Ahhhh, the morning. You gotta love the pure potential inherent to the morning.

The vital forces to meet the day are maximal. The tank is full.

By the end of the day our vitality will be spent, trading in for the acquired experiences of the day.

It is an interesting trade off when you stop to ponder it. Our consciousness gains what we spend in vital energy. Over the course of the day vital potential transforms into experience. Abundant life forces on one side and mature consciousness forces on the other.

So goes our lives

This process seen over the course of a day also plays out over the course of our lives.

Youth has the same morning potentiality and bubbling-over vitality.

The newborn doubles in weight the first 5 months!

So much vitality but no memory and no experience. The consciousness forces are unripe.

Our advancing years see a steady transformation. Experience and memory emerge as vitality fades. It’s like two ships passing in the night. We trade in our vital forces for advanced emotional and spiritual potential.

Vitality on one side and matured consciousness on the other exist in a total inverse relationship.

Dear friends, Life and Consciousness oppose one another. They don’t and can’t coexist. Our daytime consciousness wears us down and depletes our vital forces. Check in with your achey, parched self after being up all night. You’ll feel it clearly. Only in the night time when consciousness leaves our physical body is our vitality is able to replenish itself

Deep consideration of these invisible forces in the human being (consciousness and vitality, in this example) is central to anthroposophic medicine, an approach based on the insights of Rudolf Steiner.

Here we see how the decline of the first force is a necessity for the other’s advance. Each organ has a particular balance of vitality and consciousness. Working with that balance opens therapeutic possibilities and understanding.

Secret to aging well

To age well is to not get caught up in the partial picture of vitality depletion. To age well is to not focus on the door that is closing. Aging well is focusing on what arises as our vitality depletes.

Therein lies the truest path to personal satisfaction and happiness. Vital force waning is a prerequisite to the flowering in our consciousness. When this is realized we find a proper orientation in our lives and society.

Only with physical depletion can awareness of the spirit increasingly shine through. While we don’t invite practices that deplete us, we recognize that the inevitable changes in life are part of an awesome process.

Realization of these matters helps us eradicate physicality-centered philosophies like “Wanting to be Forever Young” and the “Don’t Get old” approach. It makes room for a philosophy that appreciates every moment for its universality and the hidden genius lying in the balance of the gift of life and and the marvel of consciousness.

It takes orienting yourself to the magnificent spirit within yourself, which ripens with age.

This truth reflects in the Immune System

The innate immune system of our youth is nonspecific and open and is able to react to new things and is protective against an unrecognized phenomenon such as COVID-19. This is why children are protected to a hugely different degree. It wanes as we age and is largely replaced with the adaptive immune system, which is very specific and set to react to what we have seen.

Immunologic memory replaces immunologic potentiality. Sound familiar? The adult adaptive immune system is poorly equipped to address a newcomer like SARS CoV-2.

In this case youth is well spent on the young. We can all be happy about that.

You can tell they are psyched about it.

How can we learn from the babies and aid our nonspecific immunity?

A. Barriers are an important part of the nonspecific immune area. Skin and mucous membranes are the key. You know these: wash hands, keep hydrated, be smart with distance and masks. Our go-to’s mimic and aid the innate immune system!B. Special mention can be made of gastric acid. Otherwise known as stomach acid, it forms an important protection. Evidence suggests people taking PPIs (omeprazole,pantoprazole, etc) twice daily have higher likelihood contracting COVID-19 than those using PPIs up to once daily. People taking the less potent H2Blockers (Pepcid) are not at increased risk. If possible it could be time to use the diet to allow you to reduce or change medication. Diet and habit can be very helpful with reflux symptoms. Ask us if this might be applicable to you.

C. Support the body’s heat response. Don’t chase fevers away as a knee jerk if they come. Some ICUs are warming up patients because the immune system works better in these conditions.

D. Exercise is another great heat builder.E. Ample rest can’t be understated.

Making the rounds

• The U.S. is averaging fewer than 50,000 new coronavirus cases per day for the first time in over five months. These are the lowest rates since October.
• Berkshire county went from 39 cases/week last week to 55 cases over the last 7 days. It’s the first non-drop in 2 months.
• Selenium rich foods in the news. A link has been identified between dietary selenium and outcome of COVID-19 disease. There is no such thing as a wonder drug and this is no exception. But a handful of Brazil nuts might hit the spot!

• Alternate narrative corner: interesting note from a group of European doctors giving heed to vaccine adverse effect potential and advancing the debate concerning the complexity of mass use of vaccines in the very low risk categories.
• Reminder of the ivermectin and supplement protocol including vitamin C, D and zinc, etc. I think it reasonable to ease the regimen when you find yourself in stretches of low exposure.

That wraps up today’s bulletin!

Remember: Keep good boundaries and an open mind!