Hello and welcome to this section on how to look after your wellbeing. We hope you find some useful information through reading this. For this topic, we would like to share some suggestions on how you to cope with this Covid19 crisis. Every crisis presents with different perspectives.
As a result of home confinement, we are more likely to experience a variety of emotions and we may find ourselves with more time than we are used to during the day. Rolling news and social media only compound the negativity of our current confinement. Some people liken their situation to an emotion rollercoaster, feeling sad for the sick and suffering, worrying for our vulnerable family or friends whilst feeling joyful when seeing communities come together for the same, noble cause. If you do feel such negative moods, it is most likely to be transient and you are certainly not alone. Some have described it as a feeling of grief (https://hbr.org/2020/03/that-discomfort-youre-feeling-is-grief). It has been suggested that naming and exploring our feelings is a better way to manage them.
Here, at our practice, we care about your wellbeing and we would like to contribute with some small tips which may help elevate your mood.
- Plan your day: spend some time to identify urgent or important matters and prioritise them. If possible, try doing the most tedious things in the morning to get them out of the way, as well as those important things you keep putting off so you can relax and enjoy the rest of the day
- Set the mood: If the kitchen, the living room, and your office all share the same space, it can become a challenge to find some focus. Dividing the space by creating different ambiences during the day can make you feel as if you are in different locations. You can design your space according to whichever task you are performing, by playing some music, changing the lighting, rearranging your furniture set-up or simply lighting a candle to help with meditation.
- Eat well (see oral health section)and practice exercise: It can be tough trying to keep fit from home. If you don’t know where to start, the NHS has published some gym free workouts https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/gym-free-workouts/
- Find connection and resilience: if you don’t feel like exercising on your own or you are feeling lonely, there are a number of streaming work-out classes to connect with other people, this could also be a good opportunity to try new exercises. Check out https://bulldogonline.com/30-day-workout-plan/ or workout live YouTube channels.
- Habits such as getting up at a regular time, following the same personal hygiene routine (see oral health section), eating and exercising at set times can all help to support a positive mindset.
There is no magic tool for coping with a pandemic, but we hope you find these tips useful and looking forward to seeing you soon at our practice.
