Blog Post #3 Quarantine health—mind edition
First week of the so-called quarantine under my belt and it’s been surprisingly much less depressing than expected.
Even if you aren’t on lockdown, you’re probably spending a lot more time at home (WFH or just that your fave bar is closed for business). In such times, it can easy to become restless, get cabin fever, and therefore are easily irritated. Therefore I think now more than ever, it’s important to stay in good mental state as well as physical (see blog post before this for the body edition).
My thought—counter to most of your instincts---what’s good for your mindset, is to not binge on Netflix shows. I know that it’s so easy to default to that…. afterall, you’re already home on your couch anyways—but I think you should actually go in the opposite direction. And here is why….Picture if you are Michael Phelps (who burns up to 10,000 calories a day in workouts), then having a piece of double fudge chocolate cake at dinner everyday is no big deal. But if you are a mere mortal like me, then you shouldn’t---because your health likely can’t afford it. So I think in current times, when you’re already more sedentary, likely more down in your mood, and more isolated and therefore to only binge on t.v. shows isn’t the best for thing for your mind.
Instead, why don’t I offer up 3 suggestions of things to try—consider it the workout for the mind—while it’s never fun doing squats, lunges, and burpees at the gym, I feel like a million (no scratch that one billion bucks) afterwards.
Suggestion 1: try meditation. It may sound very new age /hippie/woo woo but having done it on/off for past few years, it honestly has been such a positive experience for me. To dispel a common myth, the goal of mediation isn’t to have a blank mind (that probably happens only when you’re sleeping permanently), but to have greater awareness of all the wires crossing in your brain—fun factoid—did you know we humans have 60-80k thoughts per day? The goal of mediation is to have greater awareness so your mind isn’t this frantic pinball jumping from one thought to the next—and it’s easier said than done—I have success probably less than 10% of the time of achieving that awareness but when that does happen, it’s such a fantastic feeling—like eating (insert your fave flavor) of ice-cream on a very hot day—for me that would be pistachio! I’ve a whole folder of meditation apps on my phone—few suggestions 1) Inscape is my fave by far—you need to pay subscription for premium stuff but it’s worth every penny 2) Headspace—their 10 day starter series is excellent intro—the guide has an Aussie accent for those into that 3) Smiling Mind—also a great intro and completely free!
Suggestion 2: read a book. And thanks to amazon (either 2 day delivery or the kindle), you have no excuse. If you’ve ever read a book and then seen the movie, you should notice the movie is severely lacking—eg the complex character development and inner struggles of the protagonist is all lost so why short-change yourself? Here are my top 3 non-fiction suggestions 1) The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k by Mark Manson 2) Predictably Irrational by Daniel Ariely, and 3) Cork Dork by Bianca Bosker. For fiction: 1) Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (also an HBO show) 2) the Dollhouse by Fiona Davis 3) Behind Closed Doors by B.A Paris.
Suggestion 3: Take on a new (or old) hobby. For me—it’s been (surprise!) blogging and am going to really up my wine knowledge. For the past few years, I’ve already been very absorbed in wine (history/ origin, types of grapes, trying to recognize flavor profiles) but will use this opportunity to really dig deep---I have a book called the Wine Bible—which is a nerdy encyclopedia reference book of wine knowledge that I am committing myself to reading. For the rest of you—here’s a small inspirational story from a friend—she recently went to the grocery store to buy bread but surprise none left (the hoarders got there first)--- so she decided to go home and try to make her own bread---wow! Now that is self-subsistence. You rock girlfriend! Accept the challenge my friends—whether it’s baking, photographing, painting, playing the guitar or ukulele--- invest the extra time into a passion (bragging rights included) for when we emerge, you can now show off a new skill!
In the meantime—stay safe, stay sane, and help yourself to a glass of wine---damn it—you’ve earned it.
