It is easier said than done!
Yes, this I know as I have lived 61 years, worked, raised 2 children and have been through the battle of life.
There are many challenges now and ahead due to COVID 19.
I have been collecting some recommendations that you may or may not find helpful.
Use your discrimination in deciding which to implement or if you not to implement any, these are suggestions only, by various people.
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Ayurveda doctors are saying, we can save ourselves from corona virus.
1. Boil black peppers in water and add lemon juice, drink as soon as you come home. It kills the virus.
2. Drink warm water with cinnamon and basil leaves daily. No normal water and cold water.
3. Bath with salt water.
4. You can use eucalyptus oil as hand sanitizer. You can also inhale small quantities everyday. It kills the virus.
5. Take more lemons with hot water and turmeric.
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The Coronavirus shows a breakdown in our collective immunity at both physical and psychological levels. It reflects a broader breakdown in the biosphere, which we humans have disrupted in many ways. The biosphere sustains the integrity of the global Prana that upholds our individual prana as well. Prana is the energy that brings life and harmony to all, not just our personal vital force but our portion of the common energy of nature and the cosmic life.
Even if this difficult virus comes under control, which we hope occurs shortly, its onset suggests more such difficult problems as our society becomes more artificial in terms of how we live on a daily basis, the condition of our air, water, food, urban and technological existence, as well as how we have polluted and damaged our natural environment from the fragile soils to the all-encompassing sky.
Note we are not just proclaiming some doomsday here, but looking at the long term effects of our current rapidly developing technological civilization. The ability of viruses to spread is increased by the interconnectedness and vulnerability that links the world by way of travel and communication for good or for ill. What happens in one part of the world quickly affects the world as a whole and cannot be ignored.
Ojas, Our Primary Energy in Life
The main force behind our immune system is called Ojas in Ayurveda, which refers to the essence of all our bodily tissues and the ultimate resort of both our nutrition and our genetic inborn strength. Ojas can be increased by proper food and herbs as well as by natural living on all levels, aligned with a yogic and Ayurvedic lifestyle.
Special Ojas-increasing herbs in Ayurveda include ashwagandha, shatavari, bala, amalaki, haritaki, brahmi, manduka parni, tulsi and even common turmeric and ginger. Ayurveda has these herbs available not just as powders or pills, but as made into powerful medical oils (tailams), ghee (ghritams), gugguls, ferments like asavas and arishtas, and herbal jellies and confections like prash (Chyavan Prash) and leyams (Ashwagandha Leyam). This pharmaceutical wealth remains a great resource for all to access. Ayurvedic oil massage and steam therapies (snehana and swedana) also work dramatically to increase our immunity. Many special Ayurvedic oils use Ojas-increasing herbs like Balashwagandha. So do Ayurvedic ghees like Brahmi ghee. These Ayurvedic products can be ordered on line at various Ayurvedic herbal suppliers.
Dietary factors to increase Ojas are similar to a Vata-reducing diet and include nutritive food items, nuts and seeds, root vegetables, whole grains like rice and oats, beans and dals, dairy products, and oils like sesame, olive and ghee. Food should be freshly cooked. Processed, frozen and most restaurant food should be avoided. Simple Ayurvedic kitcharee with rice and mung beans is a good primary staple food. Of course, the individual’s dietary needs and inclinations must be carefully considered. Such herbal and dietary factors are the subject of an entire article in its own right, and are best done along with consulting an Ayurvedic practitioner.
Yoga Practices
The performance of Agnihotra and Vedic havans or fire offerings purifies the house or the dwelling. Can be done morning and eventing. Puja is similarly very protecting, especially the use of incense to clear the air, along with the lighting of ghee or oil lamps. These are key practices of Karma Yoga in Hindu thought.
Pranayama is very important for strengthening Prana and immunity, particularly done first thing in the morning and before sleep at night. But it should be slow and deep, not simply rapid and forceful. Pratyahara, including withdrawal from excessive media and electrical stimulation, is helpful as well, including aroma therapy and being in nature. Proper exercise and Asana is essential, but of a gentle sattvic nature, not excessive exertion (though it is best to avoid larger group classes during the virus threat).
There are many protective mantras that one can do, particularly as part of Bhakti Yoga, whether to Devi (Sarasvati, Laksmi, Parvati), Shiva, Rama, Krishna, Hanuman, Skanda or Ganesha, or to the guru, the five elements of Nature, our own inner Self and the Supreme Brahman or Cosmic Reality, whether it is Om namah Shivaya! Om namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya! or whatever arouses one’s devotion. Guidance by the guru is always helpful for specific practices.
Psychological Immunity
We also see a dangerous breakdown in the psychological immunity of people individually and collectively. Psychological immunity is indicated by our ability to withstand emotional difficulties, opposition and conflict, stress and uncertainty in our lives, including social and political unrest, which few people seem to have today.
