The world feels very strange at the moment, and undoubtedly the uncertainty about the length of the lockdown, our health and that of our loved ones, access to pasta and toilet paper etc., is cause for anxiety.
Here are some tips and tricks that may ease or help you manage your worries during this time.
Meditate
Mediation may bring forth images of incense sticks, swaths of tie-dye and people chanting. This is sometimes the case. But meditation, in essence, is simply a practise where through mindfulness or focusing on a particular thought, to achieve a calm and stable mindset.
Just taking out 2 minutes out of your day to sit with your thoughts and breathe can be very helpful. Perhaps initially the idea of sitting doing nothing may seem odd when there is so much going on in the world, but it is important to make time for yourself and your mental health, now more than ever.
Websites such as Headspace and Calm have resources that can get you started. There are also great videos on YouTube that can be accessed for free, such as this one
Our Multifaith Chaplaincy is also offering daily meditation in both the morning and the evening. More information can be found here.
Stop watching the news
We all want to be informed and we all want answers. But if watching the daily news is getting you down, please stop watching it. That goes for reading newspapers, watching news programmes, and to some extent consuming social media.
This is not to say that you should delete your social media accounts or remove the apps from your phone, because not only are these fantastic channels to communicate with people around the world while we are in lockdown, but we also deserve memes and dog videos at the moment. But consider muting keywords that will bring up posts that will negatively affect you.
Instead seek out good news such as John Krasinski’s (Jim from the US Office, Jack Ryan etc.) YouTube show ‘Some Good News’ or follow the Uplifting News thread on Reddit.
Take advantage of this time
You may not be feeling productive in this time and that is okay. However, try to appreciate that we may now have more time to do things that we enjoy which can be really good for our mental health. So whether that is watching films, binge-watching tv series and making wearing pyjamas, or learning a new skill or behaviour, appreciate this strange pause in time and discover or reignite some hobbies.
But if you want to be more productive in this time, you could start by making yourself a list of achievable goals to accomplish each day e.g. making the bed, getting some fresh air, spending a set amount of time doing revision. You could also create a ‘ta-da list’, which is like a reverse to-do list – at the end of each day make a note of all the things you did that day no matter how small, and you’ll soon see how much you do without even thinking about it.
Reach out
There isn’t a guidebook for dealing with the sort of situation we are in now, it would be great if there were. But one thing is clear, we are all in this together. So reach out to your nearest and dearest, send text messages, FaceTime, Whatsapp, go old school and send care packages and handwritten letters, take part in zoom quizzes, virtual coffee chats and share all the memes the internet has to offer.