Humanity is going through unprecedented times. The coronavirus lockdown and the news, along with the uncertainty and ambiguity, can have a negative impact on your mental state. Along with following a simple timetable, doing household work and exercise; here are five things that can help you stay positive:
Meditation: These days, most fitness brands have a component of mindfulness meditation in their regimes. Prayers and meditation give a spiritual foundation to our day. Encourage children, but don’t force these activities on them. There are several excellent meditation resources, both online and offline. Even a few minutes of meditation calms your mind. However, don’t expect miraculous changes.
If you are following a particular meditation teacher or tradition, their structured programmes will give you motivation. Remember, even washing dishes can be a mindful exercise. If you do household chores with joy and awareness, it becomes a meditation exercise. Gardening combines mindfulness with physical activity, so does yoga.
Also read: The green side of quarantine
Gratitude: You must have noticed that during the lockdown, your water supply and electricity is uninterrupted, garbage collection, as well as the sewage system, are working well. You are safe inside your house. So many healthcare workers are putting themselves in risk to serve society. Usually, all these jobs are not considered glamorous, and we hardly pay any attention to them. When you contemplate this, you are bound to develop a sense of gratitude. Such gratitude overrides and overcomes whatever worries you may have. It makes you feel contented. Contentment is the greatest wealth.
Along with gratitude for all that you have during these difficult times, start a gratitude diary. In it, you can note all the help you have received throughout your life from known and unknown people.
Helping others — goodwill and compassion: Helping others in various ways is not only your duty as a good citizen but also a great way to keep a positive mental frame. Helping your neighbours, especially seniors, will help to make life comfortable for them in these difficult times by maintaining social distancing. The act of helping others naturally creates a sense of goodwill and compassion. It removes anxiety and calms your mind. In India, the pandemic is disproportionately hard on the poor and the migrant labour. You are bound to feel compassion for them.
Forgiveness: A precondition for developing goodwill for others is forgiveness. The lockdown has given you the leisure to reflect on your life and on what goes on in your mind. Give a few moments every day for this intentional mental act to forgive anyone who you feel has hurt you in any way, directly or indirectly. Forgiveness has the quality of lightening your mind.
Be productive but don’t ignore pleasure: Be kind to yourself. You often have a list of things to do, targets to achieve, duties to perform and rules to follow. But also take time to think about what you love doing. Reward yourself with joyful activity whenever you have been productive.
Over time, you will learn to have a balanced approach that is both fruitful and enjoyable. There is no magic pill to take care of all the stresses that we face during this time. However, together we can take many small steps that will ultimately help us tide over the crisis.
(Dr Dhananjay Chavan is a consultant psychiatrist at the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, Pune. He can be reached at dhananjay65@gmail.com)
