Last week I had the pleasure of being a guest on the Are You Ready to Mingle Podcast where we talked about the importance of sustaining a wellness routine in order to be in the best shape of your life. Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as well.
I felt this was such an important topic to talk about for two main reasons.
One, World Mental Health Day was October 10TH and both Robyn and I wanted to honor that day. Two, because a lot of us are still trying to figure out how to navigate through the pandemic with healthy habits that are not going to push us back from our goals.
Believe it or not even though we have been in quarantine for about roughly 6-9 months now, there are still a lot of people trying to figure out how to sustain their wellness so that they are doing the best they can for their overall health. There’s no shame in this game mainly because this is a whole new lifestyle that a lot of us have been forced to take on so suddenly.
When the pandemic hit, we didn’t have enough time or resources to really make sure that we were prepared to stay at home for an extended amount of time. We weren’t really sure how long we were going to have to stay at home, how long businesses were going to be closed off to the public, and were just taking everything one day at a time.
Every month there seemed to be new information being released about the virus, and new regulations being put in place in order to keep everyone safe, and this made preparing for an extended stay at home even harder. Ultimately the result ended up being that we were required to stay at home and wear masks out in public until further notice.
When this happened, I think it’s safe to say that everyone either panicked or became very frustrated, but really, we all felt extremely unprepared and unsure how to navigate through the pandemic in quarantine for another who knows how many more months. As a result of these emotions people have been struggling even more with finding activities and shifting their lifestyle to keep their health in the best shape possible overall.
Well that’s all about to change if you haven’t already made the necessary changes. I too, like most families and individuals, have been having a hard time adjusting to life at home with my entire family. My goals have shifted, there have been times when they seem impossible to work towards, and I have even noticed changes in my overall health.
However, I have been getting back on track to getting where I started at the beginning of this year before the pandemic took over our lives. I’m going to share with you some tips on how you can sustain your wellness practices for an improved health overall.
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4 Ways to Sustain Practicing Wellness Daily
1. Edit your lifestyle
Since we are all spending more time at home it’s important to make necessary changes in your lifestyle. This includes changes such as your diet, the way you exercise, daily routines that were in place outside of the house, and even the way we communicate and engage with others on a daily basis.
All of these things and so many other small factors of our lifestyle have to change in order to sustain your daily wellness practice. The good thing about editing your lifestyle is that these don’t have to be drastic changes.
They can be small minimal changes where you are just doing more activities inside the comfort of your own home, and not out in public around other people. For example, a lot of people who usually go to the gym on a daily or weekly basis have had to change this routine. So instead of getting up and going to the gym people are buying more workout equipment so that they are able to workout at home without missing a beat.
Editing your lifestyle can also come with the foods that you usually eat. Since the pandemic has taken off in full effect it’s harder to find foods that we usually eat and other resources for survival in stores. In the beginning everyone was stocking up on foods and household essentials which resulted in you bouncing around to 4 different stores before you were able to find one that was stocked with something that you needed.
This has caused a lot of people to switch up their eating habits. For some that meant eating more fast food and take out, for others this may have meant taking on a somewhat plant-based diet for the time being. Regardless of what the pandemic may have done for your diet personally, the fact of the matter is a lot of us have had to take a hard look at what foods we were eating and how much of it, and become more resourceful and minimal with our daily food intake.
These are just some small examples of how you can edit your lifestyle in order to be more reflective of the wellness practices that you want to maintain in order to continue to improve your health overall.
2. Work on finding clarity
Something else that I have noticed happening to a lot of us during quarantine is the cloudiness in our minds. A lot of us no longer have that specific amount of time away from the kids and other people we may live with in our household. We also can’t get that daily normal social interaction that we are used to.
It’s making it very hard for some people to not only concentrate but to also stay focused on their goals. The best advice that I could give you or anyone else during this time is to find clarity in your life.
I know it may seem challenging right now since we are very limited with the places we can go to have that alone time, but I truly believe that where there is a will there is a way. Something that I do to keep my mind free of clutter is I wake up earlier than I usually do so that I can have time to meditate and journal uninterrupted.
You can also sit outside on your front porch, without any technology, and just listen to your own thoughts. Sort through the mess that has become of your mind and remind yourself what your goals are. Remind yourself what it is that you are wanting for yourself in life, and remember what your why is. What is your reasoning?
