25 Ways to Handle Your Anxiety During Quarantine
Staying home 24/7 can cause some serious anxiety
Photo: Unsplash
Staying home 24/7 can cause some serious anxiety. You can begin to feel restless, annoyed, sad, or cycle through what seems like all the emotions known to man. First, this is perfectly okay and normal; two, it is also very healthy to talk about these feelings to your circle of support and/or a professional to sort through them in the best way possible. There are ways to help the time pass that are beneficial to you and your emotional, mental, and spiritual health, are productive, and that add to your day-to-day happiness instead of depleting it.
We wanted to help everyone survive quarantine anxiety in a positive way by focusing on 25 things that will make you healthier and happier while you stay home. Take the knowledge and pass it on!
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Meditate
Photo: @themagicisinyou/Instagram
Even when it seems like you have so much time on your hands, it’s important to purposefully stop and center yourself. Meditation gives you the opportunity to do that, truly dedicating a moment to just focus on your breath and being present. You will emerge from a meditative state feeling relaxed, refreshed, and more prepared for what comes your way.
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Get Moving
Just as its important to stop and be present, it’s also imperative to get up and get moving! Exercising, even at home, will help reduce anxiety, improve your health, and clear your mind. It’s a mood lifter that will also provides a sense of accomplishment. YouTube has a bunch of cool videos, of various time lengths, that offer effective workouts you can do right at home.
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Call Your Loved Ones
Staying at home so much can feel isolating and sad. In a world of texting, nothing beats taking the time to actually pick up the phone and call your family and/or BFF. Hearing their voice and talking about the random happenings of the day will leave you feeling happy, loved, and not alone. And it will do the same for your loved ones! Win win.
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Get Some Sunshine and Breathe Fresh Air
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Social distancing is necessary, and there’s no way around that. But, you can safely go outside, stay six feet away from others, and also enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. The dose of Vitamin D and connection with nature will feel restorative. It will also help with any cabin fever you’ve been experiencing.
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Listen to Music
Photo: Pexels
Music heals, and right now, we need all the healing we can get. When you’re at home, pick out some great music and turn it up! Unwind with some mellow jams, and get moving to songs you know will lift your spirits and make you smile. Consider it free therapy.
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Make Zoom Calls Fun
Zoom calls, and other such video calls, aren’t just for work meetings. Use them for something fun! Do a virtual happy hour, group workout, hire an expert for an educational class, or anything else you can thing of. Seeing people’s face is as important as hearing their voice. It’s the time to use technology to start connecting us, rather than isolating us.
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Take a Nap
Naps aren’t just for preschoolers and younger children. They’re the best thing to happen to adults, too. A 20 minute nap before 6pm will leave you feeling rested, refreshed, and won’t interrupt your sleep at night. And, we finally have the extra time to take one! Use it, don’t lose it.
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Write in a Gratitude and Grievance Journal
You don’t have to ignore negative emotions. You also don’t have to dwell or drown in them. Journaling allows you to write down what’s been bothering you, find ways to address and solve it, and release it. On the flipside, you can, and should, also write what you’re grateful for. Nothing turns around a negative mind set than taking the moment to acknowledge all the good in your life.
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Eat Healthy
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When a lot of us are feeling down and bored, we instantly reach for the rich, indulgent, and often unhealthy comfort food. While it seems to offer a momentary feeling of euphoria, we are usually left feeling gross and guilty for having a bit too much culinary fun (note: it’s perfectly great to treat yourself, though. Enjoy your cheat day, m’ijas!). Eating healthy truly helps your mood for the long run, by healing your system from the inside out.
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Acknowledge and Honor Your Feelings
We briefly touched on this when talking about journaling, but it is important to acknowledge your feelings. The good and the bad. We are not going to feel super positive all the time, and that’s fine, just like knowing that feeling sad is something that doesn’t have to last forever. Everything from talking to a friend, to helpful apps, to confiding to an educated professional can give you extra tools to assist in feeling your best every day.
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Get Spiritual
Whatever your beliefs, prayer, meditation, and/or connecting to your spirituality helps and heals. Faith gives us the power to know that better days are just on the other side of this pandemic. It also gives us the opportunity to stop believing we are in control of everything, and give that power up to who it truly belongs to.
