Well, this all escalated rather quickly didn’t it? By now, unless you are a health, education or care professional, you are probably practicing social distancing or even self-isolating. It’s hard isn’t it? I’ve had to pause my face-to-face business for at least the next month, so it’s squeaky bum time financially. I’ve been missing hugs from friends, having a leisurely browse of bog roll, hanging out with a brew and a chat and now I’m doing yoga via video conferencing in my post-3-kids-eating-dinner kitchen. Crunchy.
It’s for a life-saving reason, and we all have a duty to protect people more vulnerable than ourselves in a time of crisis. Here’s seven ways you can help make social distancing and self-isolation a bit more bearable.
1) Get some fresh air and exercise. Open a window, sit on the outside step with a cuppa and feel the breeze on your face. If you have a garden, wrap up warm and spend a bit of time in the green. If it’s not too busy, get out for a walk. The National Trust have opened their grounds for free so that you can get your fresh air fix in sparsely populated areas.
2) Try making stuff. Try a new recipe (provided the ingredients are available), fashion the Eiffel Tower out of matchsticks or knit hats for your local neonatal ward. I’ll be trying to crochet. Learning a new skill changes your brain chemistry. I know, right?
3) Do something for someone else: check on a neighbour, phone a friend, offer to do someone’s shopping. Dr David Hamilton reckons that being kind slows down the aging process. Anything to sort out those jowls.
4) Podcasts. If you don’t already listen to podcasts now’s a great time to start. Whatever you’re interested in there’s a podcast for that. I’m loving Spooked at the moment as well as Feel Better, Live More by Rangan Chatterjee, and the BBC’s In Our Time. The hours will fly by.
5) Practice Gratitude. This is super tricky when life is hard and uncertain. I’m so grateful for my family, and this makes the fact my toddler is kicking me in the face as I write this more bearable. Here’s a really great article about the benefits of keeping a gratitude journal.
6) Find online practical support. This might be health support, financial advice or socialising. The internet is there for you.
7) Eat some fruit and veg. there didn’t seem to be too much demand for broccoli or frozen fruit in the supermarket when I was there last. Just sayin’.
Keep safe and look after each other in socially distant way – it’ll save lives.
