Feelings of isolation and anxiety are gripping everyone. We are practice various restrictive self-isolation measures by staying at home for a long time and physical distancing, which some call social distancing. Coping with the new normal is far from easy, and it poses challenges in taking care of your self. Although the measures are essential to prevent the coronavirus’s spread, its effects on our mental and physical health are becoming a growing concern, as felt by Eric Dalius. No matter how painful these measures might be, it has given results in slowing down the pandemic, but it comes at a cost that almost every individual is now realizing. Feeling confused, sad, worried, and angry is quite normal during the times that we are passing through, and it all adds up to enormous mental stress. When the mind is under pressure, it affects our overall health.
Overcome the stress of physical distancing
The innate human nature of socializing had taken a hard hit during Covid19 when physical distancing became part of our new lifestyle. Eric J Dalius points to the beginning of the new lifestyle when social distancing had taken precedence, although what it meant was maintaining physical distance from other people. It created a lot of confusion about the concept of social and physical distancing as people construed it as a deterrent to their socializing habits. In reality, the spirit of physical distancing does not contradict the idea of social mixing, provided it meets the guidelines of staying 2 meters apart from the nearest person.
Overcome the barriers of physical mixing with people by using technological platforms like the various social media channels, WhatsApp, Zoom meeting, etc. It is now easy to stay in touch with people virtually while enjoying the same kind of comfort of interacting physically. Stay connected with family, friends, and colleagues using your smartphone either through video chats or phone calls.
Do the right things to maintain your mental poise
To ensure that you maintain good physical health, pay equal attention to maintain good mental health because these two go hand in hand. If you are not in the right frame of mind, you will feel uncomfortable and sick, and again when you have an illness, you become anxious and worried that disturbs your mental peace.
Maintaining your mental poise during Covid19 is critical to ensure good health. Extended home stay might make it challenging to maintain your sanity. But if you know the right things to do, staying healthy should not be a problem. Being at home from morning to night might leave you clueless about making the best use of the time. However, there are several ways to stay engaged to diverts your mind from the depressed environment, lift your spirits, and generate positive feelings.
Stay involved with the family
Earlier, you might have lamented about your inability to give adequate time to your family because of your hectic schedules. Now is the opportunity to make it right for it as you are at home for an extended period and have ample scope to involve yourself with the family closely. Help your kids with their studies as it will provide you a break from the monotonous routine and you can spend some fun time with them too. Spend some quality time with your wife, and jointly you can plan for some recreational activities at home like playing some memory games or do some singing and dancing to cheer up the mood.
The level of engagement will give you little time to feel about the bad things that once seemed to get the better of you. According to Eric Dalius, family interactions will also provide you with enough opportunities of laughing, which is the best medicine to counter stress and unhappiness.
Acquire some new skills or learn something new
Spending time at home does not mean that you become a couch potato or remain engrossed with your office work only because in no time it can turn dull and build mental stress. Use the time at home to fuel your creativity. If you love music and desire to take up singing, which remained suppressed in pursuit of your career goals, this is the time to start your journey to become a singer. Similarly, you can learn to play some musical instruments or hone your skills in cooking.
Adding more variety to your activities at home will help fight the struggle of a restricted lifestyle and drive you towards positivity. You will feel more confident of overcoming the crisis, which would now appear much more manageable than it was at the beginning of the pandemic. It can also be the right time to learn a new language or acquire professional certification for career enrichment.
Have enough sleep
Going through the activities discussed above will improve your mental poise as you will find enough reasons to enjoy life amid the pandemic. You will be able to take the odds in your stride and overcome it with confidence as you know what you are capable of. The resulting mental calmness will help you stay in control of the situation without feeling overwhelmed. Follow a schedule of activities during the day that helps to maintain a disciplined life. Have some fixed time for going to bed and keep away from all electronic gadgets and devices as you prepare to sleep. Having an adequate sleep is essential for good health, and you must sleep for 7-8 hours a day as there is no hurry to wake up early. Reading books will help you unwind and induce sleep.
Be kind to yourself and develop a close connection with your inner self to feel the positivity resonate within you. Listen to what your mind says and identify things that no longer serve your interest. Be choosy in your actions and discard anything that you feel could adversely impact your mind. Set fixed times for your activities to have the satisfaction of making the best use of your time.