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Drink Plenty of Water
Photo by Randy Fath on Unsplash
Seriously, drink water! Not drinking enough agua actually leads to feelings of anxiety, fatigue, and crankiness. Drinking enough water will have you feeling and looking fab. A good rule of thumb is to drink half your body weight in ounces of water. Drink up!
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Have a Socially Distant Picnic with a Friend
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If you are committing to social distancing, you can have some fun and connect with friends and family. Why not try a fun socially-distanced picnic? It’s the perfect excuse to enjoy the sunshine, eat some great food, sip some delish wine, and connect with an amiga. Just make sure whoever you’re going to hang out with has also been responsibly social distancing so you know it’s safe to spend time together.
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Do Nothing
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It’s cool to tackle a bunch of projects you’ve been putting off, and fill your schedule with everything on your to-do list. But, even if you’re at home all the time, you need those do-nothing moments. Take some time off during the day, even if it’s a few minutes (this is a perfect opportunity to also meditate for a two-for-one benefit). If you can, take a whole day off. We all need that restorative time, especially now.
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Be a Kid Again
Photo: Pexels
If there’s a time to be silly at home, this is it. We need more laughs and fun. So, why not be a kid again? Play video games with your kids, color in a coloring book (there are fabulous ones for us big kids), watch cartoons, get up and have an impromptu dance party. You’ll relax, laugh, and release some of that pent-up stress.
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Watch Uplifting Content
Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
Keep informed, but don’t fall down the rabbit hole of watching the news too often, or negative content on TV in general. You can help instantly shift your mood by tuning in to hilarious comedies, uplifting shows, smile-inducing movies, and the like. Learn something cool on YouTube, catch a comedy special on Netflix, and keep your feelings en alto with content that adds to your happiness.
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Tackle that Project
Is there something you’ve always wanted to learn, but didn’t have the time? What about that home project that you feel guilty about never actually starting? Now is the time to make a list of things you want to do, and do it! You’ll use your extra free time in a productive way, and feel a great sense of accomplishment. But, don’t feel pressured into doing 100 things, or anything at all! You get to choose what you do with your free time.
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Get Lost in a Book
Today, we are pulled in so many different directions, and have conditioned ourselves to have a super short attention in the quest of multitasking. This often leaves us feeling anxious and stressed out. Dedicating the time to reading a book is a way to help combat that modern habit of trying to be everywhere at once. Sit down on the couch, curl up that cobija San Marcos, and tuck into a wonderful story. It’s a great escape you can have right in your living room.
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Soak in a Bath
If you want, you can get started on a fab book while also soaking in the tub (just saying). A bath is such a traditional way of practicing self-care easily, affordably, and wonderfully. Add some lavender Epsom salt to release toxins and feel super relaxed afterward. It’s a pure at-home luxury.
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Get Creative
Photo: Brit + Co
Art also heals and allows us to express our feelings in a beautiful way. It’s a great time to pick up that paintbrush, pen, crochet needle, or any other artsy tool to start–or keep–getting creative. Need some inspiration and/or direction? You can take an online class (many of which are free now) on sites including Brit + Co.
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Snuggle with Your Fur Babies
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Our fur babies give us so much unconditional love, as well as endless entertainment. They’re hilarious, rambunctious, snuggly, smart, and just add to our overall happiness. They also reduce stress, helping us to live longer lives. Take these moments to snuggle up to your pet, play with them, and be grateful they’re in your life!
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Practice Self-Care
Please take care of yourself. With the extra moments at home we are given with this pandemic, why not practice some serious self-care? We’re talking making cozy tea, stretching, making at-home face masks and creams, getting enough quality sleep, taking time to unwind, and more. It’s an investment that will reap rewards.
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Speak Positivity into Your Life
Positive affirmations allow you to speak positivity into your life. Every day, look in the mirror and tell yourself that you are loved, you are capable, you are amazing, this too will pass, and better days are not far away. This is the opportunity to tell yourself the wonderful truths you want to hear, and should.
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Treat Yourself
Treat yourself. Have dessert, watch that silly rom-com, buy some chic shoes, invest in lipsticks in cheery shades, sleep in. Of course, without going overboard, allow yourself to indulge in the little things that make you smile.
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Remember Your Own Strength
Photo: Old Navy
Remember that you are strong. You don’t have to dwell on particular situations that may dampen your mood, but do focus on the fact that you have overcome so much. You will get through this, and we will get through this together. Just reminding yourself of what a badass you are can give you that much needed dose of encouragement.
