This period is rough on all of us, for a lot of different reasons. Keeping sane during the pandemic can be hard; health, financial, educational, social and other worries are on our minds. There doesn’t seem to be an end to it in sight. I’d like to share some of the things I am doing to manage my mental well-being during this time. These are no substitute for professional help from a therapist or doctor, so don’t hesitate to reach to one if you need it. This isn’t the time to hope you can just “muscle through” this crazy time.
I don’t promise to be an expert or to practice what I preach every day, but these techniques are in my “mental health toolkit” and you might find a few new things to try to keep sane during a pandemic. And I realized when I started to write this that there’s a lot to say on this topic, so I’ll be sharing Part 2 at some point in the future…
Exercise
Keeping sane in a pandemic using exercise is such a personal topic because frankly everyone needs to figure out for themselves what works. For me, I have to sweat and be breathless at least once a day to feel like I’ve gotten some sort of release from stress. Our new Peloton bike has helped with that. But others may do just fine with yoga or walking. Or maybe trying something completely new. I am so impressed by my brother-in-law, Kate’s husband, who has taken up rowing, biking, stand-up paddle boarding, surfing and kayaking in recent years. It helps to live someplace like Santa Barbara where you can do a lot of different outdoor activities most of the year!
There are a few principles that all of us should at least consider adopting (in my opinion):
- You need balance. You don’t need to go all out every day
- When in doubt, get outside
- Just because someone else likes something doesn’t mean you need to too
- A walk is never a bad idea
- As we get older, we can’t just rely on cardio- we need to incorporate some strength work and flexibility exercises
Socializing
I know, I know, this is one of the hardest aspects of living through this time. But we need to keep up our connections however we can and they can really help us stay sane during a pandemic. Even socializing with our pets can be important. And we can’t let our at-home family member relationships devolve into very transactional engagements. Kate has made a conscious effort to go on date nights with Steve, even though they spend their days in close quarters. Spending some time not talking about our worries and stresses can be just what we all need.
Kate and I use the Marco Polo app throughout the day to keep in touch and it’s been a great, easy and free way to stay asynchronously connected.
Breathing and meditation
Everyone talks about the importance of meditation in managing stress. I would have to say that I am an occasional and not very good meditator. But I’ve realized that exercises that help me focus on the breath really, really do work. So I’ve included a few resources on that below, along with some of the meditation sources I’ve used. There are endless apps, podcasts, etc. Try a number of them and see if something resonates with you.
- Rancho La Puerta breathing mediations: After the Ranch shut down due to COVID, they started sending out a lot of great content, including this series of breathing meditations. Love them!
- Wall Street Journal article on importance of circular breathing: You might not think of the WSJ as a great resource for this type of thing, but I found this article very interesting. Apparently most of us are lousy breathers!
- The Peloton app has some good meditation content and if you are a Peloton subscriber, it’s included (saving you the monthly $$ for another app, potentially)
- Waking up with Sam Harris app: I’ve been a follower of Sam’s for years. The meditations are great but I like the “Theory” content with little bite-sized life lessons and interviews. The lesson on “Begin again” is a very powerful message and one that I seem to need to relearn frequently!
- Oprah and Deepak meditation series: This was my first foray into meditation and it’s good for beginners. I must say it’s hard to get past some of Deepak’s nuttier ideas…
Healthy habits
- Sleep: Sometimes it’s best to just go to bed! Really, just put down the phone and get into bed. There’s lots of great info on good sleep habits out there; figure out what works for you.
- Food: I’m never going to be perfect at this, but again the main goal seems to be balance. I love carbs so I try to not eat bread for three meals a day (I know, I know, it’s tough :)) Lots of greens, water, some fruit, protein. Sometimes a handful of fun sized Twixs- see what I mean about balance?
- Vices: I don’t smoke or take drugs, so I can’t comment on how difficult it is to manage usage or whether they can help manage stress in the short-term. But I do like a glass of wine and an occasional margarita, and it’s important to not over-indulge or over-rely on alcohol or other substances during a stressful time. Ok, lecture over 🙂
What are you doing to manage stress and keep sane? Anything you have tried that has worked particularly well?
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