Quarantine and Self-care - by Ashley King
Ashley King is a Licensed Midwife living in Texas. When she isn’t catching babies, she spends her time highly caffeinated, adventuring with community, and striving to write words that matter. Read more at www.ashleylking.com
It’s Day 15 and like most of society, I’ve been practicing “social distancing”.
The Coronavirus pandemic has seemingly caused the entire world to pause.
To hit pause on our jobs,
Hit pause on our schools,
Our Sunday services,
Our weddings,
Our family gatherings.
Heck, even the normalcy of grocery shopping is gone. We’ve all been forced into “pause”, and no one can quite tell us when we can safely hit play again.
As we’re in this pause, I’ve found that for a lot of us...we don’t quite know how to feel. Confusion? Fear? Anger? Worry? Cautious optimism? Desperation?
There’s a vast spectrum to the emotions people are experiencing, and all of them are valid.
The short of it is, this will end.
But until then, all of humanity is living as if we’re “bracing for impact”.
And that brace, that fear and stress we feel as we wait to see what the world looks like with each passing day, wreaks havoc on our bodies and minds. A quick google search can pull up endless data about the effect stress has on the human body. But for the sake of my word count, I’ll say this: we have limited control in this situation, which means that self care is more important than ever. You owe it to your heart, and mind and family to take care of yourself well.
So, what does self care look like in light of quarantines & social distancing?
Self care is merely the act of intentionally setting aside time or putting in place a boundary for the benefit of your emotional, physical, mental and spiritual well being. The beauty of that philosophy is that it looks different for everyone, and you get to be creative. To help you out, I thought I’d give you a jumping off place with a few ideas below:
Limit news/social media usage, especially before bed. We all know that using screens right before bed can be disruptive to sleep cycles anyway, so add in a stressful topic like COVID-19 and you really have a recipe for insomnia. Set some boundaries in place for what kind of media/information you’ll let into your space. Spend some time each day turning off the newsreel and filling your home with some positivity and encouragement.
Find unique ways to participate in community. We all miss our circle of friends and family. While we can’t meet in person, we can use the power of the internet to bridge the gap as much as possible. So whether that’s planning a “Virtual Dinner Hangout” with friends or live streaming a church service, brainstorm alternative ways to connect!
Setup a schedule to break up the days. I’ve found that getting dressed every morning and mapping out my day has helped me beat the gloom. I have a quarantine bucketlist and am trying to do small things here and there to stay engaged.
Get in the sun and increase those immune boosting supplements. This one speaks for itself. Vitamin D has been shown to help combat depression, not to mention helping your immune system. Hammock in the backyard with a book? A walk through the neighborhood with my favorite playlist? Yes, please!
Acknowledge the moment. It would be silly to think that we could avoid the rollercoaster of emotions and stress this situation brings. And I believe it does us a great disservice to try and brush off or ignore how we’re feeling. Sometimes, we just need to sit in it for a moment. To feel the sad, the grief, the worry. I’m also very pro-let’s just cry it out for a second. Look for healthy ways to communicate and process your emotions. Whether that’s with a trusted friend on the phone, sitting down with a journal, or meeting with a counselor via Telemedicine. We aren’t obligated to be happy every moment of every day, it’s just not realistic anyway.
I hope this starts you thinking on unique ways to prioritize self care during this season. Utilize the resources you have, and any moment put towards self care brings value.
Just do one day at a time.
You’re worth the effort.