Strong psychological immunity is indicated by detachment, self-discipline, focus of mind and the capacity for introspection, as developed by concentration, mantra and meditation in Yoga. Yoga, mantra and meditation also increase our psychological immunity and help us be less psychologically vulnerable to our current increasingly divided, stressful and disrupted environment. Ayurvedic herbs for the mind increase our immunity like brahmi, manduka parni, jatamamsi, shankha pushpi, ashwagandha and haritaki.
Our current media based culture tends to weaken our psychological immunity, making us so outward and reactive in our views that we lose the ability to contact the peace of our own inner Being and Divine Self, being imbalanced by every problem in the world around us. This breakdown of psychological immunity is perhaps as dangerous as the breakdown of physical immunity and both go together—and both depend upon our connection with nature and a healthy biosphere and with our own deeper Divine essence.
Outer difficulties push us back on our inner strength. We have been relying too much on external factors for our wellbeing, happiness or protection, including drugs that weaken our immunity and make our environment toxic. We must recognize that our ultimate strength lies within our own consciousness for which this current human life is but one episode in a greater cosmic existence that we are always part of. We must come together for the sake of all humanity, all nature and the universal life.
Vamadeva (Dr. David Frawley)
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Dr. Robert Svoboda
As COVID-19 (now officially known as SARS-CoV-2) continues to spread around the world, governments and medical professionals are struggling to identify just how extensive that spread will actually be and the least intrusive and most efficient ways to limit that spread.
Watchful attentiveness and avoidance of crowds, coupled with repeated hand washing and restrictions on touching MEN (mouth, eyes, nose), are for now the best preventative actions, in addition to strategic purchases of items that you know that you will personally require for the next couple of weeks.
In this climate of uncertainty however many people are freaking out, and acting in ways that will ultimately benefit neither them nor their loved ones, in particular buying up everything they can.
Being a recent evolutionary development the human mind has not yet fully matured, and so when confronted with a crisis many minds lose the ability to think clearly.
By ‘mind’ I mean the mental function known in Sanskrit as manas, which coordinates the perceptions that we obtain from our senses into a meaningful narrative that buddhi, our internal faculty of discernment, can use to inform manas how to respond to that narrative.
Terror shorts circuits this process, leading people to react rather to act purposefully.
And so we are witnessing aggressive panic buying, much of which seems unusually irrational, such as the ongoing global run on toilet paper.
A good deal of this is being driven by herd behavior, or “emotional contagion”. We all tend to “mirror” one another, at least in part thanks to the “mirror neurons” that appear in several brain regions, and being hyper-social animals we are all, consciously or less consciously, aligned with our closest peeps.
We are so similar to our friends in how we perceive and respond to the world around us that these similarities can be used to predict not only who our friends are but also how close we are to them socially.
Such potential for alignments makes it easy for us to align with the emotional states of others, which means that we can “catch” emotions from even casual interactions if the general level of unrest in a population in sufficiently high.
Fear and anxiety are particularly “infectious,” and can lead to stampedes: when a few in a crowd perceive what they believe to be a threat their sudden fear and ensuing flight may convince those around them of the need to flee as well, and soon the entire mob has been induced to run, often without direction or purpose.
This is bad enough in a localized throng (a word that earlier meant “to press or crush”), but thanks to round-the-clock news bulletins and social media postings that magnify the speed at which “emotional contagion” can spread through a population, COVID-19 has spurred wide swaths of the world’s population to shift into panic mode. It is a truth about humanity that we each have a need to feel competent, to feel in control of our lives, and to act in accordance with those in society that we are close to. Now that most people self-identify as consumers, they consume when stressed, and panic buying can be understood thus: you see other people buying, and you buy; you see photos of empty shelves, and you (wanting to feel and seem to be competent consume) don’t want to be left out.
In a time like now, with a potential lethal menace heading toward each of us and with great uncertainty about how to address that peril, fear makes that threat loom so sinister that a worldwide stampede has begun, focused on purchases particularly of items in large packages (like toilet paper) whose very size suggests to the subconscious a “large” response to the danger.
Even if you are yourself able to resist panic purchases, you will still feel the threat, which you will need to address in some way that is meaningful to you, that is appropriate to the hazard, and that will reduce instead of promote fear contagion.
One good way to begin is to give a name to what you are feeling, as doing so temporarily takes you out of that state, whatever it might be.
Once you are examining your situation with increased objectivity, remember that a common cognitive bias is to overemphasizing events that are recent and very vivid. In other words, try to create a more balanced perspective from which to view the situation.
Gratitude for what you already have is a great way to begin. In addition, we can all be extremely grateful to Nature that She has decided to slap our wayward species back into wakefulness with a malady whose death rate seems to be stabilizing at about 4%, not the nearly 10% of the first SARS, nor the 35% of MERS.
