How to stay positive, healthy, and sane when life, well, sucks.

Does anyone else feel like life is… how shall I put this… a lot right now?

Good. At least we’re all in this together.

You guys, life is hard. It’s stressful. On a good day, we still have bills to pay, food to buy, and relationships to maintain. We have to present ourselves as respectable humans and be nice to other humans (and animals, and the planet). Our health and fitness are a constant work in progress. We have to balance work and play, ourselves and others, and living in the moment and preparing for the future. We are exposed to countless ideas and messages all day, and Netflix keeps asking us if we’re still here. It’s overwhelming.

On top of that, there’s currently a global pandemic.

So yes, Netflix, we are still here.

Now, more than ever, it’s warranted — and essential — to make your wellbeing a priority. As a species, this is the most drastic shift and the most stress our generation has ever experienced. Like always, there are so many things we could and should be doing for ourselves, others, and the environment right now. All we can really do is try our best: keep informed, social distance, donate if you can, treat others with patience, respect, and kindness. And treat yourself the same way.

Self-care is often the last thing on our to-do list. But as stress takes its toll on the mind, body, and soul, maybe now is the time to take some you-time. Because the world is suffering, life is a lot, and you deserve it.

Here are some ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle and put yourself first during this stressful time.

Exercise

This is the most obvious one — you knew I was going to say exercise. But let me tell you why it’s now more important than ever. We are literally stuck inside, sitting on our butts, as advised by the government. We are all bonafide couch potatoes. It’s easy to justify our laziness because we’re being told to stay inside.

But sitting around is endorphin suicide. The more you sit, the more your body and mind fall into a slump, and before you know it you’re at rock bottom and blaming COVID-19, your boss, your partner, or anyone but yourself for your mood. Getting your body moving gets your blood flowing, heart pumping, and stimulates your morale, delivering benefits that extend way beyond the physical parts of our bodies.

There are so many ways to stay active while abiding by COVID-19 restrictions. You can join an online stream by your favourite fitness studio, or power through a quick YouTube boot camp. You can go for a socially distanced run or walk or hike in your neighbourhood. You can even run up and down the stairs ten times in your home if that tickles your fancy. Abide by safety precautions first, but second, exercise. You’ll be glad you did, and that is a promise.

Eat healthy

Right up there with exercise is healthy eating. They go hand in hand when it comes to the physical part of our bodies, and both seep into our mental and emotional states as well. It’s quite normal to feel a little blah while we’re stuck inside, sitting on the couch, with no social life in sight, but it’s even more normal to feel a little blah when we’re stuck inside, sitting on the couch, with no social life in sight… after devouring an entire bag of potato chips.

Eat food that will make your body feel good. Order your favourite take-out, eat fresh food, try something new, savour an old favourite. Meal prep for the week and store food in the freezer for when you are feeling particularly lazy (I mean that in the best way possible).

Limit your technology time

Have anyone else’s screentime monitors been a bit obnoxious lately? When we’re stuck at home, most of us find ourselves staring at our devices more often than we’d like to admit. Even being social requires a screen right now. And while it’s nice to keep connected with friends and family via messaging or video calls, social interaction through technology can get quite exhausting for our eyes and our minds.

It’s important to step back from technology and take in the world in front of you for as much time as you can (I say while writing this on my laptop, with my phone distracting me every five minutes. I never said it was easy).

Go for a walk or run outside, go strike up a new conversation with your family member or quarantine buddy, make something in the kitchen (if you didn’t bake banana bread, did you even quarantine?), start a new hobby. Try knitting, drawing, painting, carving, or puzzle making. Allow yourself to recharge with something that doesn’t require electricity or batteries.

Do yoga

Yoga is overflowing with benefits for the mind, body, and soul. It strengthens and tones your muscles, improves flexibility, boosts metabolism, encourages consciousness, eases your mind, and elevates your spirit.

If that’s all overwhelming, think of it this way. Doing yoga is something that you do for you, and you only. Taking time out of your busy day where you’re finally off your phone, you’re not watching Netflix, you’re not scouring your fridge for snacks, you’re not feeling unproductive or worrying about COVID-19 never, ever, ever coming to an end for as long as we all live.

Even if your mind is focusing on how much your thighs are burning in that warrior two pose, it’s still time that is dedicated to you. You’re living in the moment and not being pulled in a million directions by the stressful world that exists outside of those thighs. Yoga allows you to be present, and during these very cluttered times, this is a huge favour you can do for yourself.

Make a to-do list

Work tasks. Phone calls. Grocery shopping. Passion projects. Bills to pay. Family to take care of. All the things we’re telling you to do on this list.

I know, I know, it’s a lot. The more you run through all the things you need to do in your head, the more overwhelming they seem, and you don’t know where to start and then you just feel paralyzed and go back to watching Netflix.

But these things won’t do themselves, and sometimes in life you just gotta get’er done. One of the best ways to make your day-to-day tasks seem more manageable is by putting them into a to-do list — yes, that’s right, write them down — so you have manageable chunks to complete on your list. This will make your day seem less daunting and you can feel a little sense of achievement every time an item is checked off.

Rewatch old favourites

If it seems like I’m throwing shade at Netflix in this article, it’s not intentional. There is nothing wrong with indulging in a good binge-watch, as long as you can balance it out with stuff that’s happening in the real world too. Watch those trendy and topical releases (Love is Blind, Tiger King, Too Hot To Handle), those guilty pleasures (did you guys see Kim and Kourtney had a physical fight?), or whatever else piques your interest.

You may also want to consider rebooting an old favourite show that is sure to get you re-invested in the characters and storyline. It’s nice to have a reliable distraction that can get your mind off of this pandemic, remind you of the good ol’ days, and still be just at juicy as the first time you watched it (talking about you, Survivor).

Keep dreaming and planning

No one can say when, or even if, this will all be over. It’s unclear what the future holds. A lot of us are having to put things on hold or postpone; weddings, new babies, high school proms, trips. Maybe we can find comfort in knowing it’s not just our selfish unfortunate circumstance; the whole world is in it together.

But we can still hold out hope for life to resume its normal course again. We may need a bit more of a hefty contingency plan, but the best we can do is remain positive and hopeful that we can get through this together. Eventually, our plans and dreams will be achievable once again.