MENTAL HEALTH DURING LOCKDOWN

Here are some practical tips to help you get through the current challenging times:-

ENJOY EACH PASSING DAY

It is very normal if you find it difficult to accept home quarantine. First and foremost, build yourself a daily routine to rid yourself of this ill feeling. Getting up in the mornings, eating your three daily meals and doing familiar things at set times can help you feel a little more in control of the current situation. Please try to add some variety into your daily routine in order not to feel too bored. Also learn some simple daily physical exercises which you can perform at home. Please remember physical well-being is equally important; not just mental health during these tough times.

READ A BOOK

There is nothing quite like curling up on the sofa with a good storybook. This is the perfect time, so why not put aside all the distractions and the depressing news all around us, and literally lose yourself in another world. This is the golden opportunity for us to read storybooks and to catch up on reading some books for which you previously did not have the time. Reading in general, slows the progress of dementia, reduces stress and relaxes you, improves focus and concentration, reduces the time available for depressive thoughts, makes you more empathetic, improves the command of the language and boosts sleep quality.

SPRING CLEANING

Nothing feel quite as satisfying as living in a clean house especially during the time of this pandemic. Since cleaning your house from top to bottom can be overwhelming - not to mention, time consuming - take this daunting task room by room. This is the perfect opportunity for you to clean and disinfect every nook and corner of your house. Cleaning supports a strong immune system, reduces stress, improves the health of your heart, helps you get a better sleep, increases your productivity, improves your mood and makes you feel accomplished and encourages a healthier lifestyle.

PAINTING

Some people are born with a natural eye for art and others, simply are not. With a brush in your hand, you can create a vision in your mind. Focusing on the vision and letting your creativity flow puts you in an almost meditative-like state. It is extremely calming and relaxing. People with anxiety disorders often use art as an outlet because of its mellow effect on us. Painting promotes mental health and improves the overall quality of life by fostering creative growth, strengthening our memory, building problem solving and motor skills, providing stress relief, promoting optimistic attitude and nurturing emotional growth.

MEDITATION/ SLOW BREATHING

Meditation has shown to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, and even increase the volume of certain areas of the brain.

If you are not comfortable with meditation, then try slow breathing instead. Controlled breathing has been used by millennia to calm the mind. Slow breathing is used clinically to suppress excessive arousal and stress such as in certain types of panic attacks. Slow breathing decreases stress, increases calm, improves the immunity, increases energy, lowers blood pressure, improves your digestion and helps support correct body posture.

YOGA

The strength training and flexibility in yoga is an incredible benefit for our body. The yoga postures are meant to strengthen our body from inside out; so you do not just look good but you feel good too. Each of the yoga poses is built to reinforce the muscles around the spine, the very center of our body, which is the core from which everything else operates. When the core is working properly, the bodily posture is improved, thus alleviating back, shoulder and neck pain. Yoga improves the flexibility of our body, increases muscle strength and tone, improves respiration, energy and vitality, maintains a balanced metabolism, reduces body weight, improves cardio and circulatory health and improves athletic performance.

BE TRUE TO YOURSELF

It is absolutely normal for us to feel overwhelmed or annoyed at trivial things now. And it is very tricky for us to adjust to an unfamiliar way of life because of the current lockdown. Many of us are accustomed to leaving home in the mornings and return in the evenings. In the course of a normal day, we mingle with many people and/or hang out with some of them. With this lockdown, we cannot do all these. Instead we are confined to our homes. It is a real psychological blow to all of us. During these difficult times, it is very important for us to speak up and express our inner feelings. Always remember social distancing does NOT mean emotional distancing. So be free to let out your inner feelings. Talk or chat to your loved ones and friends through the phone or the social media

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