10 ways to make it work during your period of Isolation!
Raise your hand if you’re going a little stir crazy yet? It’s our 3rd week of living in isolation and I got to say, I’m learning a lot about myself and each other!
It’s one thing when you’re sharing your space with your family a couples hours each day and it usually involves some type of activity but now you’re literally sharing your space with your family 24/7 and you can’t go anywhere!!!! What the heck do you do? How do you make it work? How do you see the lessons in this? How do you see the gifts in this? So many questions and here’s what I’ve come up with so far;
#1 Routine Routine Routine! It’s too important for our sanity to have a routine where it provides us with some stability and certainty in these challenging times! Most mornings, we schedule out our day while we have breakfast. Since my husband and I are both currently unemployed, we’re both home full time which gives us the opportunity to separate the task of parenthood. Cause here’s the thing, we’re not used to parenting 24/7 so it can be taxing. I’m sure some of you can relate. So here’s what our schedule looks like; From 9-12 My husband and my daughter have spend 1 hour of homeschool, 1 hour of physical activity and 1 hour of tech time. At noon, we get together as a family and have lunch and from 1 - 4, I’m with my daughter one on one, following the same schedule. One thing I must emphasize is to make sure you schedule some ME TIME in your daily schedule. For us, it’s first thing in the morning. The hour of Power. That is my time, for working out, for meditation and journaling! Whatever that looks like for you, I strongly recommend you adding it in.
#2 During these critical times of uncertainty, our wheels can easily fall off if we let it! Meaning, We’ve never experienced something like this before so it’s common for our primitive brain to think the worse case scenario and drag us down the black hole! Now’s the time to really flex those mental muscles through meditation and reading/listening to something that will uplift you. Don’t get caught up constantly watching the news update because it’s going to eat you alive! It’s important to balance it out with something uplifting.
#3 These extremely uncomfortable times we’ll most likely make us reach for certain things that provide us with some level of comfort but doesn’t necessarily serve our health and wellbeing long term. For example binge eating, binge watching, binge drinking, etc.. I mean you know as well as I do, anything in excess is not good for us but during these difficult times, it can be so tempting to go down that slippery slope.
#4 Time out! Listen, you’re sharing a common space with your family 24/7 with little places to go so chances are, you’re going to get on people’s last nerve and vice versa. It’s important to recognize your boiling point and call a time out so you’re not biting people’s head off sort of speak! lol
#5 Setting proper boundaries for yourself and others so you can keep your relationships strong and healthy. Mutual respect and open communication is so important, especially during these trying times! With that being said, we’re each going to experience our own version of emotional roller coaster so chances are you’ll occasionally but heads with your loved ones. What I’ve come to realize is; It does’t do anybody any good when we try and communicate in the heat of the moment. It’s best to wait it out until we’re both calm and explain how we feel, all while validating and hearing what our partner has to say. At the end of the day, we just want to be heard and understood
#6 The art of letting go of what we can’t control! I have yet to master this art! LOL This crisis is definitely something outside of our control. We can do our best by taking the necessary precautions to stop the spread of the corona virus by self isolating, cleaning our hands and keeping our distance but the rest is something that’s totally outside of our control. I mean the only thing we can control is our reaction to this crisis. Both collectively and individually. If you’re like me, you may find yourself wanting to control every little thing lately and that’s because we’re experiencing something that’s so huge, something that’s so uncontrollable that we’ll gravitate to anything and everything that we can control to feel some sense of certainty. If you can find it in you to learn how to let go of what you can’t control, especially the little things in your everyday life like the house being a little messier than usual, than you’ll be able to manage your anxieties a little easier.
#7 Choose love instead of Fear. Fear cannot co-exist with Love, just like Love cannot co-exist with Fear. Every time you’re feeling fearful during these times of crisis, think of 3 things you’re truly grateful for! If you can train your mental muscle to be grateful during these challenging times than you’ll come out of this stronger and healthier.
#8 You’ll need to reach for all the healthy mood boosters you can get during these challenging times. A major part of our serotonin levels (happy chemicals) live in our gut so it’s important to work towards increasing our serotonin levels both inside our minds and inside our gut. For example: Make yourself a good playlist to boost your mood, Get some vitamin D through Mr Sunshine, Eat probiotic and prebiotic foods, eat foods high in fibre, eat a piece of dark chocolate once in a while, avoid eating excess amounts of sugar.
#9 Love and connection. We humans thrive on love and connection and although we can’t meet in person, we can certainly meet virtually. Now’s the time to connect with our loved ones in any way that we can. Remember isolation feeds depression, so it’s important to keep the connection strong! You can organize group meetups via zoom, or you can FaceTime your friends and family, etc…Also being of service for others either virtually or physically will boosts your oxytocin levels which will make you feel good!
#10 Finding meaning and purpose will get you through these tough times. Now’s the time to work on your hobbies/projects that you’ve been longing for!
I hope these suggestions serves you well during these challenging times. Remember, it’s important to stick together as a community! We’re definitely stronger together! If you or someone you know is truly in need of your help, please don’t hesitate to lend a helping hand. It could be as simple as saying a few words of encouragement or being that sounding board for that person!
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Until next time my friends, remember, keep progressing on your own journey towards health and wellness
Nancy Pitre, Certified Holistic Health Coach