Looking after your wellbeing in a pandemic
By Vicky Kakos, founder of The Wee Retreat CIC
Illustrations by Maryam Abbas
Read the Arabic translation (by Ebrahem Alissa)
We’re all feeling the effects of what is happening around the globe. With unexpected pressures, very different day-to-day lives and ever-changing circumstances, it’s difficult to quite know what to do with ourselves.
Living with uncertainty and change is challenging. However, there are things we can do to help ourselves navigate our way through this. Many of these techniques stem from ancient practices such as yoga and meditation, and are as relevant and practical to today’s challenges as ever, perhaps more so.
Positive Practices to Try
Yoga
Meditation
Drawing/painting
Regular walks in the park
Journaling or creative/free writing
Breathing exercises and simple things like
Pausing and listening to sounds around you
Positive Affirmations
Most importantly, these practices help us keep our attention in the here and now. By living in the present, we are less concerned with the future and the past, and therefore have fewer things to “deal with”. Here at The Wee Retreat, we’ve noticed how having a regular self-care practice has helped us navigate our way through these past months.
If you are feeling the consequences of the dramatic change we are facing, here’s our advice: if you already have a self-care routine, double what you are doing. If you don’t look after your wellbeing on a regular basis – start!
There are many ways to look after your wellbeing. The most important thing is to do something. You can experiment with different modalities and see what works for you. Ask friends or family members what works for them, and just give it a go.
Once you’ve found a class or method that you like, the next part is to create a regular practice. This can be a challenge in itself. Here are our top five tips for sticking to a routine and creating a practice that works for you:
Patience
It would be difficult to become fluent in a language or learn how to play the piano overnight, and it is the same with looking after your wellbeing. Whenever you feel yourself getting frustrated or unmotivated, remind yourself you are learning a new skill or deepening your existing practice. Be patient with yourself.
Kindness
We can be so good at being kind to others, yet it can feel so difficult to be kind to yourself. Notice the way you speak to yourself – the tone of voice and language you use when you’ve forgotten to practice or think you’ve made a mistake. When you can, imagine you are talking to a friend and see if that makes a difference.
You do have time!
There is a Zen proverb that says “you should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day, unless you're too busy – then you should sit for an hour.” Believing you are too busy to spend 10-20 minutes looking after your wellbeing is a sure sign you are paying too much attention to your thoughts, and a red light warning that you need to slow down.
Consistency
Just as you wouldn’t take one vitamin just for a day or two and expect to feel the difference, looking after your wellbeing needs consistency. This also means looking after your wellbeing when you feel on top of life. By maintaining a consistent routine through life's ups, we are able to cope better through the downs.
No one can do it for you!
Making the decision to look after your wellbeing has to come from you. Once you’ve made that decision, jot down a few of the reasons you want to look after your wellbeing, then stick it somewhere visible to remind you when you feel your routine or commitment slip. Adding wee notices along the way can help to remind you how far you’ve come.
If you decide to focus some of your attention on your wellbeing, remember that you don’t need to do it alone. Having someone else play a part can provide extra motivation, accountability and support. You’ll find that a friend, family member, colleague or neighbour is just waiting to be asked. Or, if you prefer, there is an amazing amount of experienced and supportive wellbeing practitioners in your area ready to help. If we can provide that for you, don’t hesitate to ask.
