A Guide to Improve Mental and Spiritual Health during this Pandemic
It has been found that the incidence of 14 neurological and psychiatric disorders ranging from bleeding into the brain to psychosis occurred in more than a third of 236,379 persons who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the preceding six months.
Times have been really tough these recent years. No one ever thought that this ordeal will prolong to this point. Everyone is tired in every possible way. However, we must keep moving forward! It is the only way, and while doing so, we need to improve our mental and spiritual health to give ourselves the power to face our problems.
“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserves your love and affection.” — Buddha
Positivity is the deal over here. Bring yourself to do anything which makes you feel wonderful, on the note that you do not hurt yourself or others. With all this negativity throughout our environment, I must impress upon you the significance of striking a balance with the help of sheer optimism.
This can be achieved by multiple ways, but in the end it also depends on the individual. Some common things that you can do regardless of your age are:
Yoga: It might sound very boring but trust me, this is the only activity which you can easily do at home, without disturbing another soul. The benefits are countless and it helps in reinforcing your concentration and control over things. Additionally, being in control is what which gives us peace in life.
A study of the effects of yoga on student mental health revealed that practicing yoga twice a week for three months led to a decrease in psychological distress among university students, with the effects lasting beyond the period of the yoga course. Before the yoga course, 60% of students over the past two weeks had a baseline Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-25) score of 1.75, which indicates moderate or serious psychological distress. After the yoga course, only 39% of students were above this cut-off value, and only 34% of students were scored above this cut-off value at the three-month follow-up mark. (Elstad et al., 2020).
The moment things go out of control, elements like panic, helplessness, regret and all these other emotions kick in. So be in control through the help of yoga and you can’t help but notice a better and stronger version of yourself in the coming future.
Breathing exercises: In addition to preserving hygiene and practicing social distancing, having good lungs will help you survive the pandemic better. When the lungs are unable to completely expand, it causes shallow breathing and a reduction in lung capacity. As a result, it’s crucial to keep them safe with exercises that preserve rib cage and diaphragm muscle strength. A good and continuous supply of oxygen will not only benefit the brain, but the body as well.
Drink lots of water: The simplest way to keep yourself healthy. Drinking water increases the brain’s temperature and gets rid of toxins and dead cells. It also keeps cells active and balances chemical processes in the brain, helping to regulate stress and anxiety.
Take a break: Now I know that all of us lead an extremely busy and stressful life but a wise person knows that a top can’t keep spinning forever. We need to reset it which takes some time and only then it is ready to go. Similarly, we need that reset button in a week or else we are not nearly efficient enough. No matter how much work we have, take a day off to yourself and do whatever you feel like. Art, crafts, music and dance are some options that will help you. Just relax for a whole day and you will see better results.
Journaling: We have dealt with a lot of stress, anxiety, and a variety of feelings in this pandemic. Some problems arise due to our isolation. Opportunities to express our thoughts, emotions and ideas have reduced and are somewhat being suppressed along the lines. You don’t have to write a lot; small pieces of text will do the trick as well. Keep a habit of writing down how your day went. Not only will you be able to express your thoughts, but it will also serve as a record of your memories. If you feel lazy to write it down, the alternate option can be apps and websites. That way you can finish your journals very soon.
Cut down on social media: This activity is eating us up without us realizing. High levels of dopamine are produced while we scroll through Facebook or Instagram. Due to this we get addicted and lose interest in almost anything else since those might not give such high levels of this biomolecule. It is suggested to do a dopamine detox fast to get rid of this addiction and reset our brains for better efficiency.
These are very simple yet effective ideas to keep yourself balanced in a mental and spiritual way. Following these will surely give rise to a better version of yourself who will be strong enough to climb higher heights in the form of hardships.
