The first thing you have to do this quarantine, if you’re one of the lucky ones that can stay home, is to look for ways to stay calm day after day. First, in this dystopian-like situation, prioritize your mental health: everything else comes depends on this. Not all of us are the same, so what works for someone may not work for you, and vice-versa. However, there are some basic actions you can incorporate in your routine (pandemic or not), that will improve your quality of life. I will talk to you about four of them.
You may be doing them already because, in the end, they’re just good habits. If not, they may make a difference to have a good night’s sleep. I also include a bonus one, just for critical times. And not, this isn’t about how you have to do or learn anything.
The four actions are simple: nourish yourself. Move. Communicate. Meditate. And (bonus, if it is hard to just get up and have some kind of coherent day), Elise Joy’s three things method. Let’s review one by one.
Nourish yourself
In short: don’t just eat for the sake of eating.
You are what you eat. Let food be your medicine. All these clichés do have a point. Food is super important. It impacts not only your body but how you feel. If you put a whole lot of ultra-processed, refined foods, devoid of all the original vitamins and minerals and nutrients, in the end, your body won’t work at 100%. That will be reflected in your health and your mood.
Take a step back and look at your food with a hard eye. Are you honestly eating tons of fresh veggies or you just think you are, when in reality there are only a few veggies in a butter sauce?
We will talk more about this in a later post. For now, try to do this at every meal:
- Include fresh vegetables and fruits. Real ones. Serve them with as little oil as you possibly can. Eat some of them fresh. Do not load them with sauces and dressings. Strive to make them the most abundant serving in your dish.
- Change your refined foods with less processed ones. Do you like bread? Buy fresh bread, not a factory packaged one with tons of additives. Choose whole wheat instead of white. Try one with lots of seeds, full of fibre.
- Reconsider your approach to animal products, if you consume them. Change meats for beans, lentils, tofu and similars.
- Don’t drink sugar all day long. Learn to prepare your drinks, infusing herbs and fresh fruits in water without adding sweeteners.
Move
Exercise may not be your favourite activity. I know it is not mine. Being locked up does not motivate me to move more. Not wanting to get up from the couch may cause the concept of doing an exercise routine laughable. Nor being able to sleep well at night (or nor sleeping at all) may turn exercise into a seemingly impossible concept. And here, half of the internet and your sister telling you to move.
However, it does have a point: working out helps to have a deeper sleep, to control anxiety and stress and in general contributes to wellbeing. If you can, go outside and take advantage of the sun and the fresh air. You can start by going to walk and working your way up to running. If you have to stay inside, try with one of the many exercise apps, YouTube channels and live-streaming accounts on Facebook and Instagram that are appearing these days.
Communicate
Brooding on your own won’t cut it. We, as humans, are social creatures. Talk with your partner about things that worry you. Have a chat with a friend. We live in an age where technology is to our advantage in this kind of things so use it accordingly. Don’t just settle for a little conversation in Whatsapp, pick up the phone and make a video call. If you feel like it, take the time to write a letter or an email to someone dear. Tell them about your worries and listen to theirs. Maybe you can’t set aside a whole hour to talk with them, but a quick call can find its way while you’re dusting or washing dishes for the hundredth time.
Meditate
This is kind of like communicate, but with yourself. The one it’s always there but so easy to ignore. Have you tried meditating? The benefits of meditation have been exposed time and time again. They’re supported by science and can help with many conditions. From getting to know yourself better and being comfortable in your skin. It helps to give you tools to cope with difficult situations (such as this one) and to be more in harmony with everything that surrounds you. It has even be related to eating better while being conscious of what you’re having. So the benefits are spread to all areas of your life.
Like with working out, there are several apps for meditating, as well as tons of books, videos and blogs. But you don’t need all this to start: all you need is yourself and a bit of time.
Bonus: the three things concept, for when times are hard
I read about this concept years ago in Elise Joy’s blog. She picked up the idea again in her book Big Dreams, Daily Joys, where she expanded a bit on the subject so that more people could take advantage of the concept. Then, she shared it again on her Instagram account a month or so ago because it is really relevant:
At the end of the day, the concept is about giving yourself three basic things to do each day. Of the like of “take out the trash, do a load of laundry, call mom”. Without going further in time, literally taking it one day at a time. The idea is that little by little, you can regain control of your days and your life and then incorporate bigger objectives. Start small and then go bigger, one day at a time.
What action can you take today?
Probably you read about the different actions and thought something along the lines of “well, I’m already eating and doing everything everyone else says, there’s nothing new here”. Probably not: as I mentioned from the beginning, these are just good habits to have on life, beyond any quarantine or pandemic. It’s possible that there’s one of them you feel you can improve. O that it’s worse than the other. Why don’t you pick one to improve this week and look how you feel by the end?
