Staying Safe and Sane During this Extended Coronavirus Season
[Based on lifestyle, everyone has a personal mix of Top Tips]
During this season of coronavirus, and, according to some virus specialists, the upcoming seasoning in November, we need to continue practicing self care measures. This includes safety measures to keep ourselves and others safe. The first two items on this self-care list addresses those precautions. However, beyond this, with many Americans isolated indoors under some forms of home-stay order, we must do other things to maintain a healthy physical and mental state. The other items of this list suggests some of those activities.
1 Wash Your Hands. Soap and water is the most effective method for disinfecting your hands. Wash the backs and fronts of your hand, including between the fingers, for 20 seconds to receive full benenfits. To ensure an unrushed steady count, you can count 1-mississippi, 2-mississippi, 3-mississippi, and so forth, until you count to 20. I usually recite the alphabet song which, at the pace I sing, is 23 seconds. If you’re in public, a hand sanitizer can perform this disinfecting function. Here’s a video where hip hop artist Doug E. Fresh and friends gives us a rundown.
2 Maintain social distance of six feet and continue to wear your personal protective gear. Your personal gear should idealy consist of a medical mask and disposable or washable gloves. Though less effective, you can wear a cloth facsimile of the medical mask or at least a scarf or bandana over your nose and mouth. This will protect others if you are infectious with the coronavirus and display no symptoms. Wearing protective gear is especially critical when people fail to maintain the six-foot apart guidelines. As states and cities lift their stay-home mandates, correctly wearing and maintaining proctective becomes more imperative. To lessen the risks of infecting others upon returning home, everyone should wash their hands thoroughly. Some people additionally remove their shoes and change their clothes, and sanitize personal protective gear as needed. To further lessen anxieties, some people shower and gargle with mouthwash. Though some may debate the fine points of these various habits, you should develop the precautions you deem necessary to keep yourself and others of your household safe.
3 Eat as healthy as possible. Circumstances governing our lives in the midst of this chaotic period may interfere with normal eating habits. However, sustaining yourself on frozen pizza and hot dogs may provide convenience, but it is not a diet you can maintain in the longterm. You’ll have to find ways to inject some fruits and vegetables in your diet. Some people use local restaurants who deliver curbside to fulfill this need. If freshly prepared produce isn’t an option, then frozen vegetables and low-sodium can vegetables can substitute. You also need to include healthy proteins and healthy fats as well as the proper types of carbohydrates. Binging on snack foods may provide instant gratification but should not be justified as your new diet. Even when cooking options are restricted, periodically preparing healthy comfort dishes and healthy treats can boost morale.
4 Obtaining proper levels of rest is particularly vital to maintaining good health. During sleep, many of the body systems, including immune, skeletal, muscular, and neurological, go into a restorative mode. Proper sleep supports healthy mood, memory, and cognitive functioning. Additionally, longterm benefits of sleep lowers heart disease and diabetes and reduces stress, risk factors that can worsen our medical condition if we were striken with covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Short naps can supplement sleep, especially when the normal sleep cycle is interrupted or shortened.
5 Maintain a sensible exercise routine. The release of endorphins during exercise can strengthen your body, your immunity and offer a sense of well-being. Exercise must be tailored to your particular health level and risk factors, so, receiving advice from your is important, especially if you’re beginning or re-establishing an exercise routine. For those who are modify their gym routine to a home routine, the lack of workout machines and weights at home necessitates your adpating your routine for a workout mat, chair, and other stable surfaces. When possible, you should maintain a scheduled workout routine with appropriate rest periods. Three or four days of exercise with a rest day in between works for many people. Some people include brisk walking or a jog as part of their exercise routine. Remember to exercise prudently. Shortness of breath may be an indication to pause or slow down. In other cases, contacting medical professional may be advisable.
