What to do if you're feeling low

As time is passing and life on lockdown due to the virus is continuing, there is no news yet of the end of this lockdown with the extension of three weeks. There are people who rail against this as their businesses and livelihoods have taken a long pause and the stress of this is mounting. Peoples circumstances differ widely. The stressors on all of us are very different – some people are finding this a wonderful hiatus from the hustle and bustle of their lives and others are finding it almost impossible to make ends meet. No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, either at home with four children who require our support with home schooling or alone, day in, day out, with very few people even to speak to on the phone, our emotions are what will determine how we deal with the situation and it is the strength of our minds which really can assist us now. What we give our attention to will determine the quality of this time and there are practical, physical and emotional tools that can help us with the raise in our levels of anxiety and depression. They are, as usual, very straightforward and they can bring comfort to us no matter what our external circumstances are bringing us.

1. If you are having a ‘low’ day, just relax into it. If you are feeling this way, there is absolutely no point in trying to force your mind and your heart to do anything but take it easy (unless of course you have responsibilities that cannot be avoided like working from home). Allow yourself to give in to taking things super slowly and to rest. Remember that sleep is an important factor in taking extreme care of ourselves, something that I advocate wholeheartedly, and this might mean taking a nap during the day. I hasten to add that if you do need some rest, even if you have responsibilities, sometimes it is the most sensible thing to do to just give in and go to bed. Take a sick day, ask your partner to have the children for the afternoon and just sleep. Try to avoid switching day to night and night to day with this practice by lounging in bed all day – if you happen to be able to do this – but by all means take a siesta. Sleep is a healer of all things and the restorative benefits of a nap are priceless in this situation.

2. Eat well. There is nothing more important than your nutrition to sustain you. As far as possible, buy fresh fruit and vegetables during this time and do what you can not to either under eat or over eat because your system will be behaving differently during this period. You may be less active than you are during the course of your day normally and so your digestive system may be sluggish and need some assistance so eat plenty of fibre and drink plenty of water throughout the day. Treats are necessary – I have taken to drinking warm cashew milk with cocoa at various points in my day, this is comforting and the sweetness gives me a boost. If you are alone, do not eat while doing something else. This may seem obvious but speaking to your Mum and eating your evening meal at the same time mean that your body is not 100% focused on the processing of breaking down your food and speaking may interrupt chewing. Not only does this mean that your stomach has to work harder but that air can get in and you will give yourself wind! Whatever you do, do it consciously.

3. Walk, if nothing else. With the government restrictions on how much exercise we can take during the course of the day and with the inertia that we feel when we are stuck indoors, we may lose the impetus to get out of the house each day. I live in a flat in the middle of the city and it feels like an effort to get down the stairs and out into the world at times but it must be done. The benefits of fresh air from the open window is not a substitute for the breeze in your hair as you stride through the local park or up the high street. You will have new and unforgettable experiences when you walk through your normal habitat while you are on lockdown. I went for a walk last night and it was so strange to see all the closed restaurants dark inside and the only shop open along the entire street being Sainsburys. There were groups of homeless people congregated on the pavement and it felt like a completely different place. It was an interesting feeling, together with the deserted streets and the singing birds which have replaced the cars going past my building every few minutes.

4. Appreciation. No matter what situation we find ourselves in, appreciating what you have is important. This is not designed just to make you feel lucky, nor to compare yourself with others at this time (or any other time), this is designed to lift your spirits. This is why, when ‘doing’ my appreciation, which I do almost every day of my life, I write down simple, true statements. I appreciate my comfortable bed, I appreciate that I have food to eat, I appreciate that my Dad called me last night etc. Nothing that isn’t absolutely true. The mind is a canny beast and it knows when you are telling it the truth or not. It is important to remember that if you are already in the middle of a bad day, doing your appreciation is not going to work and can make things worse because you if you list something you are appreciative of or you love, you don’t feel that love and it somehow brings up the opposite. Try to appreciate all that you have instead of being positive. I have always found this to be a vague instruction that I cannot take hold of and practice wholeheartedly as I can appreciation. I would recommend writing the statements of appreciation on a piece of paper or in a book. If you look back over a book, you can see just how much you have to appreciate in your life and you feel more and more appreciation.

These are the first few things that can assist with anxiety and these are things that I write and speak about very often. The basics are of utmost importance when caring for yourself. Caring for yourself will assist you to get through this period no matter what you are facing in your life and these will help you to get through this time and out the other side.

If you need help then please do reach out for it..

hillybarker@gmail.com