5 Self-Care Ideas For Lockdown
No one around for miles…
We are many many weeks into this ‘isolation’ and while it seems we are ‘flattening the curve’ there does not seem to be a real end in sight of this current way of life.
Here are 5 ways that I am self-caring and looking after myself:
I am isolating with my boyfriend. We are both working from home and our little cottage has never felt smaller! We get along quite well but there is still a limit to how much time you can spend with one another person. We also live miles from anywhere so we are really quite isolated, I sometimes feel my world is shrinking; walls moving in around me - it can feel almost suffocating. To help with this we have agreed on one night a week where we can spend time on our own. We basically divide the house, don’t necessarily eat together, and we can do whatever we want - I like to sit in the office and have a glass of wine and read a book! I enjoy the peace! I love the no interruptions! My boyfriend uses the time to watch TV shows that I don’t get - Sons of Anarchy - and I don’t know what else! He pretends he might fix some stuff in the shed - but that has yet to happen!
Schedule some beauty time during the week - whether that is paint my nails, give myself a pedicure or do a face-mask. It would be great to do something every day but I don’t have that time. So if I can manage 20 mins for a face-mask and do one set of nails in a week - I am doing good!
Exercise daily! This is so hard - but I do at least 10 mins of yoga a day. Sometimes that is all I do. If the weather is nice I push myself to go for a walk - being that I live in rural Ireland there are empty roads for me to explore. I have identified short walks, some nice ‘rings’ and there are plenty of roads that I have yet to explore to see where they go! This is what we do now at the weekend - walk small country random roads nearby where we don’t know where they go! We normally make some guesses at the start of the walk - and we are always wrong!*
Dont be mad if you have days where you don’t want to do anything! If like me, you feel as though you have been given the gift of time - I have at least an extra 2 and a half hours every day where I am not commuting - then it can feel like you are wasting this extra time if you are not devoting it to learning a new language, starting a blog (!!) or an intense exercise regime! It is fine to set some goals for yourself but try to maintain the balance of having goals but without beating yourself up. This is a new time for us all - and you will have plenty of emotions to process, and there will be days where the 10 mins of yoga is an effort, and on days like that - it is enough! Namaste!
Even if it is virtual - make time for friends and family, and romance. I speak to my parents at least once a week and call my brothers every week - although they are less responsive to my calls! My mom always answers! My friends and I have set up some whatsapp groups so we can chat as a group, which has been great rather than having 50 different conversations! My boyfriend and I have one weekend in two where we have a child-free Saturday night and this is designated date night. We take turns to cook - and we dress up as though we were going out. It can feel abit of a chore to get ready but once I get nice clothes and heels on - it already feels more special! And it feels wonderful when I can see that he has made an effort too!
These are just the things that are getting me through. Let me know how you are doing in the comments below.
Stay safe - and stay home,
Sho xxx
*staying within 2km from home