Holidays, relaxation, food, less work, fewer worries, less morning routines, etc… these were some of the wishes that we yearned for before lockdown. Work from home was the biggest desire that everyone longed for.
Sleep eat and repeat was something that we preferred. And now the long-desired days are finally here in whatever situation they may be. Covid19 is a threat to the planet earth or maybe a lesson for the homo-sapiens that nature is always greater than the nurturer.
The lockdown has the potential to unbalance us physically, mentally and emotionally. The news about the virus, its victims and the sufferings of the lower section of the society disturbs as entirely. All-day we sit around and discuss these desolations. But the question arises “Mere discussions solve the problem?” The answer is ‘NO’. The problem is deep and requires time, efforts by the government and our support. We as individuals should not permit this tragic situation to interfere with our mental balance because the situation will get back to normal and we’ll have to adjust ourselves back to the normal routine. But the time is long and the rumors, media pictures and sufferings of people are enough to unbalance our mental peace till the good days’ return.
Every coin has two sides. So, as for the present situation, the difference only lies in the perspective. Let’s retrospect’s its optimistic side-
The first fore-deal of corona crises is experienced by everyone’s eye: Mother earth is healing itself. The level of pollution apparently decreased. The ozone layer started to heal itself. ‘Blue sky is visible in Delhi’. So, this time of crisis is a lesson from mother earth that we are over-degrading the natural resources without benefiting it in return.
High blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart attacks are some of the major problems that are reported each day in India. But after the lockdown, the rate of cases reduced. Why did this happen? The answer may be the reduction of stress levels. In Indian work culture, whether its student life or a professional life everyone is stressed out because we never give priority to our mental health. We are occupied with one task or the other. Neither we follow a diet routine nor sleep routine. But this quarantine period gave us time to rest and relax our minds that reduced our mental stress and gave us time to spend with our families, work on our hobbies and enhance our skills.
Though there is a negative and real side of quarantine that cannot be neglected but we can work on them and try to resolve them till an extend.
The first thing that is disturbing our mental peace is the fact that the people from the lower section of the society are facing scarcity of food and shelter. We cannot head out of our houses and help the needy but we can donate some amount to the organizations and the government so that they can provide them with their necessities or if in our surroundings there is someone who needs help then we should extend our services. We can provide food to the stray animals as during this lockdown they are also suffering due to lack of food. Animals do long for love and care and if we provide some relive to them in the situation of corona crisis then we can fulfill our role as a staunch.
The next consideration that disturbs us is the media pictures. On every media platform from television to social media, each news highlights the jeopardy created due to the COVID-19. These are the real news and they can’t be denied from but we should be aware of the world of fake news. People are spreading fake news related to the number of cases reported etc. and in a situation like this, it becomes difficult for us to differentiate between the real and the fake news. So, we as an individual can curtail the time that we spend on watching the news. We should fix a time to watch the news and prefer only a reliable source of information.
The individual challenge during the quarantine:
The time will go back to normal but these days of quarantine have made us a procrastinator. We are all in a relaxed state of mind and the long days of 21 are making us procrastinate our wok. But we should remember that life will get back on the track and we should try to work more productively in this relaxed state. We should assign ourselves with little tasks every-day. Work on new things like drawing, cooking etc.
The epidemic is life-threatening even a small mistake can make us pay our life… But we should not forget the example of Stephen Hawkings who was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis at the age of 21 and was given a few years to live but survived for 76 years and the only reason for his survival was that he never let his medical condition overpower his thought process.
And during these days it’s our responsibility to take care of the mental well-being and we should not be so overpowered with these negative thoughts of the epidemic. We should control our mind and focus on the bright side of the situation because any disease affects our mind first and then our body. Some remedies to control our mind that it focuses less on the negative side are:
Mediation– Mediation can do wonders to mind and soul
Some Physical benefits of mediation are
- Lowers blood pressure
- Strengthens the immune system
- Relaxes muscles and brain
Some psychological benefits are
- Controls anger
- Stress management
- Increases self-awareness
- Calm our mind
Reading
There is a famous quote “Reading is to mind and exercise is to the body”
The best part about reading is that it dwells you in the present.
And this attribute is what we need the most during these days where our minds are either occupied with the past days where we see ourselves enjoying in a restaurant eating our favorite food, roaming around the city roads or we think about the future that what will happen, how many more cases will be reported, will the lockdown extend or end. So, by reading books we get fully engaged and our mind refreshes but the question is how to start reading when we are surrounded by mobiles all day round? So, firstly make up your mind that you want to try new thing at-least for today. Set a particular time say 5 minutes per day and a particular time and in those five minutes isolate yourself and be away from all the distractions and hand over your mobile phone to your family member and ask them not to return your mobile until you are done with the task. Start with a book of your interest read and set a target to read 2 pages per day as your interest escalates the number of pages shall also escalate.
Flourish a new art-
Quarantine is a prime time to ameliorate your abilities and learn new things. If you have never cooked, then cook, if never danced then dance because no one is going to judge you. Do it for yourself as it will keep you busy and your mind free from all the negative thoughts of the world around.
The most important thing is to maintain a daily routine. Not only will it keep you physically and psychologically healthy but prevent you from the withdrawal symptoms that we may experience once the lockdown ends. During these days there are chances especially for the youth who does not bother about their daycare routine the day and night cycle has inverted for them and this may prove harmful for them when they’ll return to their normal routine since coping-up with the demanding days may affect them psychologically in later life.
We as humans have disturbed nature and our minds. So, it’s time for them to relax and get back on track. Give it time and your support.
#stay home #stay healthy
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