Self-care and Coping skills during a pandemic

Self-care and coping skills are essential in maintaining stable mental health during stressful times. I realize that anxiety and mood struggles may rear their ugly heads during stressful times, but there are things you can do to help keep yourself in check. These options obviously might be a bit more limited during a pandemic. However, there are things you can engage in! Ask yourself: what hobbies, passions or self-care that you can still do. Even if it’s one small thing per day, try to prioritize it. Maybe it’s listening to music or a podcast, taking a bubble bath, being outside on a sunny day, doing some stretching, reading about a topic that you’re passionate about,or even something productive, such as, organizing a junk drawer. Come up with a list of things that make you happy and see which of them you are still able to do.

If you’re feeling stumped regarding what types of things you can engage in then utilize your good ol’ friend, Mr. Google. There are ample ideas of things that you can do. Anything that sounds intriguing, grounding, inspiring or exciting to you might be a good idea to explore.

This situation may also challenge you to think outside of the box and find an alternative outlet. For example, you might not be able to go to that weekly exercise class you attend, but there are a ton of exercise classes on YouTube that you can follow along with. Try not to think in black and white, sometimes the answer lies in the middle. It doesn’t need to be all or nothing.

Furthermore, don’t forget about humor. Whether it be looking at memes, reading a witty book, watching a funny movie or comedy special, listening to an amusing podcast or calling a funny friend… do it! It definitely helps.

This is also an opportunity to do some trial and error regarding things that you may or may not enjoy. Have you ever thought about giving yoga a try? or maybe meditation? How about cooking new recipes that you’ve been meaning to try? With your extra time you might feel like just vegging out in front of the couch and that’s okay to do sometimes. However, try to motivate yourself to spice things up and utilize your time in other ways as well. You may end up thanking yourself. Tip: Write ideas down and then develop a plan. The more details the better. People are more likely to follow through with things when they write them down. It helps to hold yourself more accountable.

Remember that now is the time to be kind to yourself. When you’re feeling off is when you usually need self-care and coping skills the most!