6 Obtain daily sunshine. Exposure to early morning sunlight (before 10 a.m.) for 10 to 15 minutes provides great benefits. While longerm and prolonged exposure during peak hours (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) may cause health problems, limited sun exposure aides the body in producing vitamin D. Vitamin D is often called the “sunshine vitamin,” and some consider it as vitalizing as oxygen to the body. Vitamin D of the body supports immunity, heart health, and an array of other bodily processes. In regards to immunity, sunlight supports proper functioning of T cells, vital to defending our immune system against invading foreign microorganisms. Sunlight exposure promotes restful sleep by influencing circadian rhythms. Moreover, daily sunlight increases serotonin levels and lessens stress and mild depression. For individuals who cannot travel outdoors, the use of full spectrum light bulbs that mimic sunlight can help, especially for minimizing seasonal affective disoder, which can cause depression.
7 Establish routines for social engagements. With people isolated or quarantined by stay-home orders, individuals are craving the social contacts with family, friends, work colleagues, and others associated with normal social routines. This isolation is so great for some they violate the constraints of social distancing to be in physical contact with others, regardless. The isolation may be particularly acute for the person who lives alone. As individual may be locked into the situation for the foreseeable future, the need to establish new connections with others can be life saving. This can be simply reaching out to family and friends and reestablishing scheduled contact through phone calls, social media, and texts. Other social engagements can include participating in the many online events and activities around shared interests and passions. Many of these communities that once conducted in-person meets are now developing ways to bring people together. Musical concerts, worship services, and other community events now regularly meet online to create a sense of fellowship and belonging.
8 Establish new routines for managing stress. In the wake of the covid-19 pandemic and the devestation to our normal way of life, most everyone is experiencing an unprecedented level of stress. For most, stress degrades the functioning of our immunity and erodes our sense of security and of being in control of our lives. People feel anxious and panic-stricken. More than ever we need to employ tools to de-stress and maintain equilibrium. When feeling overwhelmed and panicked, we can pause for a moment. One useful tool is breathing exercises. Breathe through your nostrils for two seconds and then slowly exhale the air through your mouth for 4 or 5 seconds. Repeat five or six times until you feel yourself calming down. Ideally, you should learn this breathing techique before you need to employ it in an emergency. Also, limit your media intake of the Covid-19 news. Decide the important news sources and how news intake you can manage. I limit myself to 10 hours per week of specific news sources. A friend manages twice this amount. If you become too overwhelmed, talk to a mental health professional.
9 Establish a daily healthful practice to center your spirit. Depending on your lifestyle, this can include a range of activities. For a household of people or for the person living alone, it can be stabilizing to set a close-to-normal routine. Once you create a stable environment, it’s easier to build in other healthful activities. For some, these spirit-centering activites can include meditation, praying, reading scripture, gardening, journaling or creating art. This activity should create a sense of peace, stillness, or mindfulness. It should be implemented daily as a part of your routine. Practicing the daily activity of expressing appreciation and gratitude (even if only silently to yourself) can work wonders in boosting your immune system. As we are living in unprecedented times, we need to marshall whatever positive energies we can.
In conclusion, at a time when some states and cities open up, as medical processionals have acknowledged, coronavirus may circulate in isolated pockets within the community, we need to remain calm but vigilant. We need to stay safe and maintain our sanity during a potential extended season of coronavirus. We need to establish routines that will allow us high functioning for ourselves and our loved ones. Washing hands, practicing social distancing with proper personal safety gear, exercising regularly, obtaining proper sleep, and maintaining a immunity-supporting diet are crucial to accomplish this. If you can afford it, perhaps doubling your tips for those on the frontline providing curbside food and grocery deliveries. (In these cases, you can probably do so through the shopping and food delivery apps. Plus, if done with genuine gratitude, you’ll benefit from an added boost of serotonin.) Lastly, with anxieties running rampant, don’t forget to incorporate some type of calming and spirit-centering activities in your life. Your loved ones need you around as we ride out the storm of this rising and falling pandemic.
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