The good news is that there’s finally a light at the end of the Pandemic tunnel.
Promises of a vaccine are on the horizon and there’s a very good chance that we will have a medical solution to the virus in the new year.
The bad news is that we’ll have to get through a long winter of continuing restrictions and lockdowns before that happens. Perhaps it’s going to get worse before it really improves?
So how do we help ourselves and anyone in our immediate “pod” to fight off stress and stay healthy until we can go back to living a normal life again? Here are some suggestions…
ACKNOWLEDGE THE STRESS
Admit it - this is far from normal. We have probably all heard someone say at some point during the Pandemic - “Honestly, it hasn’t really affected us that much” or “I’m actually quite enjoying it.” Maybe that was true for some people during the first few months but we’ve all been worn down by the continuing uncertainty of the Covid crisis, and this can affect our physical and mental well-being. Acknowledging this is like giving yourself a sympathetic hug.
MONITOR WHAT YOU READ
Doom and gloom! It’s possible to spend the whole day soaking in hair-raising news via the Internet and social media. Think about limiting your scrolling to shorter periods of time and replace it with some other type of stimulus such as reading or listening to music.
You can also go to a news website which specializes in positive news stories.
GET OUTSIDE
Outdoor exercise is allowed and encouraged in most places, regardless of other restrictions and is one of the most beneficial activities you can include in your daily lockdown routine.
Of course the winter weather can make things tricky, depending on where you live but as they say in Scandinavia - there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes! So as long as you’re physically able, try to get out and get moving. If not, open up some windows and take some deep breaths! (Tip - use a Hotteeze heat pad to warm up afterwards).
TAKE A DEEP BREATH
Whenever that seems like a little too much effort, how about just breathing? We can all do that.
Deep breathing, paced-breathing, belly-breathing - there are so many ways your lungs can induce calm and relaxation when you’re getting stressy. Have a look at this NCCIH article for some tips -
https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/relaxation-techniques-for-health
RELAX WITH HOTTEEZE
Warm up and chill out this winter with one of our heat pads. They’re easy to buy, easy to use, safe, long-lasting and the contents can be sprinkled on plant soil after use.
Stay safe and look forward to the spring!
