Comfort For Your Cold

It's a busy time of year and with the change of seasons fluctuating from not so bad chilly, to down right cold, it's easy to get sick this time of year. No one likes to be sick and we all wish we could be comforted and pampered when we are. If there isn't anyone to take care of you when you're sick, there are a few things you can do to help yourself feel better. Below are a few of my favorite comforts when I'm sick.

A Mint Bath and Oil Rub

Mint is very soothing and being engulfed in a warm bath feels great when you're lethargic from your cold. There are a lot of great mint bubble baths, but my favorite is Aura Cacia Invigorating Ginger/Mint, Foam Bath 14-Ounce Jar. They also come in packets, but the jar is nice as you can pour in as much or as little as you want. The smell is nice and it leaves your skin feeling good. Another treat for the bath is to do an Ayurvedic oil massage before you get in. Sesame oil is perfect for this. The massage is soothing, and some believe healing. It will also leave your skin feeling wonderful, even if you don't.

Hot Tea

Ginger or mint tea is perfect for a cold. Put some honey in it to help sooth your throat. My favorite is Celestial Seasonings Herb Tea, Peppermint, 20-Count Tea Bags (Pack of 6). It's a bit more intense then some mints, but I like that way. I'm still looking for the perfect ginger tea, so let me know if you find one!



A Foot Massage

When we're sick our body aches. Either from the illness itself or from laying around and not moving much. The tension in our body adds to an already uncomfortable state. Our body is made up of bands of fascia. Fascia is energetic, so if you release part of it, you can release the whole band. We have a band of fascia that goes from the bottom of our foot, travels the whole length of the body and ends above the eyebrows. A good foot massage with a tennis ball leaves you feeling like you had a whole body massage.

Roll a tennis ball up and down your foot. You can be seated or standing. If you find any crunchy spots, push that spot gently into the ball by stepping on it. Do both feet.

Restorative Yoga

Gentle yoga is perfect for when you're feeling rundown. It gets your blood flowing and allows you to focus on your breath, which is helpful for those irritated lungs. Below are some of my favorite restorative poses to do when I'm sick.

Supported Bridge

I love this pose when I have a cough. By inverting my chest, I'm allowing any gunk that's in my lungs to work it's way out. It's the magic of gravity. The higher you prop your hips (don't go higher than you would in normal bridge), the more affect it will have. Take slow deep breaths, focusing on expanding the ribcage. This will help stretch muscles that are sore from coughing.

When you do get up you'll start to cough, which is good because the pose loosened up the goo in your lungs. This allows your cough to be more productive.

Supta Baddha Konasana

This pose helps you to relax and let go. We're often so tired when we're sick because we aren't sleeping well. This pose engages the parasympathetic system (the nice one that allows us to relax) and since we're propped up, we won't cough as much. This way we can perhaps get a few wonderful moments of sleep, which we all know we need to get better. The eye bags help to relieve tension in the eyes. 

Legs Up The Wall



Having the hips propped up in this pose has the same affect on your lungs as supported bridge. The change here is the legs are up and supported. This allows blood flow to get moving in legs that haven't seen much action lately due to you spending most of your day in bed or on the couch. It also helps to reduce any swelling you may have due to inactivity. Overall the pose has a great relaxation effect.

Stay in this pose as long as you like. Once you feel your feet tingling a bit (don't worry, this is normal), you'll want to come down.

Modern medicine has come a long way, but somehow still hasn't found a cure for the common cold. So suffer through we must, but it's nice to at least have some comforts along the way. Try as we might to avoid them, we all eventually succumb to one. When yours hits, you'll have some ideas to soothe and pamper yourself.