Is bed rest always best? It took me decades to realize that rest isn’t the only path to healing. Here’s how movement helped me feel better during illness.
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I Was Taught To Rest
When I was growing up, I was very active. I used to spend all my time outside with friends. If I got sick, it was hard for me to stay in bed and rest. I felt it was easier to stick to my regular routine—I would recover quickly and easily that way.
Later, when I became a young mom, I made my children stay in bed when they were sick, just as I had been taught. I was very rigid on the subject and quite judgmental if someone thought otherwise. I, myself, needed three to five days of rest to recover (and who has all that time anyway?). It seemed that the older I got, the more time I needed to heal.
New Experience Have Changed My Point Of View
When I was about 45, my husband and I both got sick with COVID. We stayed in bed for a few days, but each day we felt weaker. The muscle aches, headaches, fatigue, and other symptoms drained our energy and willpower. We kept waiting for the symptoms to go away before doing anything. After being in bed for a week, we decided to try walking outside—I think it was a beautiful day. We couldn’t walk far; after about 100 steps, we had to go back home and rest. That’s how exhausted we were. But once we caught our breath, we both felt a little better. Even though the improvement was small, it was noticeable.
We went on another walk the same day and managed to go a bit farther. It was amazing how that little bit of activity helped us recover. The muscle aches decreased, and it became easier to breathe once we started walking regularly—three to four times a day, just for a little bit. It felt like the illness had left a kind of “poison” in our muscles, and the movement helped flush it out. When we didn’t move or exercise, it felt like the poison just multiplied. That was a pretty amazing realization. And it made perfect sense: the lymphatic system only functions properly when you’re active.
Keeping Healthy Balance Is The Key
Now, I believe we need to listen to our bodies and decide what’s best—whether to keep resting or to start moving. I used to be so narrow-minded, convinced that the only way to recover was to stay in bed and do nothing. I had to change my thinking on this. Now, when I’m sick, I don’t push myself too hard, but I do consider that a little activity might not hurt—and could even help.
I’ve had to change my mind about a few things over the course of my life, and this was one of them. It took me almost half a century to come to this conclusion.