21/03/2020
💙 Create a new routine if your old/normal one has been significantly impacted.
⏰ Get up at your usual time. Please do not just sleep the morning or worse, the day away. This staying in bed behaviour will, over time, have detrimental mental effects if you do.
🧘♀️ Start that morning yoga/meditation practice you've wanted to start for years but haven't. If you've had a yoga practice at a yoga studio or similar, your favourite teacher is undoubtedly now putting classes online so email or call them to find out the details as to how you continue to practice with and support them as their lives are changing too.
👑 Get showered and dressed. Put on your perfume and jewellery that you would usually wear...or even glam it up a bit. I know you might not be going anywhere or anywhere special for a while but put on the sparkles - your favourite clothes, perfume/aftershave/etc.
🕺 Put on your favourite music...all the time. Support your favourite musicians and see if they're doing live streaming gigs that you can donate to. Dance in your living room with your family or just on your own...but get up and dance. Don't just sit on your couch and veg...or do that but set a time limit to it (again doing this - staying in bed/vegging - *will have negative effects to your mental health).
😀 Smile even if you don't feel like smiling. Hold the smile for at least 10 seconds...it really works to lighten your mood. Repeat whenever you feel your mood slipping.
📖 Read books. Get off tech. *
😢 Give yourself permission to cry. This is a really full on time we are experiencing in our lives. Crying is a great release for stored stress and tension. Like after a rain storm, once it has stopped there's a freshness and newness to the environment.
☀️ Sit out in the sun and listen to the sounds that you might not even notice because of all the noise one constantly lives with.
📞 Call your family and friends. A dear friend of mine, who is in lockdown in America, told me last night that she and her girlfriends and a Skype/Facetime wine night the other evening...such a great idea. Have a virtual dinner party (use Zoom-meeting platform) with your relatives and/or friends that you don't have around you.
😂 If you're struggling to laugh I would recommend two things (which at least make me laugh...) when I'm getting too down/blue. Look at ABC iview (at least that's what I've watch it on) and search for "Would I Lie to You?" - its clever and very funny. Podcast to listen to, its Adults only though so put earphones on if little ones are around, is called "My Dad Wrote a P***o". It took me about 3 episodes to get into to it but it is very clever and funny. If you have already watched/listened to these sorry if I've a bit behind the times...share anything you can recommend on the giggle front.
🛀 Do some self-care routines. Take more relaxing baths. Do those homemade face masks (yoghurt and honey is a great one) and massage your face. Tidy up your feet - scrub away the neglect.
🍾 Open that bottle of wine you've been saving for a "special" occasion. Cheers/salute/Sante...whatever, just enjoy.
🙏 Please comment with your contributions to what you are doing to remain sane.
🙏🤗😘
