known for rejuvenating the mind, body and spirit and has been vigorously studied for its incredible benefits of reducing stress, inflammation and helping us feel more calm and at peace. By taking some time to pause, slow down and reconnect to our breath and body we begin to enter into a more parasympathetic state which is the optimal state for rest and repair.
- Meditation – We are so overly stimulated by our external world that we can often be disconnected from our current reality. We are governed mostly by the unconscious mind meaning there are stories replaying on repeat in the background that we may not even be aware of. Meditation invites us to dis empower the external world momentarily and come back to our body and the present moment, listening deeply within. When we begin to cultivate a meditation practice not only do we feel more calm and at peace but we also begin to connect to our inner truth. With so many external noises it can feel challenging to form our own opinions and therefore can move through life influenced by the external world. When we are in a meditative state our brain waves change as our focus shifts. Most commonly we will be in Alpha brain waves which’s function is to calm the nervous system, lower blood pressure and the heart rate. The waves lower the production of stress hormones and promote relaxation.
- Exercise – Loving our Yoga, Pilates and Barre classes? Good news is moving our body daily is directly linked to improved cardiovascular health, production of happy hormones (hello less stress) and is an incredible way to move toxins from the body via sweat and encourages our lymphatic system to get moving. Exercise also increases are resilience to positive stress, meaning when negative stress comes our way we can fight it off quicker and also gets our digestive tract moving. Healthy elimination is linked directly to a healthy body and mind.
- Sleep – We all know we need to sleep to function, but did you know lack of sleep is linked to stress, illness and poor immunity? As the days now begin to shorten (summer we miss you already) our circadian rhythm also shifts to align with nature. Getting to bed before 10pm and waking earlier is an incredible gift to give your body each night. Trust us your immune system will love you for it. This is the time when our body in particular the liver does it’s nightly cleanse and clears out toxins to be eliminated first thing when rising.
- Stay Hydrated – This one kind of goes without saying our body is made up of mostly water. We NEED hydration to function optimally.
- Stop watching TV or reading news articles – We are in control of what we consume and that goes for the media too. If you feel yourself getting worried every time you turn on the TV, radio or look at social media give yourself some time away from screens. Everything we consume through our 5 senses including what we listen too has to be processed and digested by the body. Just as you want to feed yourself healthy food, feed your psyche healthy content.
- Eat close to nature – Limit processed foods, sugars, alcohol, excessive caffeine which are all linked to cause hormonal imbalances. Try and eat a balanced diet of plant based home cooked meals, fresh produce and locally sourced meats. Learn where your food comes from and try to eat as locally as you can.
- Hand hygiene – Its pretty simple WASH YOUR HANDS
