How to stay mentally and physically healthy while at home?

[Tine]

During the Corona lockdown, we are anxious, stressed and deprived of social contacts. We worry about health, food, income, our loved ones and more.
While I do not have answers to the most pressing questions, I would like to collect some tips, ideas and options on how to keep our mental and physical health.

[Tine]

On happiness.com we have a chat function that we do not use much yet, but I'd like to invite everyone to pop in and say hello maybe some people are online there and we can hang out and chat a little.

the happiness.com chat

[Tine]

I plan on guiding a mindfulness meditation on happiness.com Facebook live on Thursday the 19th of March. It will be a 30-minute bodyscan. 

To accommodate as many timezones as possible, the meditation will be held at 4 pm CET (Berlin/ Barcelona time) which is 8 am in San Francisco, and 11 am in NewYork.

 

Another option I'd like to offer is a Zoom sharing circle. For this, I would start with a few introductory words followed by a little meditation, and then we would open up the circle for those who want to share something. 

For this, I do not have a time and date yet as this is all rather spontaneous. ?

[Tine]

Here's the crisis kit as a free download from postitivepsychology.com.

[Li****]

Thank you for sharing Tine ?

I didn't think I would feel so mentally affected by the lockdown since I am already used to working from home, but it has been harder than I anticipated. I think it's a great idea that we all contribute with some tips and advice here and look forward to seeing what everyone has to say ? These are some things I've tried to have in mind that might be useful to some. 

1. Write a list of what you are going to do each day, work related and other. It helps me a lot to organise my tasks and chores and gives a sense of accomplishment to cross things out. 

2. Try to do small projects at home -- whether that is going through the sock drawer, making your pantry look neat, or a full clean out of the closet. 

3. Try to stick to routines in terms of bed time, waking up, eating, getting dressed etc. 

4. Don't spend all your time in front of a screen and try to avoid reading too much about the coronavirus. Definitely stay informed, but don't overdo it. 

5. Call people you care about so you at least feel like you had some social engagement and used your voice. 

[Be****]

Thank you both for sharing so many ideas and helpful links.  I am not on lockdown where I live and I'm still expected to report to work for now.  Nonetheless, I'd like to share with everyone some things that have been helping me cope with these uncertainties:

1.  Please know that it's okay if you feel you only have enough energy to simply survive right now.  Try not to feel bad about yourself due to lacks in productivity or creativity.  If you're spending more time than usual lying on the couch and binge-watching a series or two, that's okay!  

2.  If you'd like to try to feel reinvigorated, look up some energy exercises by Donna Eden.  I've recently learned about her and her work.  I've tried one simple exercise, a few times so far now, and I swear each time I felt great afterwards!  

3.  Finally read one (or more) of those books that's been sitting on the shelf!  

4.  Send a message to someone you haven't interacted with in a while.  Check in on family and friends, too, of course.  

5.  Exercise!  Yoga is ideal.  HIIT workouts and weight training (even using just your own body weight) are beneficial as well.  You can find endless exercise videos on YouTube.  

6.  Meditate, obvi. ? It can be as simple as observing your thoughts and welcoming your emotions as visitors passing through.  (There are countless resources out there for those who need more help than that.  I recommend starting with Guided Meditations, like the one our friend @Tine will be facilitating!) 

7.  If you have pets, spoil them with your attention.  Be grateful that you have the emotional support of a being who cannot possibly bring up the virus ??

8.  Revel in the delightful feelings brought about when listening to music  

9.  Enjoy free access to some of the visual arts of Paris:  http://parismuseescollections.paris.fr/en 

10.  Eat fresh produce if you have access to it.  If not, get creative with whatever you have in your pantry.  I get into mindul/meditative headspaces when cooking and when cleaning, too (do your spring cleaning if you can!).  

Thank you for reading!  I truly hope anyone finds this post helpful  Prioritize self care right now.  

[Li****]

Thank you @BeingBre that was really helpful! ?

[Tine]

Both of you mentioned it: @BeingBre and @Lizzie this is the time to get in touch, stay in touch and have a coffee over video conferencing with friends. ☕

[Li****]

Yes, @Tine, thank god for FaceTime and Whatsapp calls or my phone bill would be through the roof! ? 

[A_****]

It's a great time to meditate, get centered, reflect on the journey so far, and envision the next stage of your life ❤️

[Tine]

After two weeks of staying at home all the time - minus one trip to the supermarket - I thought I'll share my "routine" if you can already call it that:
Monday to Friday is pretty much the same and the weekend stands out as such - which I think is essential to get some diversity.
So during regular workdays:
7:00 - 7:30 get up, shower, get dressed
7:30 - 8:30 workout with the down dog app and a live guided meditation streamed from my favourite retreat place
8:30 - 16:30 theoretically work (I sprinkle in 1h of breaks for breakfast and lunch)
if it is sunny outside I add about 2h in the garden to my break which then extends my worktime until 18:30, but I got some time in the fresh air, working with the soil and plants.
The evenings are more flexible. We cook together, have dinner and depending on whether the kids are here or with their mum we play games, watch a series (Picard!), draw or read.

[cr****]

this is the best time to know yourself more. Talk to your inner self and dig out more within you. When you will focus on your own self then many new talents and skillls you can find about you. You can also do things which you could never do because of lack of time. Its the best time to manifest positive energy and enlighten yourself. 

stay safe and healthy

[Br****]

So true 

[Tine]

One of the kids got the pen and paper role playing game "the dark eye" for her birthday: We will never be bored again ?

[Li****]

@Tine what is that game? haha 

[Tine]

20 minutes ago, Lizzie said:

@Tine what is that game? haha 

Real fans might grill me but I'll sum the dark eye up as the German version of Dungeons and Dragons... ?

It's great fun, do not be misled by the rather boring looking pictures of people playing it.

[Ai****]

You need to stay physically and mentally healthy as you will be at home for a long time. You can do some exercises daily that helps you to keep yourself fit and fresh. You can take care of your healthy diet during this time because no one is there to feed you anything.

[Ro****]

I am at home all the time as I work from home. It is important for me that the house is clean. And there must be clean air. But recently I started having an allergy, it seems to dust.

[Re****]

For me, it is also important that the house was clean. 

Edited June 29 by RebeccaLee

[P_****]

Not being in home or looking around clean can make us happy… do whatever you want

[xo****]

Oh, I can tell you that during the pandemic, my mental state become worse, and I was stressing and feeling anxious for no reason. I was feeling stalked, and I even decided to install an ajax system to make sure that there's no one planning to get inside the house. But after a while, I started feeling better, but the pandemic still had not the best effect on me.