Quarantine survival guide – 10 tips to turn the curse into a blessing

The past weeks it seems that the topic of coronavirus has inserted itself into every single aspect of our lives. It appears to be the only thing everyone is talking about, it’s all over the news and what is more, it’s directly affecting our lives by governments recommending (or in some cases – forcing) their citizens to stay in their homes in order to cap the rapid spread of the disease. While many people are complaining how this is destroying their social lives or stressing themselves out about contracting the disease or worrying about where this is all leading, I would like to present maybe a somewhat controversial view on the whole situation. What if this could actually be a blessing for many of us?

I acknowledge the fact that there are people out there indeed severely affected by this but I truly believe that the way we collectively respond to this can drastically influence the course of the events. If we stay in constant state of fear and stress, it will do no one any good. What we can do is, of course, take proper care of hygiene and our immunity but also fully embrace the fact that we might need to stay at our homes for at least several weeks ahead. And I think the key to how this experience will turn out for us is how we choose to use this time. Here is the action plan that I propose to ensure that you make the best of it and actually grow in a positive way through it.

  1. Realize that alone time is not something to fear but rather to rejoice about. In our rushed lives, we often forget to take time truly for ourselves and go within. I think it’s amazing that many people can finally experience the luxury of alone time. I hope this will encourage us all to reflect on our lives and priorities, on how we treat the Earth around us and the consequences of it, to go within ourselves and reconnect with our true, calm nature. Meditation can be a great tool to help you with this and there are so many forms you can choose from! Now you finally have the time to try them out and see which one works for you. You can find plenty of guided meditations on YouTube – from simple breath exercises through mantras to visualizations. You can even try meditating on your own by focusing on your breath, on a mantra of your choice or with your eyes open, focusing on a point on the floor or on a candle flame. Possibilities are endless!
  2. Avoid obsessively following the news. This will not help you in any way and can rather harm your immunity by increasing your stress levels, making you actually more vulnerable to catching a disease. If you need to, you can check an informative page of a health organization in your country once per day or even every second day, but steer clear of websites that only try to attract more readers by spreading the fear and controversy. Bombarding your brain with such stress inducing content all the time will only put you in a stressed and fearful mindset. Remember – you have a choice. Even in a situation like this, you can choose to focus on positive influences which will impact your state of being positively. Being in such state, you will feel stronger and you’ll be more likely to both support other people who might need it and stay healthy by yourself.
  3. Find creative and insightful ways to spend your extra free time. Rather than lying on your couch and watching Netflix the whole day, try learning a new skill or language (there are so many courses out there!), read deep, insightful books, take up some self-development courses, try doing puzzles that exercise your brain, listen to music that lifts you up, dance or just simply enjoy it, watch good, constructive documentaries (I love the new Goop Lab docuseries on Netflix) or feel good movies, put some time in developing the business ideas you had and you were putting off due to the lack of time. Perhaps you were thinking on writing a novel or setting up a blog or an online shop selling your self-designed jewelry? Now is the perfect time to take the first steps. Don’t waste this opportunity!
  4. Do home workouts! There are so many fun ones on YouTube! This will not only ensure you keep fit and confident with your body, but also will boost your immunity and release endorphins making you feel good straight away. For me they’re especially fun if I put on my own positive playlist in the background. Make it your goal to get in the best shape of your life!
  5. Take care of your health and boost your immunity with proper nutrition! Ensure your body is strong inside out. Try out some new recipes. Now you have time to prepare and fully enjoy the meals without any rush. Ensure that your body gets maximum nutrition with fruits, vegetables, herbs and herbal teas. Add some antiviral ingredients to your meals, to help your body fight off the enemies. To name a few – turmeric, cinnamon, sweet potatoes, coconut milk, coconut water, coconut oil, licorice, garlic – are all delicious and easy to add to your diet.
  6. Unite with people! I think the beautiful thing about this situation is that it leads many people to actually unite in fight against it. We are all in this together – pretty much the whole world and we can unite and stay strong and hopeful together too! Just because you cannot go out, it doesn’t mean you cannot have any human contact. On the contrary, we are truly lucky to have so much technology in place these days that people who have gone through similar disasters in the past could only have dreamt of. Why not reach out and skype with that old friend that now lives far away and you never see them any more? Or share some love by sending your friend a positive good morning text? Or gather a couple of friends and play board games online together! You can even add voice and video to it through many platforms. With my friends, I have been using boardgamearena.com in combination with discord.gg for voice. It works great! If you can still work from home like I do, a cool idea that my colleagues came up with is a virtual boiler room. We basically have a permanent link that anyone from the company can join at any time throughout the day and chat together about anything and everything, see each others’ faces even if we’re not wearing any make-up or fancy clothes. All these things can easily remind us that we’re all in this together and we can support each other and show each other love and kindness throughout this time, even if we’re not in the same room.
  7. Practice mindfulness and slow down your life. Worrying about what will happen or focusing on missing things you cannot do right now can really negatively affect how you feel in the present moment. If you want to feel good, choose to focus on the present moment and make the most of it. Take things slowly, relax. When you’re eating, enjoy every bite, feel the taste on your tongue, the fragrance of spices. If you’re exercising, fully focus on it. Feel your muscles getting worked out, feel the energy in your body. Remember, the present moment has always been all we really have, don’t let it pass you by, enjoy it!
  8. Take care of the space around you. Make sure you keep it clean and spacious. Perhaps light up a candle, put up some lights. This will have a huge impact on your mood.
  9. Spoil yourself. Show yourself some love by taking a long fragrant bath, putting on a nice balm, a face mask. Just because you’re not going anywhere, doesn’t mean you cannot look like a million dollars. Do it just for yourself. Why? Simply because baby you’re worth it! ๐Ÿ˜‰
  10. Finally, take the time to be grateful and appreciate the blessings of your everyday life in normal circumstances. Now that some liberties and entertainments have been taken away, we can actually notice how amazing it is to be able to have them in our lives. Therefore, let’s not forget to be grateful for all these things once everything comes back to normal ๐Ÿ™‚

Let’s be grateful for the extra free time that staying at home gives us and make the most of it. I hope we all come out of this stronger in our minds, hearts and bodies and more united and connected with each other and nature than ever before. Speaking of nature, it is amazing how much positive impact this has on it – less CO2 in the air with less planes flying, factories not working, blue skies in China! This should give us also something to think about and be grateful for (is it the economy we should really care about or our connection to nature?). With that, I send you, dear reader, lots of love!

If you’re looking for some inspiration in terms of what to read, watch or listen to that can positively impact your state of being, stay tuned. I am preparing a post with my favorite positions that I will share within the next few days!

2 thoughts on “Quarantine survival guide – 10 tips to turn the curse into a blessing

  1. Great post!
    As it seems like the effects of COVID will be around for a while, this is a list I plan to revisit a couple of times! I’ve definitely been using home workouts as a way to manage stress and improve fitness and would recommend it to anyone!
    Looking forward to reading more of your stuff!

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