Ep. 99 - Your Circle of Influence

Right now, a lot may feel out of your control. None of us asked for this BS, we just got handed this garbage and were left to deal with it ourselves.

We all cause ourselves unnecessary stress over things we do have control over, by not seeing proper boundaries (or allowing others to ignore our boundaries) or going down the wrong path in life. But this year we have been handed a major stressor that is completely out of our control, and on top of all that we’ve had to deal with fires, hurricanes, protests, elections, and more.

Today I want to talk about your circle of influence, things that you do have control over to help keep yourself and your body healthy… and help prevent the cytokine storm in your bodies.

What the heck is a cytokine storm?

A cytokine storm is a severe immune reaction in which the body releases too many cytokines into the blood too quickly. Cytokines play an important role in normal immune responses but having a large amount of them released in the body all at once can be harmful. A cytokine storm can occur because of an infection, autoimmune condition, or other diseases. It may also occur after treatment with some types of immunotherapy. Signs and symptoms include high fever, inflammation (redness and swelling), and severe fatigue and nausea. Sometimes, a cytokine storm may be severe or life-threatening and lead to multiple organ failure, also called hypercytokinemia.

So basically, we have inflammation and immune function at the heart of resilience. 

What are we supposed to do about it?

Clearing is a great way to support your overall immune function:

• Clear body waste
• Clear contaminants from our environment
• Clear inflammation
• Clear stress & anxiety

Next up is to calm the system so we can tame the flame of inflammation:

• Calm internal inflammation
• Calm your nervous system
• Calm as many lifestyle patterns as you can

Remember that sometimes improvement comes naturally when we remove the distractions. That said, there are certainly key agents that can enhance immune system support based on individual needs:

• Enhance immune function
• Enhance sleep
• Enhance digestion
• Enhance detoxification
• Enhance stress resilience

Your "circle of influence" includes the opportunity to truly tune in to your own body and make the modifications that work best for you. This means that you'll have to look internally—what your body tells you, what your labs reveal, and/or what your dedicated healthcare team can recommend)—and less at the generic information suggested for a population larger than yourself. When we modulate, we invite more balance and fully recognize that each year and even each circumstance may require different agents and different doses to bring us into our unique opportunity for resilience at that moment in time. Instead of a checklist, we modulate by asking ourselves questions (and finding our individual "mediators"):

Modulate sleep & relaxation:

• How much am I sleeping?
• Is there a way to optimize my sleep right now? 
• If so, where can I go for help?
• How is stress affecting my body?
• Am I able to calm down?
• What is happening in my gut right now?
• Am I giving myself enough time to make good food choices?
• What relaxation techniques work best for me? And what can I do right now?

Modulate exercise & movement:

• Am I moving my body?
• Am I sweating daily?
• Am I exercising too much or too little?
• What exercises feel best for me?

Modulate stress & anxiety:

• How can I best honor the emotions I'm feeling?
• What helps me feel calm?
• What does