Before we engage ourselves in any activity, it is important to keep our brains free of any negative thoughts. However, with how the current situations are unravelling, it can get pretty difficult after getting bombarded with negative news from all around the world about the disease, recession, lag in education, economic slow-down, and whatnot. There is very little we can do to help ourselves and the world during this time and the most important of them all is staying at home. It can become suffocating, being stuck in the four walls of the house for long hours can drain ourselves mentally. These testing times put our mental well-being to a test.
Therefore, to avoid getting stressed about the future and living in the present, the best thing that we can do is engage ourselves in yoga or meditation. Alongside keeping ourselves engaged in monotonous house chores, it is also advisable to engage in some sort of exercise that will keep us fresh, preferably gardening or reading. Spending time with the elderly or our pets can also be a good source of refreshment. It is important to divert the mind from the surrounding negativity and focus it on something productive by utilising the time to make our minds stronger. Practising preventive measures does not always mean overwhelming ourselves with negativity but making ourselves grow.
To help de-stress during these stressful times, Tony Buchanan, a professor of Psychology at St. Louis University and co-director of its neuroscience program, and Dr Jessi Gold, assistant professor at Washington University’s Department of Psychiatry, suggested activities that can help ease the anxiety. They addressed a number of problems brought up by several callers and tried to sort out their anxieties. With the on-going pandemic, uncertainty is at its peak making things spiral out of control for many individuals. Hence, Buchanan suggests not letting this stress affect the people around us and engage in activities that may help to calm us down to a certain extent.
Subarna Basu