If you are reading this, the first thing I would like to share with all of you is - “This too shall pass.”

Now that we are in the middle of a 21-day lockdown and have some time on our hands, which all of us are using in various ways to keep ourselves busy, occupied, and happy.

This time is also disturbing with almost 1.4 million cases worldwide and 5000+ in India. So I wanted to share some tips and tricks of what you can do and how you can look after yourself and those you love. 

What is coronavirus?

Coronavirus infections are not new and are a common cause of the flu. This particular coronavirus disease, or COVID-19 for short, is caused by a new strain of the virus: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was first identified in late December 2019 (hence the 19 in COVID-19). It was first seen in the city of Wuhan in China but has since spread across the world

For more information on COVID-19 you can check World Health Organization 

Tips to keep yourself occupied/engaged during the lockdown:

Now is the time to put yourself first and do things that will make you feel happy and relaxed. In such difficult times, we all deserve a little self-love and what better way to do that than self-care?

Not to worry if you don’t know how or where to start, here are a few self-care tips that you can practice.

Cooking

Time to stir the pot a little, even if it is to make instant noodles. During the lockdown, cooking has emerged as a go-to chore for many to pass time, provide nourishment to the body, and to fill up the wide hole left by the absence of takeaway meals and gourmet restaurants. People are cooking because they have to cook. Or because they have nothing better to do. But also because it is therapeutic. Cooking or baking a dish that you like to eat may prove to be a fulfilling experience. Plus home-cooked food is healthier, which means this one is both for the body and for the soul.

Share your favorite dish in comments section.

Taking a long bath

This self-care practice can never go wrong. Stress, anxiety, exhaustion, no matter what, a nice long bath can help you relax your mind and body. If you are living with family, then this will also count as a little me-time that’ll help you regroup your thoughts.

Practice your self-care routine

Take your sweet time to go through your morning self-care routine and your bedtime routine. You can also experiment with some home-made masks as well as face packs. You can make these masks with just simple everyday ingredients like milk, cream, aloe vera, besan, etc.

Spend time in your garden or your terrace

Have your morning coffee outside in your garden or terrace or just with a fully open window with a fresh cool breeze in your face and the sound of birds chirping. You can also enjoy your evening tea watching the sunset from your terrace. Now that we have got time, we should learn to reap these little pleasures of life that bring so much joy to our day to day life.

Exercise

This is one of the ways to not let the lockdown get to your head. You can go for different kinds of workouts which can be done indoors like yoga, cardio, treadmill, etc. There are so many indoor exercise videos available online that you can practice at home. Exercise helps you clear your mind as well as stay healthy and feel good. Taking out an hour or so to workout will bring positivity in your mindset too.

Set screen time

This is very important so that you don’t waste all your time binge-watching series and movies and not do anything productive. Too much screen time will affect your vision and make you feel irritable and sluggish. So put a cap on your screen time, and use your day to pursue other chores. These chores don’t have to always be productive, you can do something unproductive like playing ludo with your sibling, just because it’ll be fun.

Revisit an old skill

All of us have a kill that we have now stopped putting to use due to different reasons. This might be an opportunity to revisit that old skill and rediscover why you fell in love with that particular thing in the first place. We often let go of skills that we think are useless because they cannot be monetized. But under current circumstances, mental peace and happiness are a luxury and these skills could just buy us those.

Learn a new language or learn to play an instrument

This is the right time to work on the things which you had in your list for quite a long time. Being productive in these tough times can help you get some mental peace.

Spend time with family 

Play indoor games, video games, puzzles with your family and cherish your childhood memory again.

Write a gratitude journal

When you are locked down at homes you have so much time to reflect and write a gratitude journal.

Share more tips with us in the comment section about to keep yourself occupied. Share this blog with all your loved ones to keep them informed.