So far we’ve touched on everything EXCEPT the exercises you can engage in to boost your immune system. There are many exercises anyone can participate in and have a good time with.
The type of exercise you select will depend on many things including your current health, your medical history and your physical activity history.
Walking
If you’ve never exercised a day in your life, your best bet may be walking. While this seems controversial it is not. The more people walk, the more likely they are to be healthy.
When we say “walk” we do not mean stroll or casually glide along the walkway.
When you walk for exercise you should walk as fast as you can, almost to the point where you are jogging, so you get your heart rate up, provided this is safe for you. You can pump your arms to increase the effects your walking has on your health.
You should ask your physician or other healthcare provider for some advice when power walking so you know how long to walk and whether you can enjoy other exercises besides walking. Here is a list of exercises people commonly enjoy. These will help keep you in shape which naturally will help improve your ability to fight off infection.
Swimming
Light swimming is great because it is easy on the joints and works every muscle group. If you are not able to swim you can still get in the pool and enjoy an aqua aerobics or related class to help you get in the swing of things.
Stair Climbing
Provided you have strong knees you can climb outdoors where the air is fresh. If you have a school with a football stadium near you climb up and down the stairs on a nice day.
Walking or Jogging
Many people find they start walking and eventually end jogging. Jogging on a grassy surface or other soft terrain (sand or soil) is easier on the knees than walking on pavement.
Biking
You can bike indoors or out. Try a reclined bike which allows you to sit in a way that doesn’t harm your body. This type of cycle allows you to sit at an angle instead of straight up and down, so it is much easier to stay on the bike for long sessions.
Strength Training
This is an important part of any exercise program especially if you want to lose fat and improve your muscle mass. You can start out using machines and graduate to free weights. Make sure you have someone show you how to do an exercise correctly before you try doing something yourself. You may end up sorry if you do not. Strength training can be fun and exciting, but not if you tear a muscle.
Yoga
Yoga is a wonderful form of exercise that can improve your immunity and help improve your body’s flexibility. Many of the poses are cleansing and gentle, ideal for someone that would like a moving meditation.
Pilates
Like yoga, this is a powerful exercise that can boost the body’s immune system and lengthen muscles. You can work to correct muscle imbalances and realize greater strength.
Tai Chi
This is a meditative practice much like yoga but is much gentler, allowing the person participating to enjoy a standing meditation while also moving in gentle postures and flow. Tai Chi purportedly can help restore the natural alignment of energies in the body.
Meditation
Many people do not consider meditation exercise. That is because they are looking at meditation the wrong way. Meditation is exercise; it is exercise for the body, mind and soul. When we allow ourselves to meditate, we feed our minds and provide our body with an opportunity to rest, relax and rejuvenate. We also decrease stress, which is necessary if you want to improve your immunity to common ailments.
Visualization
Exercises for the mind include visualization exercises. You can imagine your body fighting back against disease. Just close your eyes, create an image of your perfect, healthy body, and hold that vision close to your mind and heart. The mind is very powerful. When we believe using our minds that we are well and free of disease, most times our bodies respond accordingly.
Your body, mind and spirit need daily exercise to survive. If you focus on disease then you are more susceptible to disease. What you should be doing is focusing on health and conquering disease. Cancer patients are often taught visualization skills that help them overcome their disease. Cancer is a disease where certain cancer cells in the body, or abnormal cells grow out of control.
Gentle motions performed through Tai Chi, Yoga or a practice called Qigong (another type of Eastern exercise involving low-impact movement of energy) are sometimes more helpful for boosting immunity that vigorous exercise, which may actually increase the stress hormones circulating in your system.
Gentle motion exercises as these are helpful for providing your body with more energy, which means you have more ability to fight off infection and feel your best. You can enjoy these exercises as much or as little as you want.
You can visualize disease or a chronic illness any way you want; the goal is to focus on getting rid of the cells responsible for your sickness or the virus and bacteria responsible for your lethargy. You can also perform visualizations where you imagine what your body would look like in a healthy state.
You can imagine your perfect body, and then imagine you accomplishing any task you want with your perfect body. Many people with strong immune systems imagine their body is healthy whether it is or not.
Your subconscious can “trick” your brain into thinking you are healthy even if you are not healthy. It sounds strange, but it can happen. Doctors are using visualization techniques in hospitals to help patients recover faster. There are even studies suggesting visualization helps improve medical health and outcomes among patients with chronic illnesses.
It is really a matter of mind over matter – in a literal way.
Those opposing such techniques suggest visualization offers nothing more than a placebo would. The placebo effect is the feeling of something positive changing without anything actually changing. This can happen for many reasons.
If people are given a medication and told it will cure their disease, they are more likely to realize positive health outcomes whether or not they receive medication or a sugar pill (at least in some cases).
The placebo effect does not happen for everyone, but it might work for you, even if you do not believe in visualizations to boost your immunity. What is the worst thing that can happen? You may end up right where you started, or you may find you feel a thousand times better.
