Things I Do During Lockdown That Keep Me Sane

I believe everyone is undergoing a series of mental stress during this lockdown. It could be the stress from staying all alone at home. Some people grieve on the loss of friends and families, while some people may bother by the uncertainties of jobs and businesses, losing income and support.

The fear and mental stress levels that accumulated in our mother earth are more than ever before. This is freaking scary and driving us insane.

How to stay sane during lockdown?

Wake Up Early

“Why wake up early in the morning when you do not have to rush to work or school?”

We don’t have to wake up at 5 a.m., what we need is to have 1 – 2 power hours before we start our day.

Wake up before our family members, do the things we love in 1 – 2 hours me-time in the morning without interruptions. Mothers can take a break from taking care of children; husbands can take the me-time for a morning workout.

Whatever that we do, stay away from gadgets. Thanks to the technology that connects us during this pandemic, but too many distractions and negativity can be caused by social media and overwhelming news.

Waking up early allows us to take our sweet time for not stressing and rushing for online meetings or house chores. After 1 – 2 power hours, we take our time slowly gentling into the day. The feelings as if every day is Sunday, how wonderful is that. 😊

Workout

Workout during this period helps in many ways. My fiancé is one of the unlucky ones whose job got affected due to pandemics. The stress of job security and uncertainties, the workout is the only thing that keeps him going.

"When you exercise, it increases endorphins, dopamine, adrenaline and endocannabinoid - these are all brain chemicals associated with feeling happy, feeling confident, feeling capable, feeling less anxiety and stress and even less physical pain," Dr. Kelly McGonigal says.

A simple 15 – 30 minutes stretching can be very helpful for pain relief caused by sitting too long. We don’t have to well equip with treadmill or gym facilities at home to exercise. We can be creative, grab a water bottle as the weight and start to stretch. There are many types of free live-stream sessions available online. We just need to move our bodies. 😉

Release Your Inner Child

Everyone has a child that lives within us. The little girl or little boy we once were, we dance we play we learn we laugh we cry. We are extremely curious about everything, we express emotions without fear of being judged, we go all out to get what we want without fear of failure.

All grown-ups were once children. As we grow older, we tend to polish our armor shield and locked our inner child deep inside us to protect us from harm and criticism.

I know it is not easy to be that child again, but we can release that part of us in this lockdown to do something that we like without being judged, to feel pure joy again.

How to do that?

I was entertained by many Tik Tok videos from all around the world. It may appear dumb at first but hey, no harm to be foolish and have fun like we were once a child right?

Another significant yet fascinating sharing from social media I noticed is cooking. There are many pictures and videos of hidden “master chefs” shared over social media among our friends. Don’t we all once that child who loves to mess around in the kitchen?

I love decoration and DIY since I was a little girl. I painted my living room in pink color when no adults at home, I stick glow-in-dark stars all over my bedroom ceiling. How much I enjoyed turning my house into my very own fairy tale.

During this lockdown, I picked up painting tools to start doodling again. Just play with the colors and freely express our emotions and creativity. It allows me to immerse in pure enjoyment, spur my creativity and alleviate stress.

Living in a small 480 sqft studio with my hyperactive fiance, it is not easy to have my personal space. I let my DIY ideas flow in creating a space for myself by turning my tiny balcony into a small outdoor space to read and enjoy the sun. Instead of buying fancy decoration online, I utilized whatever I have - a yoga mat, a sarung my friend bought me from Bali, my favorite scented candles..

I invite you to release your inner child and play along. 😊

Meditation and Journaling

Working from home can be very challenging, it is difficult to stay disciplined and focus with all the distractions at home. A short meditation in the morning helps me to fight negative mind chatter and stay laser focus. I find it very beneficial in boosting my energy level to deal with deadlines especially working from home.

Journaling is so powerful because it gives us a safe and non-judgement space to write down our emotions and thoughts. We might not able to tell everyone how we feel or process our daily emotions, we tend to keep it to ourselves. Hence, journaling can be a form of stress release exercise as it provides us a private space to be honest with ourselves without fear. When we read our journals on the past emotions we wrote, it helps us to gain a different perspective on life.

Positive affirmation is so important especially during the lockdown. Not everyone is lucky to surround by positive people, we need to be responsible to feed our minds with positive affirmations. Every morning I write 3 positive affirmations, the mantras that keep me going – GRATITUDE, LET IT GO, LISTEN.

GRATITUDE – I am grateful for all the things I have in my life

LET IT GO – I let go of the uncertainties that beyond my control

LISTEN – “When you talk you are repeating what you already know, if you listen you may learn something new” Dalai Lama

I repeat the same affirmation every day by writing down in my journal. It takes 21 days to form a habit and 90 days to form a lifestyle. By doing it every day during the lockdown, you will be surprised our mental shifts can be happened without realizing. It can be that simple. 😊

We are all in this global lockdown together, let’s help each other to stay sane.

Andra tutto bene, everything will be alright.

#LetsSpreadLove,

Mei