Taking care of your mind and body is an important task at the best of times. Given the frustration and anxieties that the current situation can bring, it is of particular value to prioritise our wellbeing and be proactive with self-care at the moment. This is both the easiest and hardest thing to do.
The NHS has been providing incredible support throughout this challenging time in the field. Drawing from some points in their recent posts and others, here are some of our takeaways:
1. Find Your Balance
You may remember our last post about establishing routine, full of useful, practical tips on how to maintain a little order and distinction between your working hours and that time that is just for you.
2. Connect
Or maybe reach out to your community. Friends, family, and even neighbours are more in touch with each other more now than they have been for a long time before. This is one of many positive outcomes of an otherwise difficult situation. The value and strength we glean from social bonding is not to be underestimated. Something as simple as a text checking in with an old friend can be all it takes to get you both onto a good old-fashioned late-night phone call.
3. Acknowledge Yourself
A positive attitude is important for helping you find the end of the tunnel, but it is still OK and understandable to find that dark tunnel scary. A ‘positive attitude’ does not mean ‘deny difficulties exists’, it means assume a problem is surmountable if you are willing to try your best to overcome it, and to not give up before starting just because you cannot absolutely guarantee the outcome.
Talking about your fears in a constructive, honest and kind way can help you work through which fears you can control or influence, and which ones are taking up valuable emotional space that you could be using for other things. In this short talk by Tim Ferriss, he shows a simple but powerful exercise he calls “fear-setting” – a practice that can help you thrive in high-stress environments by separating what you can control from what you cannot.
4. Look After Yourself
Give your mind a break:
Everyone has their own way to relax – just make sure you have given yourself full permission to relax. Never able to make the time? One of the many simple ways to sneak in a mind break is to have 5-10 minute mindfulness sessions while you go about your more simple daily tasks. For example, besides the most common practice of mindful breathing, you could also try mindfully eating your breakfast, mindfully drawing a design, or even mindfully watching your fur baby play with a ball. The Internet is teeming with ideas, support, guided sessions and scientific studies, all extolling the benefits of even the smallest mindfulness efforts.
Give your body a break:
Release tension through any active movement of your choice. If things like yoga, Pilates, callisthenics or weight training sound a little too exerting for your tastes, you can probably still go for a walk right?
Give your health a fighting chance:
Have you ever heard of the phrase ‘eat the rainbow’? Fruits and vegetables are helpfully colour-coded, as in their colour is an indication of which nutrients they give you.
5. Give Yourself Permission To Enjoy
Based on your analysis of what you can and cannot control right now, allow yourself to enjoy the newfound freedom you have in that knowledge. Reconnect with your hobbies and be open to discovering new things, guilt-free.
Share with us
Tell us about a discovery you have made or perhaps an experience you have had during this time that may have pleasantly surprised you @w0rldsendstudios