12 Acts of Self Care while in isolation or Lockdown

For nearly a month many have found themselves across the world in states of lockdown or isolation trying to prevent the further spread of Covid-19, whilst I am typing this a notification has appeared on my phone to tell me Boris Johnson the Prime Minister of UK has been admitted to an Intensive Care Unit.

So, while we may be completely staying at home or venturing out for the essentials and the one hour of exercise, you may feel you are struggling particularly as you may be unable to attend your usual self care routine, and struggling with the relality of the lack of freedom.

Here I am offering you some tips on how you can care for yourself during these challening times.

1. Drink water when you get up in the morning - Water should always be the first drink you have in the morning, if you choose caffeinated drink you are more likely to depend on these caffeine fixes throughout the day and particularly at the moment as our routines and even our sleep patterns may be disrupted we should be careful in how much caffeine we are consuming.

2. Keep a Gratitude Journal - focusing on what you're grateful for can help put things into perspective—and not put so much focus on the stressors you might also be dealing with. I recommend starting each day with thinking of 3-5 things you may be grateful for and then at the end of the day focus on 3-5 things you are grateful for that you have experienced that day.

3. Dance like no one is watching - Spend a little bit of time cranking the music up and moving, movement is necessary to our well-being and listening to our favourite tunes is going to help lift those seratonin levels and help chase away those lockdown blues. You can even involve your families and friends even if you don't live with them - this is the beuaty of apps such as Facebook, Zoom, Skype, Facetime and much more.

4. Have a mindul moment at least once a day - It's important for us to unpack our thoughts from the day, regardless of how much or how little has occured that day, so pop your phone on silent, put your phone away, turn the tv off and close the door and just spend 5 minutes and spend time with your thoughts and your emotions,

5. 30 Minutes exercise - We should spend at least 30 minutes exercising each day, now this doesn;t have to be HIIT classes, these can be yoga stretches, a 30 minute walk, or bicycle ride. This is important not only for your physical health but also for your mental health.

6. Count those sheep -Sleep is so important and integral to our health, when we sleep our body is getting rid of toxins consolidates memory, and builds neural highways. So try to keep those sleep routines in place, this includes the time you start each day. The temptation can be to go to bed later while binge watching your latest addiction on Netflix and start your day later however this is not good for our health.

7. Go within - Meditation can help reduce blood pressure, as well as symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), anxiety, and depression, this makes it a worhwhile skill. There are many places where you can start I have my own meditation membership which you can currently access for £10 a month which are suitable for all levels, there are also apps such as Insight Timer, Headspace and meditations on YouTube.

8. Tell me lies - Write down all those negative thoughts, judgements and beliefs you hold inside about the person you are, get it all out, the negative chatter, the self-deprication, getting all of this out of your head helps you to acknowledge the inner dialogue and is a great starting point to help you quash and combat this.

9.5,4,3,2,1 - Take a few moments throughout the day to notice the things you can see, feel, taste, smell and hear. The way I recommend my clients to do this are: Notice five things you can see, Notice four things you can hear, notice three things you can feel, notice two things smell and one thing you can taste. This is a quick and simple way with connecting with your senses.

10. Dinner at 8pm? Set time aside with friends or family for a dinner date as stated on point number three, you can use online services to do this, a modern way to connect with those you love.

11. Limit your time switched on - Due to so much being online now and our phones acting like mini computers we spend a lot of time online as it is literally at our fimgertips so either set a day where you are not using your phone or limit the time you spend on apps, I have done this on my phone - this is an android phone - sorry IPhone users I'm unsure if this can be done through your phone - but I do know there are apps that you can use to limit your time.

12. Plan your meal times - Spend time actually planning your meals out, from planning what you are going to make but also planning the time of the meal and ensure you are sitting down to enjoy the meal properly, and ample time to let you digest the meal too.

I am introuducing a number of these into my day to keep a sense of routine, to take care of my well-being and my mental health and to also increase my productivity instead of sitting relieving my childhood through Disney+ or looking on in shock while watching Tiger King on Netflix.

Lastly, I hope you're all keeping well during this trying time, please if you need to talk drop a message to my facebook page.