A big part of finding clarity is knowing why you are doing the things that you are doing, and what your goals are, so that you aren’t doing anything blindly. Sustaining your wellness practices starts with having clarity about what it is that you want and need, and knowing what you have to do in order to get it.
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3. Experience various forms of entertainment
This is a big one! Entertainment can mean very different things and for the most part a lot of us associate it with some form of social interaction. Well since the stay-at-home order has been in place a lot of in-person social interactions have gone away. The way we interact with others is yet another sudden and abrupt change that we have had to make in order to keep ourselves and everyone else safe.
As a result of it some of us may be very lost about how we can now entertain ourselves while remaining at home. Believe me when I tell you that there are tons of things that you can do to entertain yourself while at home. Of course, you have television and various streaming platforms that you can watch a variety of shows and movies on, but there are also other options that will continue to feed your mind in a healthier manner.
Since the start of the pandemic something my family and I have been doing a lot more of is playing board games. Our favorite is Monopoly and this is mainly because of all the different versions that we own and can play. We’ve also been bringing back some of my childhood favorites like memory, goldfish, speed, war, and even Uno! We also take the time everyday to read with each other for about 30 minutes, we do various arts & craft and science projects, and even fun activities that we can safely play outside.
Now when I’m by myself my entertainment game has changed for the better. I spend more time journaling peacefully, I meditate a lot more, I’m more experimental with my workout routine, I’m working on successfully transitioning to being a vegan, and I even spend more time listening to thought provoking podcasts. As a result of this I have found it so easy to maintain my daily wellness practices.
This is because I’m not wasting my energy on things that are not important or not pushing me to come out of quarantine a better version of myself. Instead, I’m investing my time and energy into goals that are meaningful to me, and I’m maintaining that momentum by continuing to practice wellness so that I’m in a good place mentally, physically, and emotionally at all times.
4. Keep a close friend close to you
Having someone to essentially quarantine with has been so life saving for me! It’s important to make sure that you have someone you can talk to and even spend some time with in person (in a house) at least once a week.
Of course, make sure that the two of you are in good health and are doing all that you can to remain in good health and be safe, but also don’t be afraid to have one person that can help bring some normalcy to this whole situation.
For couples that has of course been their significant other. For singles, I would hope that this is a best friend, or a really close friend. Or maybe even someone through some of the other tips that Robyn has stated in the podcast for singles to keep up with social interaction in a healthy and safe way.
Either way it’s good to have someone that you can lend your ear to, someone who can bring your comfort, and be that safe escape when you need to take a break from everyone else. There have literally been tons of creative ways that people have been getting together with other people and essentially quarantining with one another during this time.
The most popular way of course has been through zoom. There have been zoom meetings, zoom baby showers, zoom weddings, zoom date nights, zoom birthday parties and so much more. No matter how you zoom or safely interact with others, just be sure you have at least one person to do it all with.
This can help with maintaining your wellness by giving you that sense of normalcy and letting you know that while the way we engage with the world has changed, the way you love and care for yourself does not have to change.
Conclusion
We can all agree that while these past couple of months, or 2020 really, has not been ideal for anyone, it’s been a year of clarity for us all. There has been so many changes happening in the world, within our own communities, and even in our own environments that are hopefully leading up to something better. We may not be able to see the bigger picture right now, but we have to believe that it is on the horizon.
This is why it’s so important to do all that you can do to sustain your wellness during this time. While it may not always seem easy, I can guarantee you it’s not impossible. At this point life is challenging you to get creative and think outside of the box. Think of ways that you can still make all your dreams come true, and you can still work towards your goals, that does not require you to do so in the way that you would normally do.
Wellness is all about feeling and being complete.
We only achieve this when we really take the time to practice wellness daily. There are so many ways that you can sustain your wellness during quarantine. Things that I have been doing that have been working well for me are editing small parts of my lifestyle, seeking clarity for all that I am experiencing and going through, changing the way I entertain myself, and keeping a close friend right by my side to go through it all with me.
These are just a few things you can do but there are also a ton more. What are some things you have been doing to sustain your wellness during quarantine? Share them with me in the comments below!
P. S.
Be sure to check out the Are you Ready to Mingle Podcast. You can listen to the episode I had the honor of being a guest on through the link right here —>Honoring Global Health Day
-Xo
Kimora