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5 Productive Ideas for Self Care During Lockdown for NYC

To practice my own self-care, I hired a guest writer from Fivver to write about self-care.

5 Productive Ideas for Self Care During Lockdown for NYC

Written By: Sameena Khan

“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” – Audre Lorde. I quoted this because during this pandemic this is the perfect time to take care of yourself either Emotionally, Mentally, or Physically.

 

In daily routine, we are very busy and most of the time neglect to get a break for ourselves. Due to this negligence, we suffer from stress or other diseases. I came up with the ideas apart from using a face mask, washing your hands regularly, and practicing social distancing or self-isolation.


  1. Exercise

Exercise is the best way to release stress, tension, and maintain your health. If you are not habitual, make sure you adopt it as a habit as soon as possible. You don’t need to go to the gym but you can do a lot of exercises at home. Like if you have gained weight, this is the time you lose it. And if you have a weak body start any workout and stay consistent and motivated. For further assistance, you can watch videos on YouTube.
2. Meditate

Its highly recommended meditate ourselves. It allows your mind to focus and redirect your thoughts on the positive side. It also helps you get mentally strong as it directly affects your mood, develops self-discipline, and increases pain tolerance. Its benefits include self-awareness, help to fights any addictions, and may reduce memory loss. For example, Reiki Meditation is one of the most effective one. Reiki practice is not affiliated with any religion but it is a very efficient method of releasing stress & anxiety and provide your body an environment to heal physically, mentally, and emotionally.
3. Reading

You will second that verdict that you read hundreds of posts in a day. But you know reading a book is far better than investing time in reading random posts. Reading can create a direct impact on your personality because it helps you to be confident, improves your knowledge. It’s a general observation that readers are the leaders. So it is also one of the best investments of your precious time.

4. Clean & Organize Yourself

Well cleaning and organizing yourself is the most important thread which you should work on. It is a positive activity that overall built your personality. You can start with cleaning & organizing your spaces which can be your bed, wardrobe, or your room. Then you can start with self-discipline and preventing yourself from bad habits. This will give you inner satisfaction. The habit of organizing yourself leads you to be responsible and create many positive effects on your personality.

5. Use Social Media Positively & Carefully

Social media is now a very important and powerful source/tool to spread your voice, point of view, or any opinion. But you must take it positively and stay away from spreading any uninvestigated news to your social circle. There is much false news is surrounding social about COVID 19. Another thing you can do is that start learning any skill, language, etc. Rather than just navigating to random post hitting likes, you can use social media for productivity or groom yourself.

“A Change Would Do You Good”

Sheryl Crow may be right, but right now–could we stop having so many changes?  In the span of two weeks, I temporarily shut down my business and my new cabaret show is indefinitely postponed.  Those were the main parts of my life, so in a way a lot of my life has seemed indefinitely postponed.  The first thing I remembered as the COVID-19 epidemic escalated was to continue and even more practice grounding myself (connecting with the earth, feeling its support, it still has us even though everything seems completely messed up and doesn’t make sense), breathing and meditation, therapy, and self-reiki (anyone who is level 1 can do this).  Reaching out to people–I’ve been more social in the past two weeks than in the past two years, connecting–I found a performer’s group online where we talk and uplift each other.  Helping out others:  donating to organizations, sending Venmo payments to artist and bartender friends who are struggling, posting encouraging thoughts and cute cat pictures on Facebook.  

It’s a struggle, though.  I get depressed.  There are times when I don’t want to do anything.  Sometimes I do some of the above, sometimes I sleep all day.  I’d love to say that I’m some super-evolved human that has this all down, but I don’t.  And all of our feelings are valid.  I have a right to feel disappointed that the two of the things that mean the most of to me.  I have a right to be frightened for my friends who are out of work.  I am frightened when I hear about my friends who have gotten sick.  It’s scary right now.  It’s ok to feel that and be where you are right now.  Just don’t get stuck.  Find routines and things to do (I’m learning Polish on Duolingo right now; I make sure I practice my singing every day).  Talk with your therapist if you have one or reach out to close friends if you don’t.  I have included some recommendations of books and activities to help as well.

We’re going to get through this.  The earth is still supporting us, even though everything is crazy right now.

Remembering To Play

Life can get so serious very quickly. Can I pay my bills? Will I succeed at my job? Do I have to do this all on my own? Am I doing this right? What if I fail? Will I be loved? Are we safe? It’s easy to get caught up in all these worries and more and forget the essentials. This earth has got us and supports us; AND even when everything seems chaotic and doesn’t make sense life is meant to be enjoyed and shouldn’t be taken so seriously.

This picture was taken of me on Christmas Day at Central Park. I never forgot how much I loved swinging, but this was the first time I had done it in a long time. For about ten to fifteen minutes, I felt free, no worries; I was just having fun (kids came around, so I left). It’s hard to keep up that feeling on a day to day basis, but I try to whenever I can. I do one fun, silly thing (whether it’s getting an vanilla ice cream cone with sprinkles, go to a movie, cook, play shoelaces with my cat, sing out loud wherever I am) whenever I can and it reminds me that life’s not so serious; And that fun is not just for kids, but something that each one of us deserves.

It doesn’t mean that my life won’t have trials or struggles–quite the contrary–joy is the combination of happiness and pain. But for a few moments daily, I can remind myself that it’s not all struggle and happiness is available.

