Strengthening the immune system
The spread of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) has many of us asking what we can do, aside from following coughing etiquette and other infection-avoiding measures, in order to strengthen our immune system. The descriptions below are not recommendations and should be adapted to individual health conditions.
Why does this virus appear now? Around a hundred years ago, the Spanish Flu spread across the globe. Rudolf Steiner then referred to a cosmological fact that may be relevant today, too. He said that the constellation of the outer planets, mediated through the sun, had a disruptive effect on the “head-chest-rhythm”, primarily in people who already had a weakness in that area (cf. GA 312, lecture of 7 April 1920). This rhythm is often disrupted in our time.
Strengthening soul activities
There are certain eurythmy therapy exercises that can warm the chest area, stabilize the relationship between the head and the chest and stimulate strengthening soul activities. These are above all ‘Love-E’, ‘Hope-U’, ‘A-H’ and the ‘Rhythmic R’. In his Eurythmy Therapy Course (GA 315, lecture of 16 April 1921) Rudolf Steiner describes the strengthening effect of these exercises on the way the members of our organization work together.
Making it more difficult for the virus to enter
What else can one do? We have bitter taste receptors in the mucous membrane of our respiratory tract. When we eat something bitter (chicory, radicchio, endive, dandelion or yarrow sprouts etc.) these receptors are stimulated. This improves the removal of mucus and activates the local defence mechanisms on various levels. Sweet substances, on the other hand, inhibit these effects. It is therefore better not to eat (too much) sweet food and to include bitters in the diet.
Echinacea is also effective at the first barrier the virus needs to overcome. Trials have shown that extracts of Echinacea can deactivate the virus on the mucous membranes before it can enter the cells. Echinacea can be sprayed into the mouth or one can use lozenges containing extracts of Echinacea.
Enough sleep
Enough sleep is important. Even flu vaccinations are more effective when we have at least seven hours sleep at night. Exercise and the absorption of sunlight are equally important, which is why walks in fresh air are also strengthening.
Book Markus Sommer: Grippe und Erkältungskrankheiten natürlich heilen, Freies Geistesleben 2009. (The following is not a translation of this book but of another healthcare guide by the same author: Markus Sommer, Healing Plants. Herbal Remedies from Traditional to Anthroposophical Medicine, Floris Books 2014, transl. Lynda Hepburn)