Taking Care of Yourself During Quarantine Doesn’t Have to Be Hard Work!
Mayra Kavan,
Key takeaways:
- Do some daily relaxing breathing exercises
- Cut down how often you look at the news and social media
- Make a schedule and call your loved ones whenever you can
- Make your very own spa day with whatever products you have at home
- Take yourself on a date around your home and do different activities you don’t usually do
These are difficult times, and there’s never been a better time to add a little me time than during a global crisis. From doing some positive thought exercises to treating yourself to a nice, long, hot bath, your self-care routine is vital right now.
We need to work hard to take care of our bodies, wash our hands regularly, cough into our elbows if we need to, eat properly, exercise inside if we can. But taking care of our minds is just as important.
We need to treat ourselves when we feel down and nurture our creativity when we get bored. Most of all, we need to love ourselves extra hard.
But it’s not always easy to squeeze into your schedule, so here are five ways you can make sure you’re paying some special attention to number one:
Focus on breathing
Ah meditation, the ultimate self-care tool. It may sound simple, but breathing is your best friend when it comes to taking care of your mental and physical health. When we are stressed, we tend to breathe too quickly, which floods our brain with too much oxygen.
This makes us light-headed – not in a good way – and can lead to dizziness, and that annoying tingly feeling we get during anxious times. So it’s time to slow down and deepen our breathing.
Put on some soothing music, find a video on YouTube, or sit with any background noise you’d like. The key is to relax any points of tension in the body – the jaw and shoulders are big ones – and simply breathe.
At first just focus on your natural breathing rhythm, then you can try gradually slowing it down and deepening it.
Try this for about 10 minutes each day, breathe in for 6-8 seconds, and out gradually for the same. After each breathing session, you’ll feel so much lighter, and after a week or so, you’ll find it a lot easier to deal with, well, life!
Read the news at specific times only
It’s important and healthy to keep up with the news, but too much of it can actually be harmful.
Use your 1THRIVE Center to jot down the times when you will actively check the news – you’ll thank us for this later. Just don’t check the news as soon as you wake up because it’ll set a dark tone for the day. We highly recommend practicing the above breathing exercise to get your day started on a high note.
Consider making your times around 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Avoid the passive, compulsive urge to check every few minutes. Any new updates will still be there in a few during your scheduled time anyway.
The same goes for social media: misinformed click-bait, nasty comment sections, the constant flow of bad news on the Twitter explore page. The stress of looking at all of this slowly builds up at the back of your mind till you feel like you could cry. Block the apps on your phone, and distract yourself with something, anything else.
Schedule for fun, work, and family time
You can use your 1THRIVE Center to plan out virtual visits with friends and family over FaceTime. The more you talk with loved ones that are far away, the healthier and happier your mind will feel.
If you schedule specific times for specific activities, rather than just going with the flow, you’re way more likely to get them done.
Stay in touch with loved ones and check-in to see how they’re doing. Trust us, they’re feeling the same way you are right now, and you won’t regret keeping in touch.
If you’re cohabitating with anybody, plan some time with them. Movie nights, and (sigh) house-work dates too. A clean home is a happy home, after all. Be sure to reward yourself for each job done with your favorite snack or ...
Schedule me-time a few times a week
Speaking of rewards. It’s important to have some you time, away from work, errands, and yes, even mommy time.
Ask your family to forget you exist for a few hours and focus on your own needs. You could create a homemade salon experience for a nice weekend treat. Grab all your favorite products – face masks, hair masks, nail polish, body scrubs, anything that makes your body feel amazing – and throw on a cozy robe.
Put your feet up, grab a glass of wine, and listen to calming music, or binge Netflix as you treat your pores and cuticles to some love. Make yourself feel like you’re not in your home anymore, but a glamorous salon, with the power of smell and touch.
Fill your rooms with scents like lemongrass, lavender, or eucalyptus. This will rejuvenate the senses, as will the smell and feel of your favorite essential oils. It’ll also rejuvenate your relationship with your family, as you’ll come back from it refreshed, calm, and ready for anything life throws at you.
Schedule your me-time time on your command center, so the entire family will know when they should leave you alone. Encourage them to use that same time to do something they like doing so everyone has some time to themselves.
“Get out” without getting out
It’s tough being stuck in the same room all the time. If possible, move to a new one when you can.
Most people say the worst part of self-isolation is cabin fever, so do whatever you can to make yourself love being at home.
Redecorate, rearrange your furniture, give yourself a new home!
Plan a date night with your spouse and get dressed up, splash on your favorite fragrance, and yes even wear your favorite shoes.
Take your date night further and get out for a walk around the block. You can still go out as long as you practice safe social distancing. Just be aware of what that entails in your area.
Our 1THRIVE Centers make life a lot calmer, and that’s even more true now that we’re going through a pandemic. For a slimline, customizable wall organizer, try out our top command centers. They are perfect for writing down video chat times, schedules, and affirmations when you need them most.
