Lockdown can be a tough time for both men and women.
I have managed to get some valuable insights into a female perspective, from the wonderful Sally Bassuni, health, mindset and fitness coach for women. Sally takes us through some tips to help keep women nourished in the mind, body and soul, particularly during these times of lockdown. ENJOY!!
Mental health throughout lockdown can really suffer, so if you are feeling the toll of this lockdown, don’t worry you are not alone!
HERE ARE MY 8 TIPS FOR YOU ALL
#1 FEEL IT
Feelings are meant to be felt, so if you need to cry, cry. If you need to be angry, be angry. We want to process our emotions, so they don’t stay stagnant, store and become suppressed within us. As well as crying, it is important to continue to move your energy around, this will help the emotions flow through you and help shift your state of being.
To help shift your state and get your vibe a little bit higher try dancing around to a fun playlist whilst:
Shaking your body around
Boxing (can be your pillow)
Stretching your body or doing some yoga
#2 LIMIT SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media can trigger upsetting feelings. If you are already feeling a bit upset or angry, going on social media can make it worse. It also can get you into what I call a ‘comparison hole’ where you compare someone’s highlight reel to your ‘real life’. I would recommend to remember that what you are seeing on social media is a highlight reel. Also consuming a lot of content can be a lot for your mind to handle, so a benefit of less screen time is that you may feel less overwhelmed and overloaded with information.
Try not to touch your phone for the first 30 mins after waking up, see if you can do other things first rather than reaching for your phone as soon as you wake up and live life through other people’s eyes. Go start it for you!!
Replace some screen time with reading, drawing, coloring in, working out, walking, doing skin care, knitting…and have social media detoxes. Delete the app and take a weekend off, or even just take half a day off. You will feel lighter!
#3 TURN THE NEWS OFF
My third tip is to limit news consumption. The news can be a very depressing medium to constantly be consuming so I recommend, watch it where necessary. If you must find out the important stuff watch the important stuff but then turn it off. The depressing and dramatic nature of the news may also add to your stress, overwhelm and hopelessness.
#4 GET OUTSIDE
Nature is one of the most nourishing sources for the soul, so get out there. I would recommend getting in the sunshine, going for a walk or even taking your workout outside. Even better, you could stay connected and go walking with a friend.
#5 NOURISH THE BODY
Keep nourishing your body. I know how easy it can be to eat every single bar of chocolate in the house, which is ok now and then but when you have nourishing food like whole foods, it is great for your brain function and your body function so therefore overall making you feel better!!
#6 STAY CONNECTED
My sixth tip is to stay connected. As humans a basic need that we require to survive is connection. Obviously face to face connection may be hard, but if you can go say hey to your local barista when you get your coffee, face time your friends and family. Try every day to stay connected (virtually) to another human outside of your household. You could even try online fitness classes, yoga classes, knitting communities. Any sort of online community will do, there are plenty of them out there, see if there is something out there that you enjoy and give that a go.
#7 SET YOUR WORK HOURS AND ENVIRONMENT
It may be easy for you to work all day and night especially in lockdown working from home but set yourself boundaries so you can mentally switch on and off. You firstly deserve a break, but secondly take THE time to do things for you or be with your family. Some practical tips would be to set up a home office or a workstation, avoid working from your bed and set your work hours - STICK TO THEM. This will help you create a healthier work / life balance. #8 STAY MOVING
My final tip, is to stay moving! Movement, like I said earlier is so important to shifting energy, which helps shift your mood and mental state. It is so important for your mental and physical health. There are a variety of movement actives you can do, for example… walking, swimming in the ocean, riding a bike, online workouts via YouTube, online gym classes, online yoga classes, dance tutorials, stretching, running, walking the dog, dancing around the house. I hope in here there is something for you to try out, have fun with it.
Thank you so much for reading, I hope that you enjoyed this article and got something from it!
Sending you so much love and light.
Sally B
Sally can be found on Instagram @sallybassuni for more daily health and mindset tips, tricks and reminders.
*** If you found this article useful, feel free to share it but like always, before making any decisions about health and fitness, nutrition etc – please consult a professional in the relevant space.
Stay safe and healthy
Michael Santalab