Self Care September 2021
For those who don't know me, my name is Sarah and I am Mel’s admin! I believe that in a world of restrictions and lockdowns, it's especially important to take a step back from what we are looking at outside our windows, and have a look at how we are doing inside ourselves. More than ever before, we have the opportunity to put ourselves first for a while where normally work, family, and other commitments take precedence.
Today marks the beginning of Self Care September, which is based around looking after ourselves and taking the time we need to care for our physical, mental, and emotional health. Sometimes this can be as small as lighting a nice scented candle, sitting down and watching a good movie with your family, or spoiling yourself by making your favourite meal. The important bit is that you are doing something that you love.
It's so easy to get caught up in the everyday routines of our lives and with lockdowns, and the ever growing case numbers in both Victoria and New South Wales, we now have the stress of not knowing what the next week, month or even year brings. Living day in and day out for press conferences and new statistics starts to take its toll.
Here are some of my ways to de-stress and implement some self care routines into your lockdown life!
1. Keeping active - It's as simple as going for a walk and breathing different air! Lockdown has me stuck inside the same 4 walls with my lovely, but equally annoying, family. Taking my dog for a walk is a great way for me to get some exercise now that the gym is closed, as well as escaping for a short period of time.
Yoga is another way to stay active all while maintaining your mental health, Youtube has some amazing yoga routines for beginners. Green Room Yoga also runs an online platform to access yoga from home for just $39 a month, and supports a local business. Gotta love a bit of zen in comfy clothes. Check out their website here for more info https://www.greenroomyoga.com.au
2. Accomplishing a task I’ve put off. There's nothing better than ticking a job off your list, at least for me. The feeling of accomplishment knowing that the job I’ve put off for the past 2 weeks is finally done is great and can help put a positive spin on my day. A helpful thing to do is write out a list of things you want to accomplish in lockdown. It doesn’t have to be huge tasks but even doing something small can stop the feelings of “what did I even do today?” Try starting your day by asking yourself, what small thing can I achieve today?
For me it has been trying to catch up on all my overdue TAFE assignments which stresses me out massively. Luckily, with some help keeping me on track, I am now completely up to date and no longer 8 assignments behind!
3. I also love to catch up with friends, lockdown style! It’s easy for us to become quite reclusive while in lockdown. I struggle to keep engaged with friends now that I can’t see them all the time. Why not reach out to the people you love to hang out with and organise a zoom catch up. Maybe create a Zoom trivia group where people take it in turns creating and asking trivia questions, have a zoom costume party with themes that you have to create using what you have in your house, (maybe even toilet paper would be cool as long as we don't go panic buying!) or even just catch up with a mate over Facetime or messenger video that you haven’t seen in a while and find out how they are doing. Friends are much better at conversation than my dog is anyway.
4. Another thing is picking up an old skill or hobby that I haven’t done in a while. Do you have that one thing that you used to love to do that you just haven’t had time for? Well guess what? We now have the time! Don’t be afraid to pick up an old hobby as it may surprise you on how much you’ve missed it.
I used to love drawing although it wasn't my strongest skill but I did make a couple of art pieces that I still have hanging on my wall. I love Mandalas as it challenges my need for everything to be perfect and allows me to be more spontaneous. I have a massive mandala piece on my wall that I made by painting the canvas the same colour as my wall and drew mandalas all over it in silver sharpie as well as a world map filled in with mandalas that I have included photos of. I’m excited to see what else I’ll be able to make during this lockdown!
5. Read a good book. I am a massive bookworm with a sucker for romance and adventure, and a great way for me to escape being locked inside is teleporting myself to an unknown world created in the mind of another person. I am also a big fan of finding hidden gems through free books on both Kindle and iBooks. Sometimes they lead to some great series to read and it's like a try before you buy but for books! You can also join your local library and borrow their ebooks as well.
Not a big book reader? Why not play a game where you ask your friends for the name of their favourite movie and without finding out anything about it to give it a try. You can even review it on your social media for fun. I find it really hard to watch movies that other people recommend because I am worried I won't like it but what I've realised is that if you don't like it, you don't have to keep watching it.
6. Another thing that I find I struggle with during this lockdown is setting boundaries for myself with work. Other than working with Mel I also run my own business from home. This means that no matter where I go I am surrounded by my work and this can really affect my downtime as it is often interrupted with orders and jobs I need to do. The work day never really ends and I can often go from working for Mel straight to working on my business and I know that's what I signed up for but it can be quite exhausting.
Just because we are working from home does not mean that we are always available and it is really important even if you work for yourself to set aside time that is just for you. That may mean that if you have set hours in the office, make them the same at home. Put the laptop away, turn off the notifications, and just enjoy the time at home because soon we will all be back in the office working again, and we will look back on all the things we did for ourselves during lockdown and be glad we did.
It’s fair to say that in these unprecedented times I’m very excited for it become precedented times again (or the new normal!). So to make sure we all make it through, check in with those you care about and don’t be afraid to reach out if you need help.
To help celebrate Self Care September we will be running a month long competition to win a range of prizes all from local businesses who need our support during this difficult time. We will be posting on our social media and every like, comment, and share is an entry towards the amazing prizes! We are also offering the opportunity for another 5 entries if you message us on Facebook and Instagram what you're doing for your self care September!
https://www.facebook.com/phoenixwingswellness for Facebook and https://www.instagram.com/phoenixwingsmel/ for Instagram
Lifeline (13 11 14) and Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) can be accessed for phone and online counselling, with Lifeline phone counsellors on call from 7 pm to midnight, and Kids Helpline are available 24/7. Eheadspace also offers free online and telephone support and counselling. Mensline (1300 78 99 78) has telephone or online chat, as well as video chat available.
-Sarah :)