Have you ever done this?

When you’ve cut yourself, have you ever taken a few minutes to clean the cut?

Have you only done it once or have you periodically noticed that it’s feeling irritated or sore?

Then, have you gone back and cleaned it again and again until it’s started to heal?

Depending on how serious the cut, cleaning it several times/day becomes essential that it doesn’t fester and really get infected.

That makes common sense, doesn’t it?

Where’s the ‘wound’ if you feel unwell and fear you have COVID-19?

And, in this moment of time, any ‘head cold’ or ‘feeling unwell’ might very well be COVID-19.

Let’s discuss where the ‘wound’ is and the simple things you can do to keep it clean and perhaps reduce the viral load just as you reduced the bacterial load in your cut.

Reducing the load does NOT cure the cut or this virus.

Reducing the load does NOT eliminate the cut or the virus. However, cleaning the wounds can reduce the load of virus or bacteria and perhaps and just maybe, you won’t get as sick, sicker or die.

Common sense and ‘every little bit helps’ must supersede ‘wait until I see the doctor who will give me something’

However, doing these things MAY reduce the viral load, MAY give people more confidence in dealing with feeling unwell and MAY change the course of this virus in ways yet unknown such as reduce the load of the virus.

And, doing these skills follows the advice of doctors, nurses and dentists … ‘keep wounds clean’.

The ‘wound’ of this virus is in the back of the throat and nose so keeping those areas clean as soon as you feel unwell and think you might have this virus. 

1. Start gargling 3-5x/day with gargle of choice: warm/slightly salty water; dilute lemon juice, mouth wash, over-the-counter

2. Clean the inside of nose with slightly salted water either with Neti pot or snorting 2 drops/nostril 3-5/day

3. Only warming foods and drink. Sip warm water every 20-1 hour if mouth is dry

4. Drink 3 liters of home-made oral rehydration: a little salty/a little sweet (whatever you want to use). Drink more if mouth is dry

5. Suck herbal lozenges when needed

6. Fresh ginger warm drinks

7. If chilled use hot water bottle or glass bottle filled with hot water wrapped in towel

8. If you have zinc take that daily

9. Hot shower every evening

10. Any signs of oppression in chest with shortness of breath put a small amount of Vicks up your nose, block one nostril and breathe into that side of lung until you feel that strong odour has penetrated. Do the other side. My experience is that this virus does not like strong odours. I felt much better after doing that and my breathing improved (yes, I have had this virus)

11. Of course add anything else you want on top of those things. 

Australia research being done on head lice medication that has killed several viruses such as dengue https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12322580 

Here is a no-sew mask … Goodness, masks may or may not prevent you from catching this virus, however, they do help you not spread the viral load and they do stop you from transmitting the virus from your hands to your face as easily.  

We SHOULD NOT WAIT until ‘they’ supply them. This is nuts. We are capable human beings who should not lack common sense skills. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r2C1zGUHbU

COVID-19 GETTING BACK TO BASICS Governments and people around the world are focused on getting more masks. ‘The supply is running out’.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52015486

We’ve become dependent on ‘them’ to do for us and make and supply us with masks.

Yet, they are so easy to make (BTW … if you don’t have a bandana then just use any cloth, newspaper, paper towel)

But that’s not what I want to talk to you about … masks, it’s about having simple skills IF and WHEN you feel sick (perhaps with this virus).

There’s no ‘proof’ that masks works. Wearing a mask does not CURE, ELIMINATE OR NECESSARILY PREVENT you from getting this virus or getting sick … nor do these simple skills but they fall under ‘every little bit helps’

Let me say these things:

1. The medical profession does not know how to stop the spread, cure this virus or even deal with the symptoms … it’s new and unknown

2. The ‘official advice to prevent contagion’ is: wash hands, keep a distance, cough/sneeze into elbow and self isolate if you’re sick and stay with your ‘bubble’

3. The ‘official advice if you feel unwell’ is: go home, don’t go to hospital and call your doctor

4. If you’re lucky to get tested, it takes 1-7 days for results

5. There’s a HUGE missing middle step … called ’self-help’ and ‘every little thing helps’

6. Let’s look at self-help (every little bit helps) and ‘wait until it’s proven’ … what exactly is the medical profession waiting for? They/Government are trying to flatten the curve and prevent/reduce the spread and stop people who are sick from getting sicker or die. They are taking the approach ‘wait until it’s proven’ and that is disastrous.

