What You Need To Know About Immunity and Resilience In 2025!

Immunity. How can we boost it? That's a really good question to think about these days. It's super important to stay as far away as possible from anything resembling a virus but what can we do to keep our systems strong in case we do happen to get exposed?

I'm going to supplement with vitamin D and C just to be sure. I'm also going to focus on getting enough sleep and do my best to minimize my stress and anxiety. Hmmm..... lofty goals these days but it's serious business keeping well in 2025.

One very important aspect of staying well is largely ignored these days. That would be eating a balanced diet. Because we're trying to stay away from processed meats and animal fats, we tend to eat way too many simple carbohydrates. Try adding healthy proteins and reducing simple carbs at each meal to keep your immune systems working well. You'll feel better and have more energy, too!

Mental Health

Just as having a strong immune system is an important piece of the puzzle that prevents physical illness, sensory and emotional experiences are the pieces necessary for building positive mental health. Building positive mental health takes effort and intention but fixing mental illness is always harder.

We all know that it's impossible to avoid all illness-causing pathogens in life. It's also impossible to avoid all the negative people and influences we encounter.

That's why we need resilience. The right sensory and emotional experiences can provide resilience by connecting the pathways in our brains that allow us to adjust and cope with bad things that happen. Pretty important stuff!

So the big question becomes, "How do we provide the best sensory and emotional experiences to promote mental health?"

I know it's hard to do but we really have to put all worries aside and focus on fun for a while. Fun is our brain's way of drawing us to activities we need for our physical and emotional development. That's why high quality child-care is fun and enriching for the lucky children who attend.

Did you know that it's the lower quality programs that focus on academics and sitting still? Better programs focus on play. They also have a good ratio of teachers to children. This allows them to interact with the children to keep their play focused rather than chaotic.

If you have a child care provider who is caring and intentional with your children, be sure to let them know how much you appreciate them.

Nanci J Bradley is an early childhood and family educator, parent, author, teacher, SELF-care facilitator, family aerobics instructor, and an all-around fun-loving person. She believes in the power of sleep, healthy eating, lifelong learning and most of all, PLAY! She studied early childhood ed at Triton College and received her BS in education in 1986 from NIU. She received her MA in human development from Pacific Oaks College in 2011. She lives and teaches in Madison WI.

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