Tonia Copsey, Nurse Practitioner and OWY Teacher

Tonia Copsey is an Adult Nurse Practitioner and a Certified Wound Care Nurse who focuses on the treatment of chronic, non-healing wounds. Tonia is a also an OWY yoga teacher, she normally teaches the 6:00 PM All-Level Yoga class at our Sandusky Studio. Since our shut down, she is teaching online Tuesdays at 4:30 PM. I asked her to put together some preventative and optimizing health ideas to share with our followers… proactive ideas that leave people feeling empowered around their own health and wellness in a time of great uncertainty and disempowerment. Some of the lessons she has learned about fighting inflammation in the body seem especially applicable as many of us are trying to optimize our health so our immune systems can more easily marshall the troops and get into action if we are exposed to the COVID-19 virus (or any other seasonal viruses for that matter!) I think she put together some great ideas and I hope your find them useful! - ❤️Shannon

Lowering Inflammation in the Body

by Tonia Copsey

I am quite familiar with inflammation in the body. Inflammation is the normal response of the immune system when something harmful or injurious happens to the body. Although inflammation is a natural and needed part of the healing cascade of the acute injury, inflammation can turn into a chronic form that then leads to a greater susceptibility to further injury. Chronic inflammation is a result of the body living in an ongoing state of stress. This stress can result from the fast-paced lives we live as well as the not so healthy food choices we make. So, what can we do to calm the chronic inflammation in the body?

Balance your internal stressors (food) & external stressors (work, family, finances)

Be mindful of food choices- Avoid sugar and processed foods while incorporating foods such as citrus, broccoli, garlic and ginger to name a few into your diet.
Practice good personal hygiene- Wash your body, brush your teeth, clean hands with soap and water before eating or prepping food and after using the bathroom, cover the nose and mouth when coughing/sneezing.
Stimulate the vagus nerve- The vagus nerve has a major role in the function of the GI system, brain, liver, heart, & lungs. Slow breathing, singing, or deep humming can stimulate it. One breathing technique, the 3-part breath, involves breathing into the lower third of the lungs, then the middle third, and then the upper third and slowly emptying the lungs on the extended exhale.
Meditate and Manage the mind-- Meditation can lower pro-inflammatory cytokines and the slow breathing of meditation stimulates the vagus nerve.
Decrease cortisol levels- Practice Yoga- Yoga not only can improve your balance and flexibility and reduce chronic pain, but it can also decrease inflammation by decreasing stress in the body. When stress is decreased, the mood lifts and we are better able to focus on the present moment. Yoga also improves lung function by the awareness that is brought to the breath through deep inhalations, pauses and longer exhalations. Yoga poses stretch and strengthen the muscles all around the upper torso hence keeping the breathing muscles strong and flexible. Yoga improves posture by strengthening spinal muscles, which in turn increases movement in the chest and hence allows for more expansive inhales and exhales.

As a medical professional I have also worked to stay up-to-date and educate myself as this crisis has been unfolding. I was on a webinar last week with with “integrative health experts on covid 19." The 2 speakers were Dr. Pratap Chauhan, Founder, Jiva Ayurveda from New Delhi and Dr. Timothy McCall, Yoga expert, author and Founder/Director of Yoga As Medicine Seminars and Teacher Trainings from California. Some of there suggestions specific to COVID-19 were:

drink plenty of warm water throughout the day
incorporate lemon daily into diet
gargle with salt water twice daily
avoid constipation
grow your own broccoli seeds and mung beans
legs up the wall pose
if you can't go out, go within yourself/your mind

I put together a series of yoga poses to fight chronic inflammation & boost your immune system!

Stay well everyone and I look forward to being back in the studio soon! ❤️Tonia

Triangle- a great standing pose to develop flexibility in the hamstrings and tone the core and legs - with the added bonus of reducing stress and increasing stability.

Half Lord of the Fishes- a sitting, slightly deeper twist than the supine twist - reduces chronic inflammation by detoxing the digestive system and cleansing the organs

Child’s Pose: a restorative, mild inversion that relieves stress, anxiety and fatigue while gently stretching the back, ankles, and hips.

Bridge- offers a gentle stretch to the chest, neck, spine, and hips while relieving chronic inflammation by improving blood circulation and reducing anxiety

Supine Twist- a gentle lying-on-you- back twist to foster flexibility in the spine while wringing out negativity and pain in the body. Massaging the internal organs while encouraging the flow new blood to the organs.