7. Which brings us back to self-help in the age of a virus no one knows anything about and the innate tension between ‘every little bit helps’ and ‘wait until it’s proven’

What do we know?

1. That people feel unwell for a few days before they get sick, sicker or eventually die. Why not have some simple skills to ‘reduce the viral load’ in your body if possible which also reduces the viral load you are spreading?

2. If people had some ‘official advice’ as to what simple skills they could use … perhaps they don’t work or perhaps they do work. Is it better to wait until it’s proven or does every little bit help?

3. What could be the simple skills? (The below is both what doctors, nurses and dentists have told us in the past and what the Chinese doctors from Wuhan tried and felt worked) Why not try these things?

Do we honestly believe we should go home, do nothing, wait for days for a test result or should MOH and Government be encouraging us to do ‘every little bit helps’

Doing the below will NOT cure NOR eliminate this virus. However, doing these things MAY reduce the viral load, MAY give people more confidence in dealing with feeling unwell and MAY change the course of this virus in ways yet unknown.

1. Start gargling 3-5x/day with gargle of choice: warm/slightly salty water; dilute lemon juice, mouth wash, over-the-counter

2. Clean the inside of nose with slightly salted water either with Neti pot or snorting 2 drops/nostril 3-5/day

3. Only warming foods and drink. Sip warm water every 20-1 hour if mouth is dry

4. Drink 3 liters of home-made oral rehydration: a little salty/a little sweet (whatever you want to use). Drink more if mouth is dry

5. Suck herbal lozenges when needed

6. Fresh ginger warm drinks

7. If chilled use hot water bottle or glass bottle filled with hot water wrapped in towel

8. If you have zinc take that daily

9. Hot shower every evening

10. Any signs of oppression in chest with shortness of breath put a small amount of Vicks up your nose, block one nostril and breathe into that side of lung until you feel that strong odour has penetrated. Do the other side. My experience is that this virus does not like strong odours. I felt much better after doing that and my breathing improved (yes, I have had this virus) 1

11. Of course add anything else you want on top of those things.

Personal Skill To Become Calmer In This COVID-19 Crisis.

As humans we have two nervous systems: The Sympathetic and Parasympathetic. The Sympathetic Nervous System helps us deal with high levels of stress via: fright, flight, fight or freeze.

Our body goes into survival mode, our blood vessels constrict as do our air-waves.

The Parasympathetic Nervous System helps us to become calm and opens our blood vessels and airwaves.

When we have trouble breathing and hyperventilate our Sympathetic Nervous System becomes highly active.

Dr. Buteyko developed a breathing technique to help people who over-breathe or hyperventilate. The Buteyko Method is used around the world by those suffering from all forms of over-breathing.

This will NOT cure or eliminate COVID-19. This technique is NOT a substitute for getting yourself to the Emergency Room if you suspect you have COVID-19 and are feeling short of breath.

This skill MAY or MAY NOT help you calm down during this trying time because all of us have to find a way to stay calm and centered while our world is turned upside down.

Listen to Dr. Price to also become reassured Dr. Dave Price working Intensive care in NYC in the hospital at the centre of the COVID-19 epidemic. He’s reassuring, calm, clear, kind and direct. A must watch.

https://vimeo.com/399733860?fbclid=IwAR3lqKNbosXlf7XyK3Oos0mz0uIvjopefNpVlu1bQ3seOnv4I39SVMBV3Q0

And here are other skills you might like to put in place for yourself

1. Start gargling 3-5x/day with gargle of choice: warm/slightly salty water; dilute lemon juice, mouth wash, over-the-counter

