Staying Calm during COVID

Worried that using humour might be inappropriate right now? Don’t be.

According to Dr Chloe Paiddoussis-Mitchell, a chartered counselling psychologist, humour is essential in this time of crisis.

“We can’t control what happens outside of us, but through humour we can avoid becoming overwhelmed by negative emotions such as fear, distress, anxiety, anger and depression.”

Laughter triggers a hormonal response in the brain - your adrenaline levels drop and you become more relaxed. It also increases feel good endorphins and can reduce your stress hormone cortisol.

Laughter is also proven to be contagious, affecting those around you.

There are plenty of ways to get a bit of humour into your life, from podcasts and video clips, to books and films. If you’d like to be part of some collaborative, creative humour take a look at Taskmaster on YouTube!

And if you’re after a bit of political satire and silliness, I love Michael Spicers’ The Room Next Door...

It’s quite natural to start your day with a great ‘to-do’ list. But how often do you end your day feeling a lack of accomplishment, beholden to that never ending list and feeling like somewhat of a failure?

Lists can be great, but they can also be a burden. Personally I need lists and sublists for many areas of life, however - managing my lists so that they don’t manage me was something I had to learn the hard way. 

This article offers some great advice on lists and managing our guilt around them.

If you have young children in your home, keeping them exercised and entertained may be a large part of your day.

One of our local communities has created a Teddy Bear hunt across their town, apparently inspired by the children's book, We're Going on a Bear Hunt.

Managed through a Facebook group, participants are assigned the next number in the series for families to discover as they take their daily walk.

If nothing like this exists in your neighbourhood, why not take inspiration to start your own Teddy Bear hunt? A great way to encourage your kids out of the house, but also watching their delight as they see someone notice their ‘bear’ and number in a window of your house.

With spring now actively upon us, you may well have noticed more of the changing season around you - the reduction in road and pedestrian traffic has allowed the sounds of spring to become more apparent.

I was reminded this week of a fantastic coping technique for moments of anxiety. This is called the 5-4-3-2-1 technique. By focusing on each of your senses at a time and becoming aware of your immediate environment, you can reduce your heart rate, breathing and bring your mind and body back to calm rapidly.

In my outdoor space, practising this technique I realised quite how much of spring was around me and how much joy it brings.

Both exercise and sleep have been recents topics in looking after our biggest asset - don’t forget to continue to practice good sleep hygiene and make sure you’re active in some way everyday.

 But this weekend is one where we traditionally enjoy good food around the table with loved ones.

The simple pleasure of preparing and enjoying food is one that can never be overlooked. Shared eating rituals are a huge part of our social complex and reward system.

“I sometimes think the act of bringing food is one of the basic roots of all relationships” Dalai Lama (14th)

So rather than admonish yourself for a little indulgence this weekend, take the time to enjoy it. Plan, prepare and eat mindfully, see how much enjoyment others take from this meal (although you might need to watch quickly if you have teenagers!).

Forget food guilt and don’t make it too taxing; here’s a fantastic, easy no bake easter cheesecake that is as impressive as it is enjoyable....

The power of a choir won’t be belittled by lockdown.

Whilst there are thousands of great videos to enjoy on platforms such as YouTube (this one of the cast of Lion King aboard a flight is a personal favourite), many choirs have found ways to unite their sound and bring collective voice to people at home.

Popular contemporary group, House Gospel Choir have a great Instagram account if you prefer to watch rather than participate. 

The Sofa Singers was set up by James Sills as a result of lockdown. It brings hundreds of people together in real time for simultaneous singing.

And lastly, we’re excited to hear about Gareth Malone’s latest project involving professional and amatuer singers and musicians. You can find out how to take part here.

Trying to stick to a schedule that’s not working?

Don’t be bound to a sense of how things ‘should’ be done. Really, there are no hard and fast rules right now - and that goes for home-schooling too.

Lesson plans and online classrooms are a great resource, but our children are feeling the weight of incubation too.

If the day has been a struggle in terms of study, maybe share a lesson in a different way.

Explore science through meal planning and cooking. Go off-piste from the school reading list (note: George Orwell’s Animal Farm has been well received, 1984 might not be the uplifting read you or they need right now!).

The likelihood is you're already doing these things, the difference is being mindful of this as part of your children's home learning. 

So if you've not completed all of the prescribed assignments or ticked off all of the spellings - GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK. You're doing a great job!

If you'd like an extra assistant with your...

Anxiety can sneak up on us, and it's not always practical or possible to take a deep time out.

Here's a great quick fix; try this breathing exercise to immediately help you in those moments of rising anxiety.

Not only is it useful during the day to create a moment of pause, it has helped me fall asleep on several occasions when even the lavender oil hasn’t worked.

Anyone who has practised yoga will testify the power of mastery of breath leading to mastery of mind. Fortunately, you don’t need to stand on your head to benefit from this exercise.

Whilst we’ve been inundated with articles on the merits of physical exercise and its benefit to our overall sense of wellbeing, it’s not the panacea of calm.

Even the nation’s PE teacher Joe Wicks has talked this week about his mental health struggles during lockdown.

We’re seeing an increased number of people reporting disturbed sleep, in fact #cantsleep has been regularly trending on Twitter.

In our online resources section, Rachel wrote that sleep is the single most important tool to improving your almost every aspect of your life.

Without good sleep no matter how well nourish our body in other ways, we will increasingly deteriorate in energy, mood and skill. 

You’re probably familiar with the best sleep tips, but here’s a great reminder should you need one.

Personally lavender oil has always tricked my mind into restful sleep, quite possibly psychosomatic conditioning but successful nonetheless.