5 Ways to Cope with Covid-19

Stress is hands-down my definitive adjective for 2020. I just can’t wrap my head around it. One thing after another in our globally connected world makes each groundhog day feel just that much more difficult. Even the groundhog days themselves are beginning to put a strain on my coping skills.

16 weeks ago I started writing Morning Pages each morning. It’s been a touchstone for me to begin to cope with all the external and internal triggers that are exerting force against me. This morning I asked myself what I can do right now to improve my quality of life- in spite of everything. Because giving myself a better quality of life right now will improve my internal stress struggles, and that will, in-turn, address my ability to cope with external triggers. As usual, my pages helped solidify things for me. If you haven’t heard of them or tried them yet, let me highly recommend them. Check out The Artists Way by Julia Cameron. It’s been life-changing for me.

Quality of Life Gifts for Myself:

1. Eat vegetables with every meal
2. Eat fruit with every snack
3. Drink a full water bottle (3 cups) before lunch and again before dinner
4. Go outside in the sunshine for a short walk every day. Before going home, breathe deeply for 5 minutes (inhale through the nose for a count of 5, exhale through the mouth for a count of 5). Set a timer. It feels like forever at first.
5. Get away from my devices for at least 5 minutes every 30-45 minutes. Do something else that isn’t connected to a screen, such as:
   -dance, do stairs
   -organize a cupboard
   -match lids to containers and put them away
   -sweep the floor, clean the toilet
   -read a book
   -stretch or do yoga

As usual, most of my quality of life improvements directly relate to food and drink. I don’t believe in prohibitive diets- nothing is off limits. However, like many people I’ve spoken to, I’ve also put on a few pandemic pounds, judging by how my jeans and shorts are fitting.
Some of the shifts in my diet and lifestyle account for that- there has been a lot of Netflix binge watching, junk-food fueled movie nights, and copious amounts of coffee.

Water, vegetables, and fruit are my closest allies, so I’m intentionally adding them in to each meal and snack.
This list might NOT be right for you- but I’d love you to think about what you can do to give yourself more quality of life. Be patient- I certainly haven’t incorporated all of these all the time yet, because it takes time to build a habit.
To weigh in on your top 5, I'd love you to hop over to Facebook, "like" my page, and share your thoughts on this post!
I look forward to hearing about it.
Be well, friends,
Stacy