2. Clean the inside of nose with slightly salted water either with Neti pot or snorting 2 drops/nostril 3-5/day

3. Only warming foods and drink. Sip warm water every 20-1 hour if mouth is dry

4. Drink 3 liters of home-made oral rehydration: a little salty/a little sweet (whatever you want to use). Drink more if mouth is dry

5. Suck herbal lozenges when needed

6. Fresh ginger warm drinks

7. If cold use hot water bottle or glass bottle filled with hot water wrapped in towel

8. If you have zinc take that daily

9. Hot shower every evening

10. Any signs of oppression in chest with shortness of breath put a small amount of Vicks up your nose, block one nostril and breathe into that side of lung until you feel that strong odour has penetrated. Do the other side. My experience is that this virus does not like strong odours. I felt much better after doing that.

11. Of course add anything else you want on top of those things.

Little by little we are hearing more things we can actually do to protect ourselves that fall into the category of ‘every little thing helps’.

Our New Zealand NGO has wanted to make certain all of you have ‘little things’ that can help you work through, deal with, handle, cope with, manage, stay on top of and feel in control during this scary COVID-19 period.

Dr. Dave Price working Intensive care in NYC in the hospital at the centre of the COVID-19 epidemic. He’s reassuring, calm, clear, kind and direct. A must watch. https://vimeo.com/399733860 fbclid=IwAR3lqKNbosXlf7XyK3Oos0mz0uIvjopefNpVlu1bQ3seOnv4I39SVMBV3Q0

And we’re going to add to that list details of what we can do if we feel unwell. Little by little more is known about the ‘little things’ that can help us cope, prevent and manage this virus.

We’ll get through this with more skills for ourselves and loved ones.

1. Start gargling 3-5x/day with gargle of choice: warm/slightly salty water; dilute lemon juice, mouth wash, over-the-counter

2. Clean the inside of nose with slightly salted water either with Neti pot or snorting 2 drops/nostril 3-5/day

3. Only warming foods and drink. Sip warm water every 20-1 hour if mouth is dry

4. Drink 3 liters of home-made oral rehydration: a little salty/a little sweet (whatever you want to use). Drink more if mouth is dry

5. Suck herbal lozenges when needed

6. Fresh ginger warm drinks

7. If cold use hot water bottle or glass bottle filled with hot water wrapped in towel

8. If you have zinc take that daily

9. Hot shower every evening

10. Any signs of oppression in chest with shortness of breath put a small amount of Vicks up your nose, block one nostril and breathe into that side of lung until you feel that strong odour has penetrated. Do the other side. My experience is that this virus does not like strong odours. I felt much better after doing that.

11. Of course add anything else you want on top of those things.

Every little bit helps or does everything need to be proven? That’s a fundamental question right now with this virus. Here is an excellent article that addresses this issue heads-on.

Our New Zealand NGO is founded on the principle that ‘every little bit helps’ because there will not always be ‘proven’ solutions, evidence-based practice research nor will ‘they’ always save us. We have a choice to follow official advice if we feel unwell to stay home, call the doctor and don’t go to the hospital unless you have difficulty breathing. That’s just totally unacceptable.

We should be encouraged to do ‘every little thing we can’. Does that mean some people will do stupid? Yes. Common Knowledge Trust is passing on common sense, unproven things that you can do as soon as you feel unwell.

Since all these things have been ‘proven’ to help prevent or reduce other issues from becoming problems, let’s include these in ‘every little bit helps. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52015486

1. Start gargling 3-5x/day with gargle of choice: warm/slightly salty water; dilute lemon juice, mouth wash, over-the-counter

2. Clean the inside of nose with slightly salted water either with Neti pot or snorting 2 drops/nostrils 3-5/day

3. Only warming foods and drink. Sip warm water every 20-1 hour if mouth is dry

4. Drink 3 liters of home-made oral rehydration: a little salty/a little sweet (whatever you want to use). Drink more if mouth is dry

5. Suck herbal lozenges when needed

6. Fresh ginger warm drinks

7. If cold use hot water bottle or glass bottle filled with hot water wrapped in towel

8. If you have zinc take that daily

9. Hot shower every evening

10. Any signs of oppression in chest with shortness of breath put a small amount of Vicks up your nose, block one nostril and breathe into that side of lung until you feel that strong odour has penetrated. Do the other side. My experience is that this virus does not like strong odours. I felt much better after doing that.

