Maintaining Mental Health
Four ways I keep my mental health in check without familiar routine.
We are all feeling it as we head into week two or three of quarantine. The feelings of isolation and missing what is familiar to us. Ask yourself, "What am doing to prioritize my mental health?" For me, I feel mentally strong and safe with familiar routine, unfortunately, nothing about what we are experiencing is familiar. So I draw on habits that I have built through the years.
1. I set an alarm and get up. It would be easy to get up whenever I wanted or press snooze 10 times but getting up and starting my day with breakfast, movement and coffee is my routine.
2. I stick with the same exercise time slot and schedule it in my calendar. I workout between 8-10 am no matter what kind of movement it is. Fluctuating through the week causes me stress and leads to excuses.
3. Same goes for eating. Lots of eating triggers are presenting right now, especially boredom eating. For me, eating is a form of self respect and by eating in regular intervals and choosing high quality foods, I am telling myself that I am worthy and I deserve quality nutrition. I enjoy food guilt free. I eat donuts, fruits, vegetables, fats, cheese, grain, meat, plant proteins, etc. I aim for three meals a day including a couple snacks and I never count calories. I eat real colorful food, in consistent time slots.
4. Lastly, I'm patient with myself. No one on this planet has lived through a pandemic, so no one can tell me I am handling it wrong. MY emotions are valid. YOUR emotions are valid. Through patience we slow down and find out what is important. When this is all over, those are the things that will stick with us, the habits we created in adversity.
“There is no change, where there is no action.”
Xoxo, Eleacia