Covid 19: Self-Care in a Quarantine

This past weekend, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to unfold, we kept coming back to the question of how do we focus on our health - physical, emotional and spiritual?

Physical Health:

• Build and maintain a functional schedule.

• Make a commitment to move. This can happen in many forms - it is important to be mindful of moving our bodies.

• Maintain a regular sleep schedule.

• What are we consuming nutritionally? It would be easy to snack on nutritionally deficient foods during this time, and consuming foods that help our physical health, and our immune system, is as important now as ever.

Mental Health:

• What else are we consuming? It would be easy to fall into a habit of consuming large chunks of media - both regular and social media - that can amplify insecurity, highlight misinformation, and leave us feeling a strong sense of unease.

• How do we focus on factually-based information, as well as minimizing content that leaves us feeling out of control?

• Focus on the things we CAN control. How are we caring for ourselves, our immediate family, our physical environment?

• Practice a fear setting technique. Imagine your fears, then consciously backtrack and engage in actions that move you away from your fears.

• Make a commitment to continue to learn one new thing a day.

• That said, what opportunities does this offer us? To read the book that has been sitting on our nightstand? Engage in online learning or continuing education? Take charge of our children’s learning? Practicing mindfulness? Declutter the house? Get the yard cleaned up?

Spiritual Health:

• Focus on connection. Make a commitment to reach out to three people a day to help maintain our connection to others. In Italy they are singing from the windows to feel connection. What is our version of this?

• Practice gratitude. A daily list can really change our energy.

• A small shift in thinking can make a huge impact. For example: rather than thinking this is happening to us, consider how this may be happening for us.

Talk with children.

• There are many resources available to address this issue with children.

• Kids fill in their own narrative when we leave it open, so it is important to make sure we are driving this conversation to help them manage their anxiety and concerns around this.

• Consider utilizing video applications to schedule time to talk with friends and family members, so that kids also feel connected to people who are important to them.

Utilize Resources:

• Telehealth capacity is an amazing thing. Access a therapist, psychiatrist, or medical professional. This is a wonderful resource during this time, so no better time than now to get comfortable with utilizing it

• Move your body. Many apps and websites are offering free access to their workouts and resources for the next few weeks.

• Churches and spiritual leaders have recorded content accessible to anyone. This includes content series, podcasts, Bible or other literature studies.

• Zoom for recovery support, mental health support, bible studies, etc.

As a reminder, the mission of Cole Wellness is to improve emotional wellness and physical health through counseling, health coaching and personal training. We are a small business. Like many others, we have anxiety about what this might mean for us. We are utilizing this time to turn our attention to:

• Continuing education and developing our competencies for the good of our clients.

• Connecting in creative ways, such as telehealth, phone sessions, and mini sessions.

• Working on serving our clients and community in ways that are functional and helpful.

At the end of the day, we are all in this together. Thank you for your willingness to be flexible and creative, as this allows us the space to do so.