11. Of course add anything else you want on top of those things.

Cure for this virus? Vaccine for this virus? Closing down our economies and societies for this virus? We need to think simple, easy, teachable, doable, sustainable and sensible. 

Do immediately as soon as you notice ANY of these symptoms then gargle with warm, slightly salty water at least 3x/day:

• fatigue

• feeling sore or raw inside back of nose and throat
• dry cough
• fever
• itching eyes/ears
• shortness of breath.

Your #1 JOB is to cut down on the viral load in your body so you don’t get sick or sicker and you don’t spread the virus via coughs and sneezes.

Yes, social isolation, social distancing, wash hands, cover mouth. That can’t last forever and what if people get sick anyway.  

This should come under the KOTO Principle … Know one, teach one. It should be taught in every classroom, workplace, doctor’s office, places of worship so that people know-how and pass it on.

For example, if there is a teacher or student with a sore throat, they should gargle with warm salt water right then and there. At every workplace, people should check in ‘Do you have a sore throat?’ And if people need to go gargle with warm salty water, that’s fine. We can all reduce the viral load. For too long, we’ve lived under the principle of: “Oh, I’m feeling a bit under the weather but I’ll wait a few days, see how I feel and if necessary go to my doctor”.

Our families and friends can sit down, go over these simple skills, practice and make certain everyone commits to doing these things right away.

We have to take pro-active steps to reduce the viral load as soon as symptoms appear. We know enough to know that those symptoms are: SORE THROAT and sore in the back of the nose and then fever and dry cough. We need people to be self-doing as soon as they get that sore throat. Doctors and dentists have been telling us for years … gargle with warm salt water!

This is a vitally important Coronavirus audio to listen to that comes from Chinese doctors who have learned so much and now passing on how we can all help ourselves from catching COVID-19 as well as self-treat AS SOON AS we notice the earliest symptom … sore/rawness in the back of nose and throat.

Basically, it’s gargle with warm salty water plus other simple things that we can do such as cleaning surfaces and taking a shower at the end of the day.

We have a 3-5 day opportunity from when the virus enters our body and multiplies at the back of our nose and throat to do something before the virus load becomes too great and migrates down into our respirartory system.

This live FB is going to address those comments AND to discuss the phrase ‘As soon as you notice these symptoms’,

Is Gargling With Warm Slightly Salty Water Fake News?

Our New Zealand NGO, Common Knowledge Trust, posted the ‘When-to/How-to’ on a Facebook Group and some people were outraged.

With the usual rude outrage too often experienced in social media, there were comments like: ‘This is a natural health scam’ or ‘This will kill people just wash your hands and self-isolate’ or ‘It’s not going to cure people’ and ‘Why if this works aren’t doctors telling us to do it?

You don’t have to listen to my yak-yak. You DO need to listen to the 4:00 minute audio, copy it, send it to everyone and take action with these simple steps. You’ll fully understand just as I did.

#corona #coronavirus #CoronavirusLockdown

Please pass on these two simple things to everyone you know. I received an email from MIT (Massachusetts institute of technology). They are sharing the ‘official advice’.

“THE OFFICIAL ADVICE Number one: wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds each time. Avoid touching your face. Cover your nose and mouth if you cough or sneeze, and try to distance yourself from others. 

“THE OFFICIAL ADVICE: If you feel unwell, stay at home. If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing, do NOT go to the hospital: call your local medical authorities first. Remember that older people and those with pre-existing health problems are at higher risk. ”

This is what we’re going to talk about today:

The official guidelines are 1) Prevent … good 2) Isolate … do nothing Let’s think about this for a moment. 

Prevention: We may or may not be able to ‘prevent’ this virus from spreading any more than other illnesses. It’s new and it’s scary.

