By Aleksandra Sasha Horwood
For me, being in lockdown is nothing new. Except, I chose it myself and went into a three-year retreat. That was in 2006. And it lasted exactly three years, three months and three days. This lockdown for all of is us not going to extend to that period of time, but we still need a plan for how to cope with the many challenges we are facing.
Here 10 fundamental tips for your physical and mental well-being:
1) Prioritise
Freedom awaits, yet there are so many pitfalls down the road. Too much Netflix, too many beers, too little time in sunlight. Make a schedule. Know your weak points and protect yourself from yourself. If exercise is important to you, prepare a nice corner in your room or garden and treat it as a delight and as an exquisitely pleasurable experience, that you can live off for the next 24 hours. Example, doing even 20 minutes of yoga, stretching or any gentle exercise will calm your mind while moving your body in a gentle manner.
2) Utilise
Remember the time when you went shopping for the smallest gadget you never ever used? If you still have any piece of equipment, make use of it now. The elastic stretch band, ping pong rackets, skipping rope, hula hoop… Otherwise, take a big dictionary and use it as a yoga block to sit on, to hold it above your head with stretched arms or place it on the top of your head and walk around the flat or garden to create a better posture.
3) Stabilise
We need to stay as stable as possible – whatever that means to each one of us individually. Grounding activities, like gardening, cooking, or creating something with your hands are a welcome tool for the stability game. If you know how to do standing poses in yoga, like Tadasana or Warrior 1 and 2, this is the time to do it daily. Breathing methods which involve longer exhalations are very beneficial for reducing anxiety and depression.
4) Vitalise
Personally, I believe this is one of the most important tasks for us now. We have to find ways to stay positive, agile and hopeful. Whatever it means for you, do it – use a trampoline, if you have it, go for a jog or do some inversions, bac bends and forward bends in yoga. The whole family can do a camel pose together or a bridge and then all sit on the floor and extending their arms and legs, touch feet to feet, hold hands and stretch the front of your torso upwards.
5) Clarify
Living in the unknowing? Mental fog? Irritation? This mind of ours is like a computer and it needs to have a clear structure of what is downloaded and where. Be mindful what you allow into your brain. All of our behaviour is based on our thoughts and the thoughts are based on the stored information in our brain cells (very simplistic summary). Give permission only to constructive ideas and projects; do a proper spring clean of your consciousness. Meditate with your eyes open and do not be distracted by the noise in your head. Do not follow your thoughts, they are not yours. Think of them as passengers in a big train station. Thoughts come and go.
6) Perceive
Constantly comparing how it was before the pandemic? Worrying about the future after the pandemic? Memories can be a bondage. Live in the present moment, connect with others and do a self-inquiry of what matters to you the most. Comparing the times, the places and experiences will only aggravate your stress levels. Try to avoid jumping on a rollercoaster of hope and fear. Sit with your back against the wall or sofa, and feel the ground under your feet and your sitting bones. Allow the gravity to pull the bones down, but lift the fontanelle up, extending the back of the neck and slightly dropping the chin. Breathe.
7) Deduct
What can it teach us? After all, there must be something we learn from this. Take time to acknowledge all of the good changes you noticed in society and the environment. Then focus on yourself and ask yourself about the benefits, opportunities and possibilities coming out of this global crisis. Use the power of that knowledge to work on your balance. Stay on one foot, lie in the Tree Pose or simply shift weight on one foot, while standing. Recognise how you still have the balance in your body and your mind even in unstable times we live in.
8) Strengthen
Remember your deep connection to humanity and draw your energy from that recognition. That virtue is already inside you and why not free it up by doing some really powerful exercises or go running if you can. Re-establish faith in your own qualities and potentials.
9) Mobilise
Just like all the organs of your body which move when you move, mobilise your friends and family, your colleagues and neighbours into action, to better someone’s life, to improve the care for the neglected ones. Is there an area in your body that has been ignored and left alone for too long? Do your knees need to learn how not to overextend, how to protect the joints by lifting the knee cap, by making your quadriceps stronger and also more pliable? Do you have a lower back problem and finally learn how to stretch properly and how to sit on the front of the sitting bones?
10) Connect
Just like intertwined society, your work buddies, your family, your body and your mind, it is all connected. There is only so much protection we can do, but connectedness is our inherent state. Explore the boundaries, within your comfort zone. Reach out to people you usually would do, there are so many virtual channels where you can gain insights about the common places. I just finished a digital campfire gathering. There were six different people from all over the world. And Gustavo from Lima, Peru, told me that he loves yoga and meditation, just like I do. Keep stretching, people!
Aleksandra Horwood is a journalist, a senior yoga therapist and meditation teacher. She has been a guest speaker for different events promoting physical and mental health and wellbeing in the USA, Germany, France and now, the UK. With over 30 years of experience in practising and teaching yoga, and holding the highest teaching accreditation with Yoga Alliance, she delivers classes and workshops to the schools, corporates, charities, athletes and specific patient groups, like cancer and stroke survivors.
