Wellbeing Is More Important Now Than Ever
With the pandemic of COVID 19 across the globe, wellbeing and self care might be on the backburner for many. You might have lost your job, have kids to take care of, or are currently taking care of someone diagnosed with COVID 19. Whatever it may be, it's truly a challenging time. We need to remember, however, that our well being is more important now than ever.
In this blog post, I want to touch on a few things you can try at home to really help take care of your body and mind which will help prime your body to get through these tough times.
1) Sleep
With the current pandemic, many of us have been taken off our routines. This means later nights, waking up later in the morning and potentially feeling lethargic throughout the day. Focus on getting the proper sleep by sticking to a regimen as if you were still going to work. This will program your circadian rhythm to allow you to naturally feel tired at night and be more alert during the day.
2) Exercise
With gyms closed and social distancing forcing us away from popular modes of exercise like group classes, popular parks, swimming, it's challenging to get a workout in. My biggest suggestion would be to break up your periods of sedentary behaviour. Every 30min get up and do 10 squats or 10 wall push-ups or do a 5min walk around your home. Look up various exercise videos across YouTube to a style of your liking. Not only will this help keep your body physically strong and boost your mood, it will decrease your chances of developing risk factors for chronic disease down the road.
3) Diet
Since many of us are home right now, we have the luxury of going all out on food. Constant snaking on junk food, preparing ready made meals like frozen dinners and pizzas and over indulging in comfort foods. Try sticking to a schedule of eating, maybe every few hours. Still stick to whole, organic foods if possible along with many fruits and vegetables to help boost the immune system. If you have the extra time, search online for new recipes to try out with your family. Don't feel like you have to give up the junk food completely, but treat yourself to it occasionally realizing there are health drawbacks by over doing it.
4) Stimulate The Mind
We can get carried away with watching hours and hours of TV, Youtube videos, the news and streaming services like Netflix. The news especially can put peoples minds into constant anxiety and fear. Instead, try watching the news every other day to decrease the burden of anxiety. Maybe pick a couple shows to watch on TV then use your spare time to stimulate the mind in some way. This can be through various things like listening to an audiobook, reading, starting a new project or hobby around the house, using an app to learn different skills like languages, learning to cook new foods, art, writing a poem, journaling, coming up with an online business idea, the list goes on. Instead of using this period as down time, why not use it to work on yourself to benefit you once this pandemic is over.
5) Stay Social
Now this is probably the most challenging for everyone. You can't go out with friends to the bar, you can't go out for dinner, you can't even meet up with anyone at their home let alone your own neighbour! We as a species are social beings, and to take that away from us may feel like imprisonment. However, many health leaders have told us that this is the single best precaution to take to combat this disease. So what can we do? There are many platforms to still stay interactive. You can FaceTime, Zoom or Skype with family and friends. You can give people a phone call to check in and see if they need any support. You can connect over social media, posting and sharing videos and pictures. It's important to keep these social interactions to help your loved ones know that they are not alone. We want to emphasize that we all stand together and will get through these tough times.
Right now the world is truly being tested. It's being tested on all facets. We don't have control over many things going on right now. However, we should focus on things that we do have control over, and we can start with the points outlined in this blog. This pandemic will pass and we will come out stronger and more resilient than ever. So take care of yourself, take care of your loved ones and continue to do your part as we navigate through these times.