It is important to ensure you are taking care of yourself during self-isolation during the coronavirus. Physically making sure you are getting enough movement while home and are eating the best foods to keep you healthy. Mentally that you are getting enough social interaction and mental stimulation. Spiritually, not losing faith or hope in a better tomorrow. Financially making ends meet.

Wellness during self-isolation due to coronavirus

Physically

You may feel you cannot possibly stay active while you are home in self-isolation. I hear often excuses such as, “I don’t have equipment at home I can use.”,” I like going to the gym.”, “I like to go to spin class.”, etc etc. You don’t need fancy gym equipment to get in a good workout. You just need creativity.

• Use large unopened bags of compost or heavy text books as weights
• Run sprints in the yard
• Find an exercise video on YouTube
• Do stair climbs
• Use cans of soup or bags of unopened flour as hand weights
• Use a bowling ball as a medicine ball
• Do some yoga or Pilates
• See how many jumping jacks you can do in 1 min, 5 min

Good nutrition is just as important for staying healthy during self-isolation as getting active is. It can be quite easy to slip into bad eating habits and additional snacking when boredom sets in. Here are some ideas for helping to keep yourself healthy and your waistline from expanding!

• Focus eating fresh fruits and vegetables while they are still fresh. Switch to frozen vegetables fruits when you run out of fresh. Because they are snap frozen, all the nutrients are maintained.
• Plan your meals and snacks for the week at the beginning of the week. Take stock of what you have and how long it is meant to last. Use this as a way to ensure you use the fresh stuff up quickly.
• Substitute more frozen vegetables for smaller amounts of meat. This will help make what you have last and will have the added benefit of helping your health.
• Find something to do when you’re bored instead of eating.

Mentally

Self-isolation during the coronavirus is stressful on just about every one. It is important, now more than ever, that you ensure time to address your mental health and self-care needs. That may mean booking in time online with a counselor to process your emotions. Taking some time to yourself to do affirmations. Ensuring every day you check in with loved ones you cannot be with. Whatever means necessary to help you maintain resiliency during this difficult time.

We recommend checking out our list of 100 Ways to Practice Self- Care article for more ideas on things you can do. Additionally, listening to relaxing music can help to calm your nerves. We recommend A Peaceful Place‘s playlist, Soothing Relaxation.

Spiritually

When things like the coronavirus happen to the world and change how we live day to day we can at times start to have bigger questions about life. Find solace in a religion if you have one. Confide in your spiritual leader how you are feeling (over the phone preferably). Read your holy text. It is easy to look for someone or something to blame when bad things happen that are outside of your control. Know that there is nothing to be gained in blame or hatred, only in love.

Financially

Right now, the financials of the world are hurting. Chances are that you too have been affected financially by the unstable economy and restrictions put in place. It is important now, more than ever, to cut your spending and look for alternative ways to meet your needs. Some ideas for creating financial stability while in self-isolation during the coronavirus are:

• Get your TEFL and teach English online
• Put up a gig on Fiverr or Upwork
• Start a website for dropshipping
• Learn to make home staples such as bread, pasta/tomato sauce, yogurt
• Start a home garden (weather and location dependent) and grow some of your home’s favourite vegetables
• Cancel your gym membership and work out more at home
• Cancel your cable/satellite in favour of subscriptions to Netflix/Hulu/Disney+
• Learn a new skill from online courses such as Udemy, Yale, or Great Courses Plus
• Turn a hobby into a business ready to launch online

If you are not of retirement age, it is also important to not look at your long term investments at the moment. These numbers are arbitrary and only apply if you were to sell them today, which you are not. Keep your eye on the bigger picture, and if you can, try to put any extra money you do not need away in a savings for emergencies. No one can predict the market at the moment or how long the coronavirus will continue to affect the financials of the world. Be sure you are able to weather this storm.

Conclusion

Taking care of yourself while in self-isolation during the coronavirus means looking after all six pillars of wellness- physical, mental, spiritual, and financial health. When one of the pillars is off, the other pillars start to be effected by it. If you struggle financially, your mind will be on your financial troubles. If you are feeling depressed, you’ll likely be more lax in your diet and exercise routines. Like a well oiled machine, wellness comes from all the parts working in tandem.