How to stay healthy during lockdown!

| read time 5 minutes

My guide on how to stay healthy during lockdown looks at some ways to keep on top of your mental and physical wellbeing.

As the COVID-19 lockdown continues to keep many of us at home, it can be easy to fall into bad habits. The detrimental psychological and physical effects of lockdown are well documented.

During these difficult times, your mental and physical health need a bit of support. So, we’ve gathered together some ideas on how to stay healthy during lockdown. Hopefully, they can give you some inspiration as the lockdown continues.

How to look after your mental health

With all the change and uncertainty in life at the moment, taking care of your mental health has never been more important. There are several benefits associated with positive mental wellbeing, including things like:

•       reduced stress and anxiety
•       improved moods and clearer thinking
•       a greater sense of calm and increased self-esteem
•       improved relationships.

Understand your own mental health needs

For some people, talking about mental health issues can be difficult. They may not know exactly what their feelings are and how to express them. Although this can seem challenging at first, getting to understand your own needs is an important first step towards managing mental health and stress.

Some questions to ask yourself might be:

• Have you been more irritable with situations or people around you? 
• Have you been less interested in activities you usually like?
• Have you found it difficult to concentrate? 
• Have you been sleeping more or less than usual?
• Have your changed routines had an impact on your sleep? 
• Have you been eating more or less than usual? 
• Have you felt overwhelmed and like there is too much to do?

Practice mindfulness exercises 

Practising mindfulness can help to reduce stress and anxiety, improve your memory, and help with concentration. And maintaining a mindful life can benefit your emotional health, relationships and communication skills now and in the future.

A great place to start with mindfulness is with some basic breathing exercises. Take one minute out of your day to sit and focus on your breath. Notice the air going in and out of your nostrils as your chest rises and falls. If your mind wanders, gently bring it back to focus on your breathing. 

Maintain a healthy, balanced diet

If you’ve been working from home or furloughed recently, you’ll no doubt have noticed the benefits of having your own kitchen nearby at all times. You may find yourself eating more of all the wrong things, which, although comforting at the time, can be problematic.

There are so many benefits associated with having a healthy and balanced diet. It’s good for your heart, your bones, your immune system, and your mental health. So, maintaining a healthy diet during lockdown is something we should all think about. 

Set yourself a challenge

When it comes to fitness, gradual progress can lead to some pretty significant results. If you’re thinking about how to stay healthy during lockdown, taking a fitness challenge could be exactly what you’re looking for.

There are some great ways you can challenge yourself from home, without the need for any extra equipment. Will you try and complete 100 press-ups in one go? Or is your aim to hold a plank for three minutes?

Peace out peeps! We're all in this together! We will also come out of this together! It just keeping the right mindset! Keep patience!

THANK YOU!!