Hello, it is Sarah here. Hope everyone is keeping well. I know this is a very difficult time for us and it is a very chaotic time, especially when it’s affecting our mental health. So I am here to give you my top 5 tips that will hopefully help reduce anxiety and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. The tips have been very useful for me whilst I was furloughed and at home, so I hope these helpful tips will also be useful for you as well.
Meditation and breathing exercises
I find breathing exercises and mediation helpful when I am having a stressful day. All you do is sit in a quiet room, close your eyes, slowly breathe in 5 seconds, and slowly breathe out for 5 seconds. I normally do this for 10 minutes once or twice a day depending how my day is, but it is completely up to you on how long you want to do it for.
Go for a walk
It’s important to get out the house for some fresh air and it really helps to clear your mind because staying in the house can increase a lot of stress and will affect your mental health. I like to go for a 30-minute walk whilst listening to my favourite music.
Cleaning and cooking
During lockdown, I started baking again which is something that I missed doing it as it was favourite activity to do. I looked up an old school cake recipe which came out good. I also found the time to create cooking recipes so that is another thing you can do.
Self-care
Self-care is important especially during a difficult time like this. It is very important to focus on yourself and do a lot of self-care when you are highly stressed. Self care could include having a bath, pampering yourself, doing some colour therapy with adult colouring books, eating healthy, drinking plenty of water or dancing to your favourite music to uplift your mood.
Creating a schedule/routine
I can completely understand how upsetting and frustrating it is when something you have planned for a while gets cancelled due to the pandemic and you are left with nothing else to do. The best thing for people that are unable to go to work or stuck at home is that you could create your own schedule at home.
This could include weekly meal planning (deciding what you are having for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the week), exercises (examples: push ups, sit ups, etc.), creating a cleaning schedule (examples: washing and putting away dishes, hoovering, etc). You could even make a list of things you want to do when places start to open again once lockdown is lifted and activities you have missed doing for months.
So those were my top 5 Director tips on how you can cope during the COVID-19 pandemic if you are stuck at home whilst feeling stressed and anxious. Take care and stay safe everyone!
