De-Stressing Practices for Quarantine Time (Especially When Your Entire House Gets Corona)
SEVEN of us got Corona at the same time in one house.
SEVEN.
Needless to say, it wasn’t the best time of my life. However, it also wasn’t the worst. My mental state has dipped low a few times throughout quarantine (the initial fear of not knowing how bad our Corona symptoms would get being one of those times), but I have a list of practices I employ to boost my mood that have helped. These practices were curated before quarantine (or B.Q. as I like to call it) by trial and error as well as deep-dive self-work seminars like Hoffman Process and Tony Robbins.
I’m not saying any of these are the perfect cure-all, but they can help.
Without further ado, a shortlist (of seven items, lol) I curated for COVID quarantine.
1. HUMOR
I was lucky enough to be taken in by my friend’s family outside of NYC so I wouldn’t have to quarantine alone in the epicenter of the virus. Lo and behold, within the first few days after our escape, we all started feeling COVID symptoms.
What did we do when we found out the positive test results? Instead of panicking, we started making jokes. Now I know that everyone deals with stress differently, but humor has always been my go-to. Stress is proven to weaken the immune system, and anxiety spirals can be broken by a good laugh.
A couple of weeks later, I caught up with my friend who works as a nurse on the front lines in Reno. While we devoted a good portion of our chat to her venting about the sometimes overwhelming fear and sadness in her daily situation, we were also cracking each other up at the end, regaling stupid tales from our lives. The latter was just as important to our mental health as the time we gave to venting.
Try this: even if you’re not feeling like anything is funny, put on a funny video, or two, or four until you’re smiling or laughing out loud (my recs: Substitute Teacher or Meegan by Key & Peele). You can also try sitting in front of the mirror and fake laughing at yourself until you start laughing for real (if you can master this, you’re golden).
2. Bring out your inner child to play
Funnily enough, what got me out of one of my bad quarantine mental states was participating in an Easter egg hunt our house put on. An Easter egg hunt. That’s it. No hour-long meditations or visualization techniques. No breathwork. Just acting like a kid, running around the house in carefree joy hunting for eggs and hiding them from others. My mind was clear of worries as I dove over two friends to grab the final egg from the fridge, laughing in delight at its hiding spot behind the sour cream.
Playing with your inner child gets you out of your head and into your body, bringing you back to that joyful, wonder-filled state you were able to maintain in your youth. It may sound silly, but I promise you, sometimes getting silly is the answer.
I first discovered this gem of a practice because of my job — I work as a headhunter for hedge funds. It gets stressful. Starting out, I had to make hundreds of cold calls each day, often getting yelled at and hung up on after a snide comment or expletive was thrown my way. I would be exhausted by midday, not wanting to continue with the next round of 100 phone calls. One day, I knew I had to do something to get out of my head, so I went to the bathroom, put on some music and danced around in the weirdest way I possibly could until I was laughing out loud at myself. After that, I was able to go back to my desk and laugh when I got hung up on. I just didn’t care as much anymore. Since then, this child-like dancing has become my answer to almost every bad mental state I get into, and it hasn’t let me down yet.
Action step: turn on some music (maybe close your blinds), and dance as ridiculously as possible until you’re almost embarrassed with yourself and cracking up. I guarantee this will lift your mood. Or, list out some things you used to do for play as a kid and try them again.
Some ideas: Try to do a cartwheel (if you won’t hurt yourself or others in the process). Build a fort in your living room. Make a frosted cake for someone you’re quarantining with and then shove their face into it (kidding, kind of). Whatever used to bring you joy, try it out again.
3. Self-compassion
Have compassion for yourself when you do get into a bad mental state. It’s okay. We’re in a weird time. We’re separated from our loved ones. Don’t feel guilty for your emotions. Let them happen, acknowledge them. Feel them fully and then let them pass if you can. A practice I like to use when I notice I’m in a suffering state (learned from Hoffman Process) is placing your hands over your heart, taking three deep breaths (try 4x4x4 — four seconds for inhale, hold for four seconds, then four-second exhale), and then saying out loud: “I am in a moment of suffering. I am human, and all humans suffer. May I be kind to myself in this moment. May I give myself what I need.”
Bonus points if you call and check in on a friend who is quarantining alone or in a stressful situation and do this with them.
4. Embrace uncertainty
Stressing about the future is pointless in any case, especially right now. We never know what’s going to happen. Honestly, when’s the last time that fantasy version of reality you created in your mind unfolded just the way you had planned?
A (small) example: my birthday. I know I’m not alone in this, and I wish it weren’t the case, but my birthday has always been a stressful, somewhat sad time for me. It’s been that way since my dad died when I was a kid. It’s just hard. So I was worried about planning it, especially because I’ve met so many incredible people in the last year and wanted to figure out a creative, fun way to bring them all together. But then Corona happened. My birthday is June 12th and (sorry to say) I’m pretty sure large gatherings are still not going to be happening then. To tie back into my point, I didn’t need to stress about planning my birthday at all because a PANDEMIC happened.
We never know what the future will bring, good or bad. That’s not to say you shouldn’t plan for the future, but don’t get stuck trying to figure out exactly what way something is going to go. Anything in the world could happen. And how often do we actually get it right in our heads? Living in the future creates anxiety.
Action step: the next time you catch yourself guessing the future or stressing about a potential outcome of this virus, take a deep breath and come back to the present. Look around the room and feel your weight against the earth. Think of some things in your present for which you’re grateful. Remind yourself that no one knows how this is going to go, so why torture yourself with thinking up all the worst-case scenarios?
5. Exercise!
Exercise is almost always a good idea. If you’re feeling a little low, go out for a run or do some calisthenics in your living room (if you have a living room — I’m looking at you, New Yorkers). Better yet, put on an uplifting podcast while you exercise.
OR dance furiously around your room (I will never not come back to this advice). Go ahead. No one’s there to see you right now. And don’t forget to make it weird.
6. Eat right
A healthier gut leads to a better overall mood and cognitive function. I’m still working to find exactly what works best for me diet-wise, but practicing self-care in this way flows into almost all other aspects of my life.
7. TURN OFF THE NEWS
Take a break. Turn off the TV. Turn off the news notifications on your phone for a while. It doesn’t mean you don’t care, it means you’re taking care of yourself.
These are a few things that have helped my mental state through this quarantine (and B.Q. as well). I hope they help you, too. Let me know if you try out any of the above and find success, or if there’s anything helpful you did that’s not on the list.
Hang in there, we’re all in this together. See you all in the time of A.Q.
Diana