However, instead of using a phrase like ‘physical distancing’ which acknowledges that this virus spreads in close contact particularly in confined spaces, the term being used is ‘social distancing’ means makes us feel that the ‘other’ should be avoided at all costs or else we will catch it and die. Words matter.

Please start using the phrase ‘physical distancing’ and permit yourselves to socialize while maintaining a respectful physical distance during this time frame. If we continue to use ‘social distancing’ then we create fearful societies and that can last well beyond the threat of this virus.

If you understand the profound difference between how being told to ‘physically distance’ yourself from ‘social distancing’ then help spread this revised language.

I approached 25 strangers yesterday and discussed this. All of them felt more relaxed and comfortable when they thought about ‘physically distancing’ compared to ‘social distancing’. 2) Isolate.

There is a huge step missing … what to do if you feel you are even slightly unwell. There is absolutely zero official advice.

In fact, this came to me today. “If you feel unwell, stay at home. If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing, do NOT go to the hospital: call your local medical authorities first.

Remember that older people and those with pre-existing health problems are at higher risk.” That just leaves people feeling helpless, coupled with ‘social distancing’.

All of you who don’t believe gargling 3-4 times a day is BS, then don’t. But for the rest of us. Gargling with warm salty water or anything else commonly used is known to ‘soothe’ the throat and back of nose AND to REDUCE the viral/bacterial load in our own body which means if we cough or sneeze there is a less viral load going into the air around use that can infect others.

Gargling DOES NOT CURE OR ELIMINATE THE VIRUS IT CUTS DOWN THE LOAD and that has to be good and a worthwhile goal.

We cannot live in a world where we are afraid of one another and have no ability to self manage.

The virus wins if we do not change our language and bring into the ‘official message’ the time tested, commonly used skill of just plan gargling with warm salty water for 3-4/day at least while you are feeling unwell.

This should just be common practice. Let’s put this together in a scenario using this new language and new actions. I’m outside keeping ‘physical distance’ and I see a stranger and stop to talk during this strange time. We keep a respectful physical distance and totally enjoy socializing with one another.

We even discuss that one of us wasn’t feeling too well a few days ago so we stayed at home for 5 days and gargled with X 3-5times/day and now feel much better. Just compare to what is happening now … terror, fear, helplessness. It does not have to be this way! This is not the end of the world and we can make this time pass by making these simple changes. #corona #coronavirus #CoronavirusLockdown “

This is a scary time to be pregnant in the time of the coronavirus. When Zika virus hit, it impacted pregnant women with lasting effects on their children. It was scary, terrifying and life-time impacts on children and families. When I was young, polio impacted us as young children and young adults … not so much the elderly.

Imagine if COVID-19 was killing our children? I’ve been able to find this link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/03/23/im-about-deliver-baby-middle-pandemic-im-not-panicking-yet/

And about children: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/doctor-note-coronavirus-children-200322092356989.html

Today I want to discuss the reality … women birthing without their partner or doula. For 50 years, I and our New Zealand NGO, Common Knowledge Trust (for 25 years) has advocated that all expectant parents learn birth and birth-coaching skills. That notion was dismissed and rejected by the Natural Birth Movement and Homebirth Midwives.

In fact, a famous author advocated for women to be left alone to ‘discover birth themselves’ and natural birth advocates gushed at watching him be in another room while a woman labored.

A famous midwife said: “Midwives should sit in the corner and knit”. During the 1960-70s when mothers and fathers attended Lamaze, Bradley or Dick Grantly-Read classes, fathers were expected to be the ‘coach’.

From the mid1970s when Birth Choices/Birth Plans were advocated the Natural Birth Movement and Homebirth midwives said ‘Fathers shouldn’t coach, they should be advocates for a woman’s choice because women know what they want’.

Now we are here. I can imagine 50 years later had everyone acknowledged that being skilled to do the activity of giving birth in all circumstances could give each woman the ability to cope, manage, work through, deal with, handle, stay on top of and feel in control regardless of the circumstances.

Had we done that back then, the majority of women would have self-learned some level of skill and realized that they can’t change the circumstances, however, with skills they don’t have to feel out of control .