11 Wellness Strategies For Pandemic Times!
1) Create a Daily Ritual
“A solid routine fosters a well-worn groove for one’s mental energies and helps stave off the tyranny of moods.” Mason Currey. Many times, when people are too busy juggling career, family and relationship, they don’t spend time to create a daily ritual for themselves. When I coach people, I always ask them to create a daily ritual. Creating and adhering to a daily ritual not only keeps you on track, helps your emotional wellness and brings calmness and energy to your life, its especially beneficial to get you through with difficult times in life. It helps you hit aces when life throws curve balls.
2) Meditate
Meditation helps you stay in a clear-headed state so that when challenges come at you, you can deal with them like a ninja — in a calm thoughtful way. “Ray. Who hasn’t heard about the benefits of meditation? Meditation helps you focus, relax, get calm, get energetic, boost immunity, reduce stress and so much more. There are different kinds of meditation and the common thread in them is focusing on your breath and let yourself be. It’s even more necessary to meditate now to keep grounded and focused in these pandemic times. There are plenty of free YouTube videos teaching meditation. At HappinessFactors, we teach immunity boosting meditation weekly.
3) Prioritize & Crush Your Goals
“Deadlines aren’t bad. They help you organize your time. They help you set priorities. They make you get going when you might not feel like it. “Harvey Mackay
While it’s important to prioritize in order to crush our goals, its equally important to not beat ourselves up when we fail to achieve them. Be open minded and accept the learnings instead of beating yourself up. Also take the time to get aware of which priorities are related to your ego and which ones make you feel fulfilled. Dr Dyer sums it up well, “Comfort and luxury are usually the chief requirements of life for your ego — its top priorities tend to be accumulations, achievements, and the approval of others. “
4) Take News Breaks
It’s a well-known secret that the news is full of propaganda and too much focus is on reporting the negative events happening worldwide. If you keep on listening to news all the time, it will make you feel fearful and despondent. If you can’t live without watching news, set some time each day to watch it and after that indulge in some relaxing activity that works for you. Whether its dancing to your favorite song, taking a walk, cooking your favorite dish, playing with your kids, meditating or some time for selfcare. The purpose of having a relaxing activity after the morbid, dramatized news, will help you not get too impacted by negativity.
5) Talk Regularly To Positive People
While human contact is more important than ever in these uncertain times, its equally important to talk to people who have an optimistic viewpoint. By that I don’t mean that you shouldn’t have a conversation with someone who is having a rough day. What I mean to say is don’t spend time every day with Debbie downers or people who see a problem in every solution you provide. That might create more uncertainty and fear in your life in these times of uncertainty. When you surround yourself with positive people, your life gets a new sparkle. “May you reach that level within, where you no longer allow your past or people with toxic intentions to negatively affect or condition you. ” Lalah Delia
6) Watch Comedies
“Comedy is a necessity to get through life with the fewest scars. Humor is the best antidote to help relieve all struggles. ” Suzy Kassem
Laughter is a good antidote to all negativity and to create happiness. One of the simplest ways to get happy and laugh, is to watch comedies. There are plenty free and paid ones available online. Reading/telling jokes is another one to let your sense of humor get out of the closet and shine.” A comedy isn’t about being funny a comedy is about characters who dare to know that they may choose a happy ending after all. “Gary D. Schmidt
7) Eat Healthy: Eat Homemade Meals & Stay Hydrated
Eating healthy is integral to your physical and mental health! You only get one body in a lifetime and the more you take care of it, the less it will trouble you. Homemade meals are the healthiest as you know the exact ingredients in the preparation. You can get organic ingredients, use healthy spices and best of all, its fresh and does not contain any preservatives. Many people need healthy recipes and we include one in every newsletter. Remember “food is fuel, it’s not therapy”. Drink plenty of water, 8 glasses every day to stay hydrated. The closer it is to room temperature, the better absorbed it gets. Staying hydrated has several benefits including regulating body temperature, preventing infections, keeping organs functioning properly, delivering cell nutrients, keeping the joints lubricated. Not only this, keeping yourself well hydrated also improves the mood, cognition and improves sleep.
8) Read/Listen to Inspiring Content
While several people make time for inspiring content, some put it in back burner saying that it doesn’t last. It’s like any other daily habit such as brushing your teeth, bathing or eating. You need to do those every day in order to be healthy. Same is true for inspiring content. In order to be inspired and motivated on a regular basis, you need to take a shot of inspiration regularly. I have several inspiration people I look up to including Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy, Sadhguru, Maya Angelou, Oprah and many more. To quote Brian Tracy, “Make your life a masterpiece; imagine no limitations on what you can be, have or do.”
9) Simple Acts of kindness
It’s more important than ever to do simple acts of kindness. Not just to help others, but also to feel good about yourself. While some people associate small acts of kindness with donating money to charity, it’s much more than that. If you have been adversely impacted by the pandemic and our budget is tight, you can still do simple acts of kindness without breaking your budget! You can reach out to someone who is lonely, give a complement to someone who is insecure or be there for someone in need or volunteer. There are plenty of non-monetary ways to be kind as well. “No act of kindness is too small. The gift of kindness may start as a small ripple that over time can turn into a tidal wave affecting the lives of many.” Kevin Heath.
10)Gratitude
Think about a moment when you are complaining or comparing. Then, think about a moment when you are grateful. Which one makes you feel better? Benefits of gratitude on our psyche is a well-known secret. Take a moment to make gratitude a daily practice. Set the intention every morning to find something new to be grateful for everyday!
“Gratitude also opens your eyes to the limitless potential of the universe, while dissatisfaction closes your eyes to it.” Stephen Richards
11)Body Movement/Physical Activity
It’s easy for people to get sedentary or binge watch TV or video games when we are asked to stay at home as much as possible. However, its even more important to make time for physical activity and get creative about it when gyms are closed. It not only gets your body healthy; it also helps you feel better by releasing endorphins. Try out different things like dancing to favorite song, walking/running few miles, yoga, hiking, biking, gardening or even cooking something with lots of prep time. If you have stairs at home, you can even try going up and down the stairs for at least 30 minutes. “Exercise is a celebration of what your body can do, not a punishment for what you ate.” Women’s Health.
To exercise, eat healthy, get inspired, prioritize, be optimistic, get into a daily ritual or achieve goals, it very integral to design and follow a daily routine; “one’s daily routine is also a choice, or a whole series of choices. In the right hands, it can be a finely calibrated mechanism for taking advantage of a range of limited resources: time (the most limited resource of all) as well as willpower, self-discipline, optimism. A solid routine fosters a well-worn groove for one’s mental energies and helps stave off the tyranny of moods. “Mason Currey
It’s more important than ever to keep your mind, body and spirit healthy in these times and get out of your comfort zone in order to not just survive, but thrive during these uncertain, social distanced, pandemic times. For tips and resources, contact us at happy at happinessfactors.com