How is everyone managing with the current quarantines and limited travel?
For many, this is a chance to reconnect with family, spend time with their kids, and check in on people that we wouldn’t normally have the time to check in with. It’s also a good time to spring clean, purge closets, and reorganize our homes. However, many parents are trying to keep their kids up-to-date on school work and worrying about how to pay for household essentials. No matter what you and your family are dealing with, this is a time like no other. Many businesses are closed, restaurants and bars are take out only, and travel is extremely limited. The opportunity to stay home from work and isolate ourselves will most likely never come around again, making it a great time to take the time for yourself. The mounting pressure and anxiety of not knowing is enough to create plenty of stress, maybe even depression. So it is important to take care of yourself now more than ever before.
Here are just a few things that I am making sure that I do to ensure I am being taken care of:
- Drink plenty of water and take vitamins. A hydrated body flushes out toxins and keeps our organs running smoothly. Vitamins and healthy foods give our immune system the boost it needs to fight viruses.
- Try not to stay seated too long. Stand more, go for a walk, rake the garden, start spring cleaning projects. Whatever you can do to get yourself moving throughout the day.
- Exercise for 30 minutes each day. Getting outside for a walk or run is not only good exercise, but the fresh air and sunshine are phenomenal in treating anxiety and depression along with making you feel better. Yoga is relaxing and anyone can do it. Since gyms are closed for a while, there are plenty of online exercise programs to try, and many are free. I use Beachbody.com. A free membership gives you access to a wide variety of exercise programs like Insanity, P90X, Yoga Retreat, 21 Day Fix, and a ton more.
- Take a nap if you need to. Rest is great for the immune system, and when is there a better time to get a nap in than when you are not working or working from home?!?
- Read everyday. Whether it is a newspaper or novel, keep reading. It will reduces stress, increases brain function, builds vocabulary and knowledge, improves memory and analytical skills, and can entertain you.
- Put the smartphone down and turn off social media. Stop looking at the pictures that people are posting about their perfect homeschooling packets or the amazing time at home they are having. Most likely it is not what it seems online. Just unplug for a little while and do your own thing. I struggle with keeping my son focused on school work, so I space it out throughout the day. It’s not pretty, and we even do our work in pajamas or yoga pants! And I don’t care.
- Execute at least one act of kindness everyday. Send a text to or call someone you haven’t talked to in a while, or tell someone how important they are to you, or send a roll of toilet paper to a neighbor. Kindness is contagious, and you never know what it could mean to someone who is isolated right now.
Whatever you have going on right now, be sure to treat yourself right. Eat well and hydrate, exercise, read, nap. Start a project or spring cleaning if it makes you feel better. Learn a new language or start cooking more. There is no other time like the present to love yourself and to tune into what your body needs right now.