Both these are also coronaviruses, and both like COVID-19 originally originated in animals before they shifted to humans. Thank you Providence!
Since manas always wants to try to think its way out of situations, let it think, but not an in uncontrolled, “OMG what will happen next???”
Find reliable sources of information, become as clear as you can on diagnosis and prognosis, and when you run out of things to think about but still can’t stop thinking, remember that manas comes from the Sanskrit root man, “to think”.
The Sanskrit suffix tra means “instrument of” of “protector of”, which makes man + tra = mantra “the instrument of thinking” or “the protector of thought”.
Focus therefore on your mantra, or a mantra, on one of the many names of the Supreme Being.
Rely on internal rather than external factors to taking back control in a world that is increasingly out of control.
When you do this in concert with others who are striving to do the right thing, you have a satsanga, and in the words of a Sanskrit saying, “what can satsanga not do for humans?”
How long COVID-19 will afflict us and how badly we don’t yet know.
What we should all remember is that we should not make a bad situation worse by running about aimlessly like headless chickens.
Om namah sivaya!
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15 Impressive Herbs with Antiviral Activity
Since ancient times, herbs have been used as natural treatments for various illnesses, including viral infections.
Due to their concentration of potent plant compounds, many herbs help fight viruses and are favored by practitioners of natural medicine.
At the same time, the benefits of some herbs are only supported by limited human research, so you should take them with a grain of salt.
Here are 15 herbs with powerful antiviral activity.
1. Oregano
Oregano is a popular herb in the mint family that’s known for its impressive medicinal qualities. Its plant compounds, which include carvacrol, offer antiviral properties.
In a test-tube study, both oregano oil and isolated carvacrol reduced the activity of murine norovirus (MNV) within 15 minutes of exposure (1
MNV is highly contagious and the primary cause of stomach flu in humans. It is very similar to human norovirus and used in scientific studies because human norovirus is notoriously difficult to grow in laboratory settings (2
Oregano oil and carvacrol have also been shown to exhibit antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1); rotavirus, a common cause of diarrhea in infants and children; and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which causes respiratory infections (3
2. Sage
Also a member of the mint family, sage is an aromatic herb that has long been used in traditional medicine to treat viral infections (6
The antiviral properties of sage are mostly attributed to compounds called safficinolide and sage one, which are found in the leaves and stem of the plant (7
Test-tube research indicates that this herb may fight human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), which can lead to AIDS. In one study, sage extract significantly inhibited HIV activity by preventing the virus from entering target cells (8
Sage has also been shown to combat HSV-1 and Indiana vesiculovirus, which infects farm animals like horses, cows, and pigs (9, 10).
3. Basil
Many types of basil, including the sweet and holy varieties, may fight certain viral infections.
For example, one test-tube study found that sweet basil extracts, including compounds like apigenin and ursolic acid, exhibited potent effects against herpes viruses, hepatitis B, and enterovirus (11
Holy basil, also known as tulsi, has been shown to increase immunity, which may help fight viral infections.
In a 4-week study in 24 healthy adults, supplementing with 300 mg of holy basil extract significantly increased levels of helper T cells and natural killer cells, both of which are immune cells that help protect and defend your body from viral infections (12
4. Fennel
Fennel is a licorice-flavored plant that may fight certain viruses.
A test-tube study showed that fennel extract exhibited strong antiviral effects against herpes viruses and parainfluenza type-3 (PI-3), which causes respiratory infections in cattle (13
What’s more, trans-anethole, the main component of fennel essential oil, has demonstrated powerful antiviral effects against herpes viruses (14
According to animal research, fennel may also boost your immune system and decrease inflammation, which may likewise help combat viral infections (15
Garlic is a popular natural remedy for a wide array of conditions, including viral infections.
In a study in 23 adults with warts caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), applying garlic extract to affected areas twice daily eliminated the warts in all of them after 1–2 weeks (16, 17
Additionally, older test-tube studies note that garlic may have antiviral activity against influenza A and B, HIV, HSV-1, viral pneumonia, and rhinovirus, which causes the common cold. However, current research is lacking (18
Animal and test-tube studies indicate that garlic enhances immune system response by stimulating protective immune cells, which may safeguard against viral infections (19
6. Lemon balm
Lemon balm is a lemony plant that’s commonly used in teas and seasonings. It’s also celebrated for its medicinal qualities.
Lemon balm extract is a concentrated source of potent essential oils and plant compounds that have antiviral activity (20
Test-tube research has shown that it has antiviral effects against avian influenza (bird flu), herpes viruses, HIV-1, and enterovirus 71, which can cause severe infections in infants and children (8
7. Peppermint
Peppermint is known to have powerful antiviral qualities and commonly added to teas, extracts, and tinctures meant to naturally treat viral infections.
Its leaves and essential oils contain active components, including menthol and rosmarinic acid, which have antiviral and anti-inflammatory activity (24
In a test-tube study, peppermint-leaf extract exhibited potent antiviral activity against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and significantly decreased levels of inflammatory compounds (25
8. Rosemary
Rosemary is frequently used in cooking but likewise has therapeutic applications due to its numerous plant compounds, including oleanolic acid (26
Oleanolic acid has displayed antiviral activity against herpes viruses, HIV, influenza, and hepatitis in animal and test-tube studies (27
Plus, rosemary extract has demonstrated antiviral effects against herpes viruses and hepatitis A, which affects the liver (28
Echinacea is one of the most popularly used ingredients in herbal medicine due to its impressive health-promoting properties. Many parts of the plant, including its flowers, leaves, and roots, are used for natural remedies.
In fact, Echinacea purpurea, a variety that produces cone-shaped flowers, was used by Native Americans to treat a wide array of conditions, including viral infections (30
Several test-tube studies suggest that certain varieties of echinacea, including E. pallida, E. angustifolia, and E. purpurea, are particularly effective at fighting viral infections like herpes and influenza (31
Notably, E. purpurea is thought to have immune-boosting effects as well, making it particularly useful for treating viral infections (30
10. Sambucus
Sambucus is a family of plants also called elder. Elderberries are made into a variety of products, such as elixirs and pills, that are used to naturally treat viral infections like the flu and common cold.
A study in mice determined that concentrated elderberry juice suppressed influenza virus replication and stimulated immune system response (32
What’s more, in a review of 4 studies in 180 people, elderberry supplements were found to substantially reduce upper respiratory symptoms caused by viral infections (33
11. Licorice
Licorice has been used in traditional Chinese medicine and other natural practices for centuries.
Glycyrrhizin, liquiritigenin, and glabridin are just some of the active substances in licorice that have powerful antiviral properties (34
Test-tube studies demonstrate that licorice root extract is effective against HIV, RSV, herpes viruses, and severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV), which causes a serious type of pneumonia (35
Have medical questions? Connect with a board-certified, experienced doctor online or by phone. Pediatricians and other specialists available 24/7.
12. Astragalus
Astragalus is a flowering herb popular in traditional Chinese medicine. It boasts Astragalus polysaccharide (APS), which has significant immune-enhancing and antiviral qualities (38
Test-tube and animal studies show that astragalus combats herpes viruses, hepatitis C, and avian influenza H9 virus (39
Plus, test-tube studies suggest that APS may protect human astrocyte cells, the most abundant type of cell in the central nervous system, from infection with herpes (38
13. Ginger
Ginger products, such as elixirs, teas, and lozenges, are popular natural remedies — and for good reason. Ginger has been shown to have impressive antiviral activity thanks to its high concentration of potent plant compounds.
Test-tube research demonstrates that ginger extract has antiviral effects against avian influenza, RSV, and feline calicivirus (FCV), which is comparable to human norovirus (43
Additionally, specific compounds in ginger, such as gingerols and zingerone, have been found to inhibit viral replication and prevent viruses from entering host cells (46
Ginseng, which can be found in Korean and American varieties, is the root of plants in the Panax family. Long used in traditional Chinese medicine, it has been shown to be particularly effective at fighting viruses.
In animal and test-tube studies, Korean red ginseng extract has exhibited significant effects against RSV, herpes viruses, and hepatitis A (47
Plus, compounds in ginseng called ginsenosides have antiviral effects against hepatitis B, norovirus, and coxsackieviruses, which are associated with several serious diseases — including an infection of the brain called meningoencephalitis (49
15. Dandelion
Dandelions are widely regarded as weeds but have been studied for multiple medicinal properties, including potential antiviral effects.
Test-tube research indicates that dandelion may combat hepatitis B, HIV, and influenza (50
Moreover, one test-tube study noted that dandelion extract inhibited the replication of dengue, a mosquito-borne virus that causes dengue fever. This disease, which can be fatal, triggers symptoms like high fever, vomiting, and muscle pain (53
The bottom line
Herbs have been used as natural remedies since ancient times.
Common kitchen herbs, such as basil, sage, and oregano, as well as lesser-known herbs like astragalus and sambucus, have powerful antiviral effects against numerous viruses that cause infections in humans.
It’s easy to add these powerful herbs to your diet by using them in your favorite recipes or making them into teas.
However, keep in mind that most research has been conducted in test tubes and animals using concentrated extracts. Therefore, it’s unclear whether small doses of these herbs would have the same effects.
If you decide to supplement with extracts, tinctures, or other herbal products, consult your healthcare provider to ensure safe usage.
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