 

“No” is not a four letter word

“No” is not a four-letter word; literally, it’s not.  But that’s not how I treated it most of my life.  I wanted to give to everybody; I wanted to do everything–but I kept getting short-changed in the exchange.  Why can’t I help everyone?  Why can’t I do everything? And yet–when do I get time to rest?  I’m so tired. I have nothing left to give.How did I get out of this never-ending loop?  I learned to say “no.”  

But it wasn’t just the act of saying “no” — although I started to learn how powerful it could be — it was that by saying “no” I was acknowledging both my worth and human-ness, and both have made me stronger and have allowed me to be able give more wholeheartedly.

First, the human part.  Yeah. I’m human. I’m not perfect.  I’m far from it.  I’ve had adrenal fatigue and other physical ailments that have always made me tired a lot of the time.  In the past ten years or so, I came to accept that I just don’t have as much energy as other people do. When I was in college, I could sleep for up to twenty hours a day on my days off of working on plays.  There have been days in the past 5-6 years where I just had to shut down.  I had nothing left. That’s about when “no” started entering the picture.  I wanted to attend a singing workshop this September, but between work and feeling run-down and having a show to sing in — something had to give;  it was a “no” to the workshop, so that I could be the best I could be at work and in the show.  I had to say “no.”  There’s only so much of me to go around and I want to put the best I can into everything I do and I can only do that, if I prioritize what I need and want to do, I’m able to give more to the things that matter the most to me.  And rest is one of the top things so I can do all the other things.

So, that leads to the things that matter the most to me:  how could I possibly know what I value if I didn’t know my value?  How can I know what is worth my time and energy?  Isn’t everything worth it?  Will people think I’m lazy if I don’t do everything?  Will people think I don’t care if I don’t use every ounce of energy helping out?  I don’t know exactly when I realized it, but one of the things that helped me to recognize it was the realization that I deserve rest.  There’s nothing wrong with recharging my body and mind so I can function — not necessarily even at my best — but even function properly.  Really, don’t try getting into a deep conversation with me when I’ve had no sleep because I can barely string two thoughts together.  And the projects I do when I have no energy?  I’d give myself a C/ C- ,  (I’m a recovering perfectionist, that’s basically an F, but I’m accepting that I have done the best I could at those times).  The other thing was that:  I work hard. Several people told me this, but it was hard for me to take as truth because I was always told I was lazy growing up (which was a lie, but you’re not my therapist, so that’s all you need to know about that).  I started to realize that I really do work hard; and because I work hard I deserve to treat myself some times:  get vanilla soft serve, buy that Kate Spade bag I had my eye on, get a mani-pedi, or just rest and do nothing.  It’s like the old L’Oreal commercial:  “because I’m worth it.”  Because I am worth it, I choose when I say “yes” and when I say “no” and I’ve learned that people don’t see that as lazy; that’s a person who has her boundaries and knows her worth..     

 

Grateful for the Fall

My favorite moment this year when I was performing was when I messed up.  It was beautiful.  This is the moment I learned to acknowledge my mistakes when I peform.  It’s really something that audiences love, when they see that you are human and real.

For those who can’t tell, I wasn’t supposed to stop and restart.  I messed up the lyric and couldn’t go on.  That moment freed me.  I realized that making mistakes, even in front of a dozen people, was not the end of the world.  I realized I don’t have to be perfect all the time and things will still work out.  I decided to take up piano.  I always wanted to learn, but any time I had tried before, I couldn’t because I wanted to be perfect and couldn’t make mistakes.  This has transferred to most aspects of my life (it’s a process, but I’m a lot more ok with going with the flow).  Part of the reason why I talk, so much about grounding and knowing that everything is not going to fall apart if you make a mistake is because I’ve lived it and I’m living it.  And I’m a better performer and person because I’m able to let go.

Time For Change

A Craigslist ad changed my life.  The only time I had roommates in my life was my first three years of college.  I didn’t have a problem with them, but I just liked living by myself.  When I graduated from grad school in Boston, I was broke, in debt, and my teaching job didn’t start for a few months.  I couldn’t afford an apartment by myself; I needed a roommate.  I swallowed my pride, and I went on Craigslist looking for one Continue reading “Time For Change”

A MIGHTY HEART – ACKNOWLEDGING OUR OWN GIFTS

The hardest part when I first started performing by myself was staying on the stage after the performance. I would sing my songs and then want to leave the stage. No bows. No applause. Just leave. I started performing because I realized that people thought my singing was pretty, and I felt that it was my gift to others. That said, I really didn’t believe that that was true. I was afraid that I wasn’t good enough, that I wasn’t talented enough. It was really uncomfortable and terrifying being on the stage. But I kept doing it because others believed in me. Continue reading “A MIGHTY HEART – ACKNOWLEDGING OUR OWN GIFTS”

HEAL THY SELF – CAN WE LET GO OF THE OLD PAIN FOR FREEDOM?

Originally written for the New Moon Women’s Circle website

Before you can let go of anything, you need to realize you’re holding on.  “How could anyone ever love me?” “People are mean.” “No one understands me.” That’s just a few of the pieces of baggage that I’ve been carrying along with me.  I only just realized that in the midst of finding love and happiness in my life in the past years that I was still dragging those fears along with me. Why? For me, it has always been:  it’s safe, it’s familiar. Continue reading “HEAL THY SELF – CAN WE LET GO OF THE OLD PAIN FOR FREEDOM?”