Controlling that monkey brain when you’re sick
When you’re an active person and you’ve fallen prey to some sort of nasty virus, the idea of resting in bed and doing nothing for days goes against every grain in your body. But, as I’ve learnt, taking it easy can be the fastest way to recovery.
I’m one of those lucky (or annoying) people who rarely gets sick. When I heard the news reports that said this year’s cold and flu season was one of Australia’s worst on record, I gleefully thought I’d dodged a bullet.
Until two weeks ago that is, when it hit me like a tonne of bricks. Bed ridden and feeling sorry for myself, I couldn’t stop the incessant chatter upstairs (described by yogis as the monkey brain) urging me to “get up, go for a walk, get back to work, sweat it out at the gym – it’s not that bad”.
Normally, I’d listen to that little monkey out of sheer desperation to get back to feeling normal. But as we all know, trying to get back to your everyday activities including regular exercise, is damn near impossible. Sometimes, the best remedy is to actually listen to your body. And. Just. Rest.
So, I did just that. Although it’s taken me two weeks at home to get back to nearly 100%, I’m rested, relaxed and feel like that virus has given me a reboot (that’s gratitude speak right there). I know that if I tried to return any earlier to ‘normal’ life, I wouldn’t have done my body – or family – any favours. I’d be operating well below par for several weeks yet and causing unnecessary angst to my immune system and general health and wellbeing.
Here are my five tips to hush that monkey, so you too can take the proper time out to recover from illness.
1. Don’t delay seeing a GP. For many of us, we get the sniffles, a headache and think we’ll be right, we can soldier on. What a visit to the GP does though is give you an accurate account of what’s actually wrong with you, and what you should do to get better. Also helps with the who-needs-to-do-what-now-around-the-house conversations.
2. Get time off work. A no-brainer but one I think we all struggle with. Two days into feeling really unwell, I went to the doctor and asked for a medical certificate. He gave me the week off, which did two things: told the monkey upstairs that I was in bad shape; and also took the pressure off having to get back to work.
3. Ditch the work-out. It’s just not worth it, as Amanda covered in a previous trainer tip on the blog. When that incessant chatter starts, use it as prompt that you actually need to apply more self-care. Go to sleep, read a book, drink tea. Practice mindfulness if that’s your thing. I did all four.
4. Plan how you’ll ease back into routine and exercise. Silence the monkey by feeding it with a plan of attack. It also makes you feel better, helping you see a light at the end of the tunnel. Again, make sure you exercise self-care and come up with a realistic plan that ups your activity and work-outs slowly. It’ll be a good two weeks yet before I go back to cardio and lifting weights. It’s just walking, yoga and a dance class here and there for me at the moment.
5. Binge watch movies that star fit, active people. This helps with visualising your way back to good health. A good story line also helps. Or not. My staple was Baywatch, the one with the Rock and Zac Efron (utterly ridiculous, but good). You won’t hear the monkey when you’re deeply engrossed in something else!
If you’ve recently recovered from being sick and have a great recovery tip to share, I’d love to hear it. Please post in the comments box below.
Until next time,